1/24/21

Eric B. Is President (Marley Marl Remix, June 6, 1986)

It's Rakim week. Let's get into it.

On June 6, 1986, Mr. Magic and Marley Marl kicked off that night's edition of Rap Attack with Eric B. & Rakim's "Eric. B. Is President." A few days later, the show was re-broadcast on Dave Pearce's BBC Radio London show. DJ Step One posted it online in 2018. Last January, I downloaded it from the Internet Archive and clipped the "Eric B Is President" segment. Why?

Hopefully when you listen it'll be self-evident, but Marley's playing of the song on this particular night is essentially a live radio edit. In other words, what you're hearing here is Marley Marl remixing "Eric B. Is President," a song he engineered and co-produced, live on the air.

That being said, what Marley's doing with the track isn't anything too crazy. It sounds like he's basically just throwing a delay on the acapella track, which gives the song a kind of dub feel, but with only Rakim's vocals and the scratches echoing across the mix. Still, it's not something you'd expect to hear on the radio today, and with "Eric B. Is President" being the A side of his and Rakim's first single, it's a great way to kick off this year's Rakim week, the week in which Long Island Rap Records celebrates the birthday and pays tribute to the music of the greatest rapper of all time. PEACE.

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