Additional personnel: Stevie Blass Griffin (various instruments).

Recorded at Power Play Studio, New York.

Personnel: Eric B., Rakim.

Having already revolutionized hip-hop, Eric B. & Rakim came up with a second straight classic in their sophomore album, Follow the Leader, which basically follows the same blueprint for greatness, albeit with subtle refinements. Most noticeably, Eric B.'s production is already moving beyond the minimalism of Paid in Full. Follow the Leader finds him changing things up more often: dropping in more samples, adding instruments from musician Stevie Blass Griffin, and generally creating a fuller sound over his rock-solid beats. It's still relatively spare, but the extra sonic weight helps keep things fresh. For his part, Rakim wasn't crowned the greatest MC of all time for the variety of his lyrical content, and Follow the Leader is no different. Yet even if he rarely deviates from boasting about his microphone prowess (and frankly, he's entitled), he employs uncommonly vivid and elaborate metaphors in doing so. A case in point is "Microphone Fiend," which weaves references to substance addiction throughout in explaining why Rakim can't keep away from the mic. The album-opening title cut is one of his most agile, up-tempo lyrical showcases, demonstrating why he's such a poetic inspiration for so many MCs even today. "Lyrics of Fury" manages to top it in terms of sheer force, using the break from James Brown's "Funky Drummer" before it saturated the airwaves. And, of course, there are several more turntable features for Eric B. Follow the Leader may not have broken much new ground, but it captures one of the greatest pure hip-hop acts at the top of its form, and that's enough to make the album a classic. ~ Steve Huey

New York team who met in 1985 and have gone on to become an important duo in Rap's short history. Their debut album, PAID IN FULL, caused great legal waves via its explicit use of samples (Eric B is often credited with putting the funk back into rap music via his James Brown signatures). Rakim was responsible for introducing a more relaxed, intuitive delivery which was a distinct advance on the thumping bravado of Run DMC and LL Cool J, and is best sampled on this influential and instructive album. The title track, "Lyrics Of Fury" and "Microphone Fiend" provided the fullest possible evidence of the duo's skill.