Don't Sweat The Technique

In June of 1992, Eric B. & Rakim dropped Don't Sweat The Technique, their fourth and final studio album as a duo. Released in the wake of the Gulf War, many of the uptempo songs dealt with the subject of war. Songs like "Know The Ledge" from the Juice soundtrack and "What's On Your Mind" from House Party 2 were released in 1991 and appeared on the album.

The album's title track and lead single "Don't Sweat The Technique" was the perfect introduction to the 12 song project. With its flashy video and horn driven track, "Don't Sweat The Technique" picked up where 1990's Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em left off. Rakim reminded listeners that he was the God with lines like, "I made my debut in '86 wit a melody and a president's mix/ and now I stay on target and refuse to miss and I still make hits with beats, parties, clubs in the cars and jeeps/ my underground sound vibrates the streets MC's wanna beef then I play for keeps when they sweat the technique."

Casualties Of War

"Pass The Hand Grenade," "Casualties of War," "Teach The Children," and "The Punisher" were extremely timely with their vivid war themes. On the album's second single "Casualties Of War" Ra spits "President Bush said attack /flashback to Nam, I might not make it back /missile hits the area, screams wake me up from a war of dreams, heat up the M-16 basic training, trained for torture /take no prisoners, and I just caught ya /addicted to murder, send more body bags /they can't identify em, leave the nametags. The songs video features Eric B. & Rakim sporting camouflage outfits, standing in a cemetery combined with actual war footage.

Jazz Samples

Many of the tracks on Don't Sweat The Technique are greatly influenced by jazz, featuring upright bass and horn samples and a live drummer feel. Rakim revealed in a podcast with King Crooked that he played drums on Know The Ledge, which contains an upright bass loop. "I played drums on 'Juice (Know The Ledge)'. It was an ill situation they asked if I wanted to see the movie and write a song for it, not the title track," he explains.

"I was going record shopping all the time, and I would put records to the side so I could come back and sample 'em up later," he explained. "I came back home and went to a stack and grabbed a record and no exaggeration, it was the record with the bassline [to 'Juice'], so I sampled it. "I was lookin' for a particular style of drums and I couldn't find it, so I just found a little drum sample that I could put on it to start writing."

Ra says that he was so consumed with writing the song that he never found a permanent drum sample. " I got on the studio and there was a stack of records, but they still didn't have the drums that I needed. So, I looked in the back and asked the engineer to mic up the drum set. I went in and I played the drums on 'Juice'. So whenever you hear 'Juice' and it's rockin, thats ya boy!"

"Relax With Pep", "Keep The Beat", "What's Goin' On, and "Kick Along" round out a proper last album from an iconic duo. Check out Rakim at this years Rock The Bells Festival at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens on August 5.