That's a great essay. Between this album, Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em, The 18th Letter and to a lesser extent Follow the Leader, there is so much about Ra's lyrics that hasn't been thoroughly analyzed yet, somebody should write a book.
just glanced at it, but i will dig deeper into it later.. what i found most interesting is the production credits that was mentioned here for the first time, like Large Pro producing "Relax w. Pep" and "What's Going On", Eric B. produced the cheesy "What's On Your Mind".
what's suprising is that they say that Rakim produced at least half the songs himself, including "Know the Ledge"... the soundtrack to "Juice" and the 12" single say the song is produced by Rakim but remixed by The Bomb Squad (Gary G-Wiz & Hank Shocklee). i also noticed Kerwin "Sleek" Young is not mentioned (he's mentioned as a production co-ordinator together with Large Pro and Richard Simmons).
Rashad Smith has also gone on record saying that he produced a few songs on "Don't Sweat the Technique", including the tile track and "Juice". that album is a damn production mystery haha, but it's an incredible album nontheless. might have to revisit it tonight :)
