What do you believe is the most important paradigm shift in Hip-Hop?

For me it’s the release of "Eric B. Is President".

I've recently immersed myself in 80s Hip-Hop to gain a deeper insight into the culture, and before this song dropped, I found that many of the songs people rave about didn't do anything for me. The sole exception was Run DMC's "Rock Box," which caught my attention because of its incredible guitar riff.

“Eric B. Is President” changed all that though.

Rakim is a beast! Dude truly defined the concept of "flow" in Rap because after listening to so many high-energy songs with simple ass rhyme patterns from artists like LL Cool J, Run-DMC, and the early days of Boogie Down Productions, Rakim’s delivery was a breath of fresh air.

No disrespect to the legends before him but their shit didn’t sound like his! No wonder he’s consider the GOAT by many.