What Happened To Eric B After Splitting From Rakim?

Eric B. & Rakim were at the top of their game by the mid-1990s, with their impact on hip-hop culture seemingly already secured. So why then did they break up?

In the main, the answer — as it often does — comes down to money. As Rakim explained to AllHipHop.com during a 2008 interview, the duo felt that, after delivering their record label four highly rated and commercially successful studio albums, they were in a position to ask for more money. The problem was that they were under contract to deliver three more albums for the label. To get to the end of their contract quickly, Eric B. hatched a plan: each half of the duo should record a solo effort each — Eric B. first, then Rakim. But though Eric B. apparently got the opportunity to record his solo album and took it, when it came to “sign off” on letting his partner on the mic do the same thing, he refused. Rakim believes that, at the time, Eric B. must have been anxious that Rakim would leave the duo to become a solo artist from then on.

Eric B.’s version of events is slightly simpler and more emotional (via the Chicago Tribune): “To me, it wasn’t business. It’s like any relationship. Before we’re musicians and a group, we’re family. Sometimes family just gets tired of each other and you just need a mental break to do whatever you want … I wanted to do other things.”

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