Oh, My God (album)

Oh, My God is an unreleased album by East Coast emcee Rakim. It was to be released on Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope/Universal, produced largely by Dr. Dre.

In late 2000/early 2001, Dre signed Rakim to Aftermath in hopes of revolutionizing hip-hop. Over the next few years, Rakim was included on several Aftermath-related projects in an effort to re-introduce him to a younger audience. Once work on his album began in earnest, expectations were obscenely high.

From the start, creative differences arose. While Rakim was used to rhyming AbOUT deep topics and heavy social issues, Dre preferred lighter and less complex gangsterisms and party-style tracks. They did make some headway, as evidenced in the sole track that leaked, "After You Die." The song features Rakim rhyming about views of the afterlife, with a chorus later redone on Busta Rhymes' "Legend of the Fall-Offs." Another track recorded for the album was called "Cruel World," featuring West Coast emcees Ras Kass and Xzibit.

At one point, Rakim, Dre and then-staff producer Mel-Man flew out to New York City to meet with DJ Premier. They began selecting beats for the album, and Dre and Premier even attempted to collaborate on one. Creative differences between parties stayed on the rise; the final straw came when Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Aftermath's parent label, Interscope, rejected the batch of recordings Dre submitted as an advance for Oh, My God.

In 2003, Rakim and Dre decided to split ways amicably. Dre offered the use of the recorded material, but Rakim felt it was out-of-date and elected to leave the songs behind.