we were like, "okay, all right." [ indistinct rapping ] rakim: beastie boys come out what people thoughtey are, nobody better mess with me, and all of that foolishness. if they were to address the issues, the issues being poverty, the issues being not having political power, you see what i'm saying, all of these issues, they should be addressing this with their energy. ♪ planet earth was my place of birth ♪ ♪ born to be the sole controller of the universe ♪ chuck d.: rakim is the guy at emcee. he single-handedly changed the phrasing of rap music and hip-hop. he came to the world like a poet. ♪ it's hard on the boulevard ♪ ♪ so i bogart and never get scarred ♪ i learned different rhythms listening to jazz. i learned different rhythms, so i incorporated that in my rhyme style, not just a regular "toom, toom, toom." i was in between. "to-toom, to-toom, to-toom." ♪ to be all i could be and more ♪ ♪ and see all there is to see before ♪ what i am trying to do, i'm trying to set example for the little kids, you know what i'm saying, teach the babies, you know what i'm saying, try to lead them o

i got to -- i came out on stage before my set and did a -- and i got free stile with rakim.uch a supericonic time. it's the hip-hop 50 every day this year. >> you mentioned hip-hop 50. it's also acid rap 10 and you have shows for the anniversary coming up. >> excited. i all three venues i haven't played in a long time. and acid rap i didn't do in a long time. to do a whole show for acid rap -- i love seeing people that support me be excited and a lot of people are excited about the show. it's like, we're going to put on a crazy format and celebrate the project. >> what could fans expect? obviously some of the project and others too? >> all from the project. >> everything from the project. >> yeah. introducing new elements, making it more turnt up, more beautiful. that's been the funnest process is getting ready for the shows and reherring songs i haven't played in ten years. it's a beautiful thing. >> we pulled some real young chance the rapper with you and your friend talking about what you wanted to be. i just want to play this for you and get your thoughts on it. >> wow.

inflict with slicks so they can't detect my acknowledgement to this establishment to truly present the rakim that, will you show to it one of your teachers? will you show it to your family? will you show to it anyone? >> not to my teachers. actually, i was one of those kids in class that would finish his work first, then write a lyric, you know what i mean? what's amazing about this book if i can share with you is that it really goes from the age of 14 to 18. it's pre wu-tang. some lyrics are about my teachers. one of my teachers i didn't like, i looked at the other student, know what i mean? even though she was a pretty girl, he shouldn't have been looking at her. i wrote a lyric about some of my friends, the first time they drank beer in the bathroom. >> jimmy: this is why you couldn't show it to the teachers. a lot of the incriminating stuff in there. >> exactly. >> jimmy: then did this help you, these lyrics, in writing the show? >> well, these lyrics actually helped the ballet. there's one here. >> jimmy: yeah, go ahead, yeah. >> so like i said, the ballet was based on six teens. and th

people like chuck d and public enemy, rakim, big daddy kane.hat took the language, the language of speaking in rhyme over beat and added that level of poetry at a little politics sophistication , and artistic ambition that was different from the previous generation. that's when you really have the drilling down into the sociology of america. amna: there are those in american music circles who are rock and roll would always reign supreme. but it's fair to say by the eighties and into the nineties, you have these mega stars, some of whom you listed there. others like tupac and biggie and dr dre and hip hop is firmly in the mainstream. not just in this country, but really globally. why do you think that happened commercially the way that it did and when it did? nelson: the big turning point is the 90's. because late eighties was always about can i? there was the first rapper on american bandstand. we have the first hip hop show on mtv. by the 90's, there was critical mass. there was a number of artists , can't leave diddy out of the conversation.