Eric B. & Rakim’s ‘Let The Rhythm Hit ‘Em’ Turns 35 | Album Anniversary

June 8, 2025 Jesse Ducker

Eric B. & Rakim Let The Rhythm Hit ‘Em Turns 35

It’s a shame that as the years have passed ‘Let The Rhythm Hit ’Em’ isn’t as revered as it deserves to be. But for heads who really know, it’s a bona fide classic just like the two LPs that precede it.

Eric B. & Rakim’s ‘Follow the Leader’ Turns 35 | Album Anniversary

July 22, 2023 Jesse Ducker

While the duo’s debut LP ‘Paid in Full’ (1987) remains the stronger overall album, Rakim’s lyrical performance on ‘Follow the Leader’ is arguably superior.

Eric B. & Rakim’s Debut Album ‘Paid in Full’ Turns 35 | Anniversary Retrospective

July 1, 2022 Jesse Ducker

Eric B. & Rakim Debut Album Paid in Full

The duo’s debut LP ranks among the five greatest hip-hop albums ever recorded, and a compelling case can be made that it’s THE greatest ever.

Eric B. & Rakim’s ‘Don’t Sweat the Technique’ Turns 30 | Anniversary Retrospective

June 19, 2022 Jesse Ducker

Eric B. & Rakim Don’t Sweat the Technique

Although Eric B. & Rakim’s musical partnership ended unexpectedly after four albums, they went out on a high note with ‘Don’t Sweat the Technique.’

Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Debut Album ‘Read My Lips’ Turns 25 | Album Anniversary

With her debut solo affair, Ellis-Bextor made the dancefloor feel elegant and faintly surreal, a place where heartbreak could wear lipstick and emotional catastrophe could arrive with a four-on-the-floor beat.

Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’ Turns 40 | Album Anniversary

Four decades later, ‘Graceland’ remains true to what it was from the start—a beautiful, tangled, genuinely collaborative album that changed what pop music could sound like.

The Rolling Stones’ ‘Tattoo You’ Turns 45 | Album Anniversary

When listening to ‘Tattoo You,’ you would never know that it is this Frankenstein's monster of an album that was pieced together with songs that came from their most creatively fertile period.