The Seventh Seal (Rakim album)

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This article contains information about a scheduled or expected future album. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content could change dramatically as the album release approaches and more information becomes available.

The Seventh Seal
Studio album by Rakim
Released	July 7, 2007
Genre	Hip Hop
Label	Ra Records
Rakim chronology
The Master (1999)	The Seventh Seal (2007)

The Seventh Seal is the 3rd solo upcoming album from Rakim. It will be released on his own label Ra Records and it's also his first album after an absence of 8 years. Rumours going around that this will be his last album.

The original title for the album was "Oh My God" and the original release date for the album was in 2002, but Rakim had label and creative differences with Dr. Dre to whom he was signed. After a parting, he recorded new songs for the album and Dr. Dre allowed him also to keep all his songs that he produced for him.

Rakim stated in 2005 in a foreign magazine that he will record songs for his album with big producers like Timbaland and DJ Premier. But there is no comfirmed information that these songs will make the final tracklist. It's not much known about the guest-appearences, except that Nas will be on the album, because Rakim stated that this will be a surprise to the fans.

The first rumoured single of the album is "It's Nothing" and was performed at the VH1 show by Rakim.

The release date was often pushed back because of finding the right moment to release it. At recent performances including SXSW 2007 Rakim has stated the album will be released on 7/7/07, although this is a Saturday, a day when cd's are generally not released. It is more likely that the album will become available on the following Tuesday (7/9/07), because CD's are almost always released on Tuesdays.

VIBE magazine said that "Seventh Seal will be a true reincarnation for New York." It is ranked 7th on About.com 27 albums to watch for in 2007.

Meaning of the title: The Seventh Seal is part of the book of revelations, which is the last book of the bible. It contains symbolism of the world being destroyed. In the Book of Revelations there are seven seals. An angel opens each of the first six seals, one at a time, and each one is a plague upon earth, leading to its destruction. They never open the Seventh Seal. It is reserved for Jesus to open, and when he opens it he will return to the Earth and it will be destroyed. The good will go to heaven, and the bad will go to hell. Basically, The Seventh Seal symbolizes the destruction of Earth, and it is to be opened by Jesus. It is also a likely reference to Rakim Allah's membership in The Nation of Gods and Earths.

While performing at Stubb's BBQ, Austin, TX on March 17, 2007, Rakim announced that "The Seventh Seal" would be released July 7, 2007. [1]

On March 23rd, Rakim stated in an interview that he would like to do a collaboration with Dipset. [2]