Editing Eric B. & Rakim (section)

===Early years and ''Paid in Full''===
Eric Barrier was born and raised in the [[East Elmhurst, Queens]]. He played [[trumpet]] and [[drums]] throughout high school, and later switched to experimenting with [[Phonograph|turntables]] prior to graduation.  The newly dubbed "Eric B." soon began DJing for radio station WBLS in [[New York City]], including WBLS' promotional events around the city.  Barrier wound up meeting Alvin Toney, a promoter based in Queens. Eric B. had been looking for rappers and Toney recommended he use [[Freddie Foxxx]], a [[Long Island]] MC. Toney took Eric B. to Foxxx's home, but Foxxx was not there, so Toney suggested another option: William Griffin, a.k.a. Rakim.<ref name="allhiphop.com">{{cite web|author=Martin A. Berrios |url=http://allhiphop.com/stories/reviews/archive/2008/02/29/19357057.aspx |title=Class Of '88: Paid In Full |publisher=AllHipHop.com |date=February 29, 2008 |access-date=July 5, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://inverseculture.com/blogs/features/the-dopest-photo-in-hip-hop-the-paid-in-full-posse|title=The Dopest Photo In Hip-Hop: The Paid in Full Posse|work=Inverse Culture|access-date=July 29, 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729095043/https://inverseculture.com/blogs/features/the-dopest-photo-in-hip-hop-the-paid-in-full-posse|archive-date=July 29, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Eric B. featuring Rakim - Eric B. is President-My Melody (Zakia Records-1986) (Side A).jpg|right|thumb|Eric B. & Rakim began their critically acclaimed partnership in 1986 with the release of "Eric B. is President" / "My Melody".]]
Griffin had begun writing rhymes as a teenager in [[Wyandanch]] and had taken the name "Rakim" as a result of his conversion to [[Five-Percent Nation|The Nation of Gods and Earths]].  Eric B. borrowed records from Rakim's brother, Stevie Blass Griffin (who worked at a plant pressing bootleg albums) and began cutting them in the basement for Rakim, who was down there drinking a beer and relaxing. Said Eric B., "I took [[Fonda Rae]]'s "Over Like A Fat Rat" and said 'This is the bass line I'm going to use for this record.' Rakim spit the beer all over the wall and thought it was the funniest shit in the world. I told Rakim, just like you laughing now you going to be laughing all the way to the bank and be a millionaire one day because of this record."<ref name="allhiphop.com"/>

Eric B. & Rakim decided to record together and came under the tutelage of [[Marley Marl]]. Stories vary over who actually produced their first [[Single (music)|single]], 1986's "[[Eric B. Is President]]" (often cited as "Eric B ''For'' President" because of a mistake made when licensing the recording). Built on the Fonda Rea bass line sample, Eric B. later told AllHipHop, "I took the records to Marley Marl's house in [[Queensbridge Houses|Queensbridge]] and paid Marley Marl to be the engineer. Marley got paid. That's why he's not a producer; that's why he is not getting publishing. I brought the music. I just couldn't work the equipment because that's not what I did..."<ref name="allhiphop.com"/>

The duo recorded their debut album, ''[[Paid in Full (album)|Paid in Full]]'', at Power Play Studios in New York. The album was named in part after the Paid in Full posse, a notorious New York collective of gangsters and rappers: including the [[Kelvin Martin|original 50 Cent]], Killer Ben, [[Kool G Rap]] and [[Freddie Foxxx]]. The Paid in Full posse are featured on the back cover of the album. In 1987, [[4th & B'way Records]] issued the album. After the success of "Eric B. is President", the album climbed into the Top Ten on the [[United States|US]] ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums]] [[record chart|chart]].<ref name="AMG">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/eric-b-rakim-mn0000799198/awards |title=Eric B. & Rakim - Awards |website=AllMusic |access-date=July 5, 2013}}</ref> Eric B. would later admit that the album was rushed. "The reason ''Paid In Full'' is so short is because we stood in the studio for damn-near a week. The whole album came together in a week. Listen to the lyrics on it and listen to how short they are. That's because Rakim wrote it right there and we'd been in the studio like for a whole forty-eight hours trying to get the album finished."<ref name="allhiphop.com"/> Rakim agrees: "[I] used to write my rhymes in the studio and go right into the booth and read them. When I hear my first album today I hear myself reading my rhymes - but I'm my worst critic. That's what I hear, though - because that's what it was. I'd go into the studio, put the beat down, write the song in like an hour, and go into the booth and read it from the paper..."<ref name="Halftimeonline.net">{{cite web |url=http://halftimeonline.net/portfolio/rakim/ |title=Rakim - Halftimeonline - Hip Hop Music & Culture |publisher=Halftimeonline |date=May 10, 2006 |access-date=July 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729100201/http://halftimeonline.net/portfolio/rakim/ |archive-date=July 29, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Marley Marl stated that his cousin [[MC Shan]] was an assistant engineer on some tracks, including the single "My Melody," though Eric B. denies this.<ref name="allhiphop.com"/> [[MTV]] listed the album as the greatest in hip hop history:
{{blockquote|text=When ''Paid in Full'' was released in 1987, Eric B. and Rakim left a mushroom cloud over the hip-hop community. The album was captivating, profound, innovative and instantly influential. MCs like Run-DMC, Chuck D and KRS-One had been leaping on the mic shouting with energy and irreverence, but Rakim took a methodical approach to his microphone fiending. He had a slow flow, and every line was blunt, mesmeric. And Eric B. had an ear for picking out loops and samples drenched with soul and turned out to be a trailblazer for producers in the coming years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/bands/h/hip_hop_week/2005/greatest_albums_0505/index11.jhtml |title=The Greatest Hip-Hop Albums Of All Time |publisher=MTV.com |date=March 9, 2006 |access-date=July 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719045814/http://www.mtv.com/bands/h/hip_hop_week/2005/greatest_albums_0505/index11.jhtml |archive-date=July 19, 2013 }}</ref>
|author=[[MTV]]
|source="The Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time" (2006)}}
The record has sold over a million copies and the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] (RIAA) certified it [[RIAA certification|platinum]] in 1995.<ref name="RIAA">{{cite web |url=https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Eric%20B%22 |title=RIAA – Searchable Database: Eric B |publisher=[[Recording Industry Association of America]] |access-date=October 31, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219203417/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Eric%20B%22 |archive-date=December 19, 2015 }}</ref>  On the heels of the album's incredible platinum success, the duo were the first rap act to sign a million dollar record deal as they entered into an agreement for three albums with [[MCA Records|MCA]].