Eric B. Is President

"Eric B. Is President"
Single by Eric B. & Rakim
from the album Paid in Full
B-side	"My Melody"
Released	1986
Format	12"
Genre	Hip hop
Length	5:00 6:23 (Album version)
Label	Zakia Records 4th & Broadway
Writer(s)	Rakim Allah
Producer(s)	Eric B. Marley Marl (Uncredited)
Eric B. & Rakim singles chronology
"Eric B. Is President" (1986) "I Ain't No Joke" (1987)

"Eric B. Is President" is the debut single released by hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim. The bassline is an interpolation of Fonda Rae's "Over Like a Fat Rat". Marley Marl is often credited with handling production duties for the song, but Eric B. has disputed this in recent interviews. Said Eric B.:

"I took Fonda Rea’s “Over Like A Fat Rat” and said 'This is the bass line I’m going to use for this record.' Rakim spit the beer all over the wall and thought it was the funniest shit in the world. I told Rakim, just like you laughing now you going to be laughing all the way to the bank and be a millionaire one day because of this record."^[1]

As far as the production controversy, Eric B. told Allhiphop.com, "I took the records to Marley Marl’s house in Queensbridge and paid Marley Marl to be the engineer. Marley got paid. That’s why he’s not a producer, that’s why he is not getting publishing. I brought the music. I just couldn’t work the equipment because that’s not what I did..."^[1]

Samples

• "Funky President" by James Brown
• "The Champ" by The Mohawks
• "Long Red" (drums, vocals) by Mountain
• "Over Like a Fat Rat" by Fonda Rae

References

External links

• "Eric B. Is President" at Discogs