Rakim believes that the recent battle between Drake and Kendrick Lamar was a good thing for Hip Hop, and it “put a lot of things in perspective.”

In an interview in Billboard published on Friday (July 26), writer Angel Diaz asked the God MC if he’d been paying attention to the all-consuming feud. Diaz characterized it as Drizzy representing the “mainstream” to many fans, while K.Dot “represents the genre in a more traditional sense.”

This framing brought out a thoughtful answer from Ra.

“I think that [the battle] was important, because these brothers are at the top of the game, and revered hip-hop,” he replied. “You know, a lot of people in that position won’t accept no challenge, because they got too much to lose. So, it was dope that these brothers put the mainstream success down and said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’

“The battle put a lot of things in perspective — because it showed the difference between real hip-hop and mainstream hip-hop,” the legend continued. “Younger artists now know that there’s a difference. A lot of them didn’t even understand that.

“They just listened to the majority, not knowing that a lot of people don’t categorize what they were hearing as real hip-hop. The battle was very needed for the genre. I tip my hat to them brothers.”

The sometimes-reclusive Rakim has been giving interviews lately to promote his new album G.O.D’s Network – REB7RTH, his first since 2009’s The Seventh Seal.

While the God MC provides vocals (verses and/or hooks) on six of the project’s seven songs, his main job on the project was not as a rapper, but as a producer. He also provided scratches.

“I always was attached to making beats,” Ra told Grammy.com. “But I got to the point where I’m confident with my production now. I got the chance to produce the album and jumped at the opportunity.”

G.O.D’s Network — REB7rth features a boatload of guest artists, including Kurupt, Masta Killa, Method Man and B.G. In addition, there are contributions from four deceased rappers, courtesy of executive producer Matt “M80” Markoff.

Nipsey Hussle, Fred the Godson and Prodigy all have rhymes, and DMX shows up by way of a prayer. All of the vocals, Markoff explained, were “in my stash or under my ownership.”