BY BANDINI • AUGUST 27, 2019

For several years, Rakim has discussed plans to release a memoir. The text would place the legendary Long Island, New York MC born William Griffin, Jr. in the company of Hip-Hop peers including LL Cool J, KRS-One, Ice-T, Chuck D, Scarface, and the Beastie Boys.

After initial plans to release the text in 2018, Rakim, Harper Collins, and Amistad Books have confirmed that Sweat The Technique: Revelations On Creativity From The Lyrical Genius will arrive on September 24. The book billed as “a memoir and writing guide” has a title that plays on the 1992 Eric B. & Rakim album and single, Don’t Sweat The Technique.

In June, Rakim released a statement to The Source on the timing of the memoir. “Why now for Sweat The Technique? There’s been a lot of points of reflection in my life over the last couple of years. I turned 50; my first album [Paid In Full] turned 30. I’ve welcomed some new editions to my family and lost some beloved ones. I got back together with my partner Eric [B.] to tour and release a box-set and, while we were doing interviews, the same questions all seemed to come up. A lot of those questions were rehashes of some issues that I wanted to finally speak about and, more importantly, almost none of them covered what my fans and supporters are always asking…which is pretty much ‘How do you do it?’ It made sense to put a little focus on the craft and where I, and hopefully, the readers, can search for inspiration. After over three decades of being an artist who mostly speaks through his music, the time felt right to pull back the curtain.”

READ MORE AT AMBROSIA FOR HEADS