For Only 3 New Tracks & 5 Remixes, “The Re-Up” is Another Reminder of Why Rakim is The God MC (EP Review)

This is the 2nd EP from pioneering Long Island, New York emcee/producer Rakim. Notable for being 1/2 of the seminal golden age duo Eric B. & Rakim, they put out 4 classic albums together from the mid-80s to the early 90s, with their debut Paid in Full & the sophomore effort Follow the Leader laying out the groundwork for future generations of hip hop to come. Kid Wizard eventually went solo in late ‘97 signing to Universal Music Group for an acclaimed debut The 18th Letter & the follow-up The Master while not as acclaimed still received positive feedback. Reception to The 7th Seal a decade after The Master was more mixed due to the lackluster production although the lyricism was certainly praised & G.O.Ds Network (REB7RTH) was a step in the right direction despite the heavy features, but Big Ghost Ltd. producing 3 new tracks on The Re-Up minus the 5 remixes raised my expectations greatly as a fan of both him & The God.

“Now is the Time” featuring Hus Kingpin was a great boom bap single finding the New York lyricists coming together to talk about the game becoming more complicated following the COVID-19 pandemic while “I’m Good” makes makes for the only track of the 3 piece that doesn’t have a guest on it, but The God still delivers on the mic nonetheless. “Not to Be Defined” featuring Lazarus is also the sole moment that Big Ghost didn’t produce leading it up to Dem Jointz showing the rhythm of the souls in their hearts.

I’m only gonna rate this purely based on the short batch of material that we got from The Re-Up because 1 thing that I wanna make clear is that the 5 remixes from G.O.Ds Network (REB7RTH) rival the original versions from the previous EP that I prefer more since that was all new material. Nevertheless, I still believe that the 3 newly recorded cuts are worth mentioning because they continue to exemplify that Rakim is still The God almost 4 decades later. G.O.Ds Network (REB7RTH) 2 has been said to have lesser guests than the predecessor & if that’s true, it could be on The 18th Letter caliber.