January 28, 2023
King Sun
The 6’8″ emcee, whose raps were also saturated with Five Percent Nation vernacular, had a flow and vocal tone that was very similar to Rakim, and being that he came out after Ra, his music immediately drew many comparisons.
MC Rell
With all due respect, this guy was the epitome of what Hip-Hop considered a “biter.” Rell not only dressed exactly like Rakim on his Follow The Leader album cover but only true Rakim fans and Hip-Hop aficionados could tell the difference between this copycat and the 18th Letter. Needless to say, his career was very short-lived.
Antoinette
As the only female on this list, her voice couldn’t possibly sound like the God, but she tried extremely hard to mimic his flow in order to get recognition in the male-dominated field of emceeing. Needless to say, her nemesis and pioneer femcee MC Lyte, used that in her “Beat Biter” battle record, saying, “..you should win a prize as a Rakim soundalike..”
Will Smith on “Summertime”
In possibly one of his most celebrated singles, the lyrical funnyman borrowed Rakim’s slow flow and monotone voice instead of his regular, quirky octave that most fans of his TV sitcom, The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, are familiar with.
Grand Daddy I.U.
The rapper known for his “Something New” fame dropped several albums with a voice, flow, and cadence that was identical to Rakim. I.U. passed away in December 2022. RIP