Lost in the shuffle between New York's old school hip-hop artists and the new L.A. "Gangsta" scene, 1987 brought us this righteous rap of a man giving up the thug life to go legit. Rakim's rhymes are backed by one of the hardest beats imaginable, sprinkled with samples including Bogie, Don Pardo and Ofra Haza; it's a veritable smorgasbord of sound!

(Extra love from me if you can name all of the samples used on this track. Or even just one or two! )