William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name
Rakim, is an American rapper. One half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential and most skilled MCs of all time.
Eric B. & Rakim's classic album
Paid in Full was named the greatest hip hop album of all time by MTV in 2006, Steve Huey of Allmusic stated that "Rakim is near-universally acknowledged as one of the greatest MCs -- perhaps
the greatest -- of all time within the hip-hop community." The editors of About.com ranked him #1 on their list of the 'Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007)'. In 2012,
The Source ranked him #1 on their list of the 'Top 50 Lyricists of All Time'.