In 1987, when he was just 17, Rakim released his first album Paid in Full with sidekick Eric B., and the track "Eric B. for President" instantly became a hip-hop classic. Although The Master, his second solo release doesn't match the freshness and energy of that early work, Rakim's rich-as-gold rhymes are as smooth and full of groove as ever. He flows effortlessly in funky tracks like "Uplift" and "All Night Long," and his silver-tongued baritone plays skillfully against Nneaka Morton's soft vocals in "I'll Be There." But it's in "When I Be On Tha Mic" that Rakim proves he is still master of tight verbal syncopation, complex rhyme schemes, and unforgettable lines: "DJs display tricks like the Matrix/Make the record fly undetected by the naked eye/So just feel the vibe 'cos your ears never lie."

On some tracks, however, The Master suffers from dull production that doesn't do justice to Rakim's lyrical skill. Much of the music on the album lacks the ingenuity and funkiness of Rakim's previous recordings, and even the scratching that appears in most of the tracks sounds bland. But despite these shortcomings, Rakim still lives up to his reputation as master of the mic. He'll make you clap to this. B