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Rakim Speaks to Red Bull Music Academy [Full Lecture]

Lenny Kravitz, Grace Jones, Lauryn Hill, Lion Babe, Thundercat, SZA & More Rock The Afropunk Festival 2015 in Brooklyn, NY.

The God Rakim Allah took to the sofa at Red Bull Music Academy in the most recent of RBMA's jealousy-inducing appearances, sitting down with ego trip's Chairman Mao for a lecture discussing his ascendance into the pantheon of rap - Rakim being the MC widely known for ushering what many fondly remember as the Golden Era of rap. With all of the insane parties and events that comprise RBMA's month-long takeover of NYC, it's easy to lose sight of the dope lecture series that participants have access to, but if all experiences in education were this dope, I'm sure quite a few of us would hold PhDs in Hiphopology (Rap Studies?) by now. In the nearly two-hour talk, Ra also addresses whether or not he feels he is the greatest rapper of all time - and while plenty of people have weighed in on this debate, there is no denying this man's role in fathering the styles of your favorite East Coast MCs. Proving his eternal presence in music doesn't just end with hip hop, Rakim was also recently involved in an event celebrating the life and work of poet Sekou Sundiata in Harlem as part of a year-long tribute to the passed wordsmith, which you can check out via our family The Revivalist. In the meantime, watch the RBMA lecture in full below.

props to ETL