by Jamil Weeks

Back in the early 2000’s, a powerhouse combination almost shook the very foundation of hip hop. In what seemed like a dream scenario, the God Emcee, Rakim Allah, from the East Coast signed to West Coast master architect, Dr. Dre, under the Aftermath umbrella. Both artists demonstrated they could make classic music on their own. But the two forces combining to make an entire album together? It would have been like discovering plutonium by accident! Imagine Rakim rhyming, with his smooth, laid-back-in-the-pocket flow, over melodic, hard-hitting Dr. Dre instrumentals. The potential impact on the music genre could have been earth-shattering, as lyricism was beginning to fade from mainstream hip hop with the rise of the South in the early 2000s. Also keep in mind, a major east coast and west coast artist working together on a game changing project would have been a monumental moment for healing within the hip hop community after the deaths of 2Pac and Biggie.

During the late 90’s, Rakim set out on his own to release albums as a solo artist, after the break-up between him and Eric B. While releasing two critically acclaimed solo projects in the late 90s, those two albums failed to garner the type of buzzworthy attention to keep Rakim in the discussion as one of the biggest artists of that era. Meanwhile, Dr. Dre was reaching new heights in his career and popularity, as he released the successful follow-up to The Chronic with 2001, signing Eminem, and building up his robust roster for his Aftermath Entertainment label.Dr. Dre had already begun diversifying his portfolio by working with East Coast artists in the mid-90s.The Firm album flop left a sour taste in Dre’s mouth, and pulling off an album with Rakim could have helped to alleviate the bitterness.

Once word began to spread that the 18th Letter and the Doctor were working on new material, titled Oh My God, it instantly became one of the most anticipated projects in the early 2000s. 2001 was a critical and commercial success, as were the Eminem Aftermath albums, which were pushing the creative boundaries of the genre. With Dr. Dre overseeing the collaboration, Rakim not only had access to Dre, but also with the production team of Aftermath (Denaun Porter, Mel-Man, Scott Storch, Mike Elizondo, etc.). In addition, there were also rumors circulating that DJ Premier would be contributing production on the album. Can you imagine the possibilities?Dr. Dre and Premo doing an entire Rakim album?! I remember scouring every issue of The Source and XXL Magazines during that time. There were rumored track lists surfacing on hip hop forums all over the internet. People were salivating for this album to drop like Homer Simpson over a six pack of Duff Beer.

Unfortunately, the pairing turned out to be a bad match-up. Dre and Rakim could not get on the same page creatively. Rakim was trying to evolve as an artist and saw his signing to Dre as an opportunity to take his career to the next level. Rakim would hear a beat from Dre, and both would have a different perspective on what the direction of the song should be. According to Rakim, Dr. Dre wanted Rakim to make “gangsta” music more rooted in the streets.Makes sense as hardcore street music was Dre’s bread and butter, and a proven formula that worked out well for his career. Rakim wanted to go in a different direction and make music that was going to be more elevating than violent. Dr. Dre had a different reason for why the dream pairing did not work. Dr. Dre indicated that Rakim was taking longer than he anticipated to do songs.Whatever the case may be, the short-lived duo ended up parting ways in 2003 due to creative differences. Hip hop was robbed of what could have been a colossal juggernaut of an album.

To this day this failed collaboration remains one of the biggest disappointments in the history of rap music as a musical genre.At the end of the day, all we got was a glimpse of what could have been between the two legendary and iconic artists. In 2002, Jay-Z released “The Watcher Part 2” off his Blueprint 2 album produced by Dr. Dre and featuring Rakim. That same year Rakim teamed up with another Aftermath artist, Truth Hurts, on “Addictive” which was produced by DJ Quik and reportedly had uncredited additional production from Dr. Dre.These two songs prove that the two could have made some real magic together if they both could have gotten on the same page.Supposedly, a lot of the beats that were intended for Oh My God ended up on 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Trying, an album that would sell over 10 million albums.I always wonder what Rakim would have done with beats like “Heat”, “If I Can’t” or “In Da Club”. How different would the landscape of hip hop be in terms of lyricism still being a staple in mainstream hip hop had Oh My God been released and well-received? Would the trajectory of 50 Cent’s career have shifted? At the end of the day, we still got a classic Aftermath album from 50 Cent and Rakim continues to tour and be widely regarded as one of the best and influential emcees. But despite the silver linings, the scrapped Rakim/Dr. Dre aftermath album remains as one of the biggest What If moments in hip hop.