Retro Video of the Week: "I Ain't No Joke" by Eric B. & Rakim

Tomorrow marks the 35th anniversary of the release of hip hop pioneers Eric B. & Rakim's debut album, Paid in Full.  Turntablist (assuming that's a word) Eric B. and rapper Rakim met in 1985 in New York, and soon they helped change the sound of hip hop as part of the burgeoning rap and hip hop scene (particularly in the New York area) that is now referred to as "golden age hip hop."  Rakim's rapping style was much more free flowing and loose than the rappers that had preceded him, helping to influence the genre going forward and break from the more structured rhyming in early rap and hip hop.

Paid in Full reached a respectable #58 on the Billboard album chart, as well as #8 on the Billboard R&B album chart.  It has since gone platinum in the U.S. and garnered many accolades, including being ranked #61 on Rolling Stone's most recent edition of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

"I Ain't No Joke" is considered a prime example of Rakim's rapping and rhyming style, and he apparently worked extremely hard on the song to avoid having any swearing, so that it could be played on the radio.  The low-budget video is shot in places where Eric B. & Rakim hung out in New York.  Rakim's gold chains are quite thick and his rings are quite large, and there's a cameo from Flavor Flav dancing on a playground.