Eric B. & Rakim were an East Coast hip hop duo that popularised the jazz-influenced hip hop of the late 1980s. Despite spawning no major chart hits, the duo are generally considered to be one of the most influential and groundbreaking hip-hop groups ever. This is due to both Eric B.’s jazzy production and Rakim’s revolutionary rapping style, which was smooth, seemingly effortless, and used remarkably complex rhyming schemes, involving internal-rhymes and sophisticated metaphors. It is the general consensus that almost all modern MCs have been influenced in some way by Rakim’s rapping technique. - lastfm