With hip-hop music ruling the pop charts and churning out world-class chart acts right and left, the time probably couldn't be more apt for the return of one of the music's first and most influential stars, the rapper Rakim. Four years after bailing out of the much-admired duo Eric B. & Rakim, years filled with contract disputes and a consequent split from his partner and producer, Eric B., Rakim is back on the scene now with a new album and hopes for a major comeback. Abbie Kearse weighs the odds.

ABBIE KEARSE: Over ten years ago, Eric B. & Rakim made their mark in rap history. The lyrical genius and rhyming power of Rakim was unmatched by any MC before ["Follow The Leader" video clip, 479k QuickTime]. Rakim, who has influenced artists today such as Nas and AZ, is considered a true rap legend. In a recent review, "The Washington Post" called Rakim the "Jimi Hendrix and Charlie Parker of rap". (To Rakim) Do you think of yourself as a legend in hip-hop?

RAKIM: Hmmm... Well, when people call me that I take it as a blessing you know what I'm saying. But I'm on it like this, a legend is somebody that's like finished with their craft and always looked back to, like, a measuring stick, you what I mean? And I'm no where near finished. But if they want to give me that title right now, I'll hold it and I'll expand on it, a living legend. Like I said on one of my joints, the legacy lives, you know what I¹m saying?

MTV: Yes, the legacy lives on as Rakim, whose new solo album, "The 18th Letter," has been critically praised for bringing lyrical skills back to hip-hop. We got a rare treat to witness Rakim at his best: behind the mic rehearsing for a performance on "The Chris Rock Show."

KEARSE: You were always somebody that was hard to pin down and do an interview. This is different. You're here, you were on time (she smiles)... so is this a new Rakim?

RAKIM: You could say that, 'cause before I was with Eric B., and he was the type of person who loved to go to the interviews and the radio stations an things of that nature. And me, I was always more focused into the notebook, studio and the stage. But Eric B. ain't here anymore and I feel I have to step up and tell the people what they want to hear.

KEARSE: Four years, especially in hip-hop, is a long time to be out of it, so were you ever considering retiring, were you ever at a point where you're like, I'm done with this?

RAKIM: Nah, 'cause I started something and the fans won't just let me back up out of it, you know? You get frustrated at how you might see how the course of hip-hop is changing and things of that nature, but that right there just wanted me to hurry up and get back in it. I just want to give people what I call just hip-hop, you know, none of the watered-down sciences, none of the trendy things that are going on right now. I just gave them Rakim.

Rakim's new album, "The 18th Letter," topped the rap charts and debuted at number 4, pop. As for the long-gone Eric B., a man Rakim once nominated for president, he's currently a label executive at Street Life Records in Los Angeles.