Rakim Talks New Album With Kurupt, Masta Killa

Rakim is set to drop The Godbody LP in September, a collaborative project with fellow veteran lyricists Kurupt and Masta Killa. In a conversation with VIBE, Ra spoke about the album, rap ageism and pushing himself to evolve as an artist. He explained that one of the things he looks forward to is an opportunity to push away old rap regionalism. 

“What I love about doing projects like this is it breaks down the barriers of East Coast, West Coast, the Dirty South, Midwest — wherever you’re from,” he told writer Kyle Eustice. “It’s a group of artists getting together to show how they love music, and how groups and people can come together from different cities and different styles. It’s like a melting pot of hip-hop. It’s bringing a bunch of artists together to do different things.”

Fellow Golden Age rap stars like Big Daddy Kane and Too $hort are dropping albums, with others like LL COOL J, MC Lyte and more having released well-received projects after long hiatuses. For Rakim, it’s affirmation that rap ageism is a thing of the past. 

“I always hated that hip-hop felt that there was an age limit,” he shared. “I quietly disagreed. And one of the ways that I tried to show that there isn’t was to keep doing what I do at a high level.”

But he admits that artists have to continue to push themselves. 

It’s hard as an artist to stay relevant; you want to evolve and reinvent yourself, but stay true to what you do,” he explained. “Sometimes some of the new listeners expect you to do what’s going on today, but it’s important — and I don’t want to make myself feel old — but I have to stay in touch with my roots and who I am and what made me and what people expect from me. I try not to change that, but at the same time, you know, make sure that it’s 2026.”

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