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Rakim celebrated the 25th anniversary of Paid In Full two nights ago with two shows at the Blue Note Jazz Club in Manhattan. Backstage, MTV caught up with the God and his esteemed back-up band, The Roots, as they spoke on the event.

“The Roots is hip-hop royalty right now,” Rakim said. “From what they do, what they bring to the table, for them to holla at me, put this together, invite me out, that let me know, ‘Yo, it’s official.’ Otherwise, they wouldn’t. It’s a good feeling to be around this long and still get that love.”