Eric Barrier (Eric B.) and William Griffin (Rakim), were a hip-hop duo known as Eric B. & Rakim. The pair is generally considered to be one of the most influential and groundbreaking groups in the history of hip hop, due to their dark production and Rakim's revolutionary rhyming style, which was smooth, seemingly effortless, and used remarkably complex rhyming schemes involving internal rhymes and sophisticated metaphors. Their single "I Know You Got Soul," which borrowed extensively from the Bobby Byrd record "I Know You Got Soul," was one of the era's stand-out James Brown-influenced recordings, and further popularized the extensive sampling of Mr. Brown's catalogue in an addition to other similar soul and funk artists. Headline text Career 1986-92 Eric B. & Rakim began recording together in the middle of the decade with "Eric B. Is President" (1986 in music) f