Rakim, a founding father of hip-hop and arguably the single most important MC in the development of the genre, had been largely dormant for the 15 years that preceded 2024's comeback album, G.O.Ds NETWORK - REB7RTH. When he dropped that album, it featured the legendary rapper in his producer bag, with only a small handful of actual verses on the album from Rakim himself.
Over a year removed from his initial comeback statement, and Rakim has teamed up with Big Ghost Ltd. for a remixed version of the album. There are all new beats and a couple of new songs in the mix, which help enhance the original project. Rakim's beats were not bad at all, but Big Ghost has a remarkable capability to change the atmosphere of an entire release when he decides to remix something, and that is no different here.
While fans may clamor for more Rakim verses than what we've been given here, he makes the most of the time he spends on the mic. The features sound even better on these new sounds than they did originally, which says a lot considering how strong they were the first time around. Overall, this is a great new way to listen to the album, and we hope that Rakim still has a few more releases in him before he actually calls it a career. Check out The RE-UP below.
Rakim - G.O.Ds Network - The RE-UP
The RE-UP tracklist:
- Be Ill (feat. Eddie Kaine & Rim)
- Now is the Time (feat. Hus KingPin)
- Love is the Message (feat. Planet Asia, Ras Kass & Sally Green)
- Gods Playground (feat. 38 Spesh & Skyzoo)
- Pendulum (feat. Canibus, Chino XL, KXNG Crooked & La The Darkman)
- International (feat. Joell Ortiz, Kool G Rap & Tristate)
- Sign of 7even (feat. Big Twins, Method Man & Prodigy)
- Not to be Defined (feat. Lazarus)
