but in the back of my mind I was wondering what my brothers were going through and if they’d even survive," Rakim said. "The idea was to write a song from their perspective." The lyric ...

New York rap pioneer Rakim has announced his first new album in 15 years, G.O.D.’s Network (Reb7rth), which follows 2009’s The Seventh Seal. It comes out on July 26, and pre-orders are up now.