It’s a question that would take a second for any Hip-Hop head to answer, but when asked what his favorite Eric B. & Rakim album is, ?uestlove doesn’t just give an answer. He gives a reason, facts and stories to support it, and a history lesson all at the same time. Far from a self-righteous or unwarranted response, his reply was one of genuine love and excitement. Just as he does with his music, every time ?uest speaks not only do I listen, but I learn too and get my head twisted around something bigger than what was expected.

Risk You Life For Hip-Hop, As Told to Corey Bloom

“Favorite Rakim album? Let Rhythm Hit ‘Em. I listened to “No Omega” about twenty times in a row. Man, phew…damn. That was back in the day when you risked your life for Hip-Hop. I don’t mean risk your life like “Yo, I’m gonna go to this concert I don’t care if these motherfuckers jump me.”

Back in the day risking your life for Hip-Hop meant not doing your homework and listening to a Hip-Hop record, and your parents putting you on punishment for getting a bad grade. Risk your life for Hip-Hop is like getting caught in third grade History class with your Walkman on and getting sent to the principal. Risking your life like you know your boy has a copy of The Low End Theory and you just might have to steal that shit. That is risking your life.

I cut church, like the way our church service was you went to the morning worship and then communion, and then the service. But they give you a break to go to the bathroom or whatever. You run downstairs, you might run across the street to get some potato chips or whatever and next thing you know your boy is like “Yo, I got Let The Rhythm Hit ‘Em from my cousin up in New York dubbed on cassette.” Next thing you know, he sneaks into his mother’s pocketbook and takes the keys to her car, and then, you’re not in church.

You’re in the car listening to Let The Rhythm Hit ‘Em. You’re not trying to think about how you’re going to sneak back into church into the back pew so that when your mom turns around she sees that you were there the entire time. You’re not thinking about that, you’re like, “Yo, rewind that shit again so I can hear that.”

That was me listening to “No Omega.” I cut church to hear De La Soul Is Dead and Let The Rhythm Hit ‘Em. That shit changed my life. That’s the shit that I miss the most. Just to listen to an album that shows you infinite possibilities. Like almost every Hip-Hop classic has a life altering story for me.

I quit my job when I got It Takes A Nation of Millions because I couldn’t stop listening to it between breaks. I went on lunch, never came back, and sat in the park all day listening to that shit. I almost missed a final. I lied to the professor about a sickness to see if I could take the final during a 2 pm class just so that I could wait in line before the opening at 11 a.m. to get a copy of Fear Of A Black Planet.

Taking a train from Philly to LA, and getting off in Chicago with an hour layover and almost missing it because I had to hear what Amerikkka’s Most Wanted sounded like. I had a cab take me to a record store. Then I couldn’t get a cab back, and got there with like three minutes to spare. My mom was heated. Heated, heated, heated! But yeah, between ’87 – ’92, man whatever Hip-Hop classic was released, that shit was like hope for the future. You couldn’t wait for that shit.

The Roots new album, Rising Down, will be in stores 4.29.08.