Eric B. Is President

Infobox Single
Name = Eric B. Is President


Artist = Eric B. & Rakim
Album = Paid in Full
B-side = "My Melody"
Released = 1986
Format = 12-inch single
Recorded =
Genre = East Coast hip hop, hardcore hip hop
Length = 5:00
Label = Zakia
Writer = Eric B. & Rakim
Producer = Marley Marl
Certification =
Last single =
This single = "Eric B. Is President"
Next single = "I Ain't No Joke"

"Eric B. Is President" is the first single by hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim. It peaked at number forty-eight on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and number forty on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales. [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fpfwxqy5ldfe~T31 allmusic ((( Paid in Full > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))] . Allmusic. Accessed August 4 2008.] PopMatters' Mark Anthony Neal called it "the most danceable hip-hop recording" of 1986. [Neal, Mark Anthony (November 19 2003). [http://www.popmatters.com/music/features/031119-rakim.shtml ...And Bless the Mic for the Gods: Rakim Allah] . PopMatters. Accessed August 4 2008.]

Produced by Marley Marl, the song samples "Over Like a Fat Rat" by Fonda Rae, "Long Red" by Mountain, "The Champ" by The Mohawks, and "Funky President" by James Brown. [Barker, David (2006). "33 1/3 Greatest Hits: V. 1". Continuum International Publishing Group, p. 131. ISBN 0826419038.] The track sparked debate on the legality of unauthorized sampling when James Brown sued to prevent the duo's use of his music. [Simon & Schuster (2001). [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ericbandrakim/biography Eric B and Rakim] . "The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll". Accessed August 4 2008.]

According to Touré of "The New York Times", "It is Rakim's verbal dexterity as well as his calm, deep voice and dark tone that has made this song a rap classic: 'I came in the door/ I said it before/ I'll never let the mic magnetize me no more/ But it's bitin' me/ Fightin' me/ Invitin' me to rhyme/ I can't hold it back/ I'm looking for the line/ Takin' off my coat/ Clearin' my throat/ The rhyme will be kickin' it/ Til I hit my last note.'" [Touré (August 14 1994). [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507EFDD1630F937A2575BC0A962958260 POP VIEW; Only One Star in the Two Schools of Rap] . "The New York Times". Accessed August 6 2008.]

References