Rap Battle 80's Bracket Round 1: Eric B and Rakim (4) vs Kurtis Blow (13)

Full disclosure, this is the poont in the 80s bracket where my knowledge becomes more after the fact and second hand. I knew NWA, Public Enemy and Run-DMC as a kid, most of the rest of this bracket was before my time and was only discovered later on.

ATBS (JBS!), Rakim is probably the most important emcee in the history of the game for my money. Not necessarily the best, but the guy who laid the groundwork for the transition from 80's hip hop which all had a pretty formulaic hip hop cadence to 90's rap which was free flowing and took on a spectrum of rhythms. Without Rakim there's no Ice Cube, no Tupac, no Biggie. And while I'm not a huge fan of 80's beats in general, Eric B was the perfect DJ to empower Rakim to go off script and change the game. Hugely chinfluential duo.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TN-kDEKxF0

Kurtis Blow was a dude who apparently chinspired no gifs. Still, it doesn't get more hip hop than this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_shxzlTRK44