You're right, saying that is bold. Why? Because it takes a lot of balls to make a claim that's probably not true.
So let's go by your definition of great MC. I guess the top 5 MC's would be Pac, 2Pac, Tupac Shakur, Tupac, and Makaveli. Why? Because nobody else fits your definition. If being an MC was all about having multiple personalities, then it'd be a pretty limited profession. Let's completely ignore flow, rhyme skills, lyrical creativity, and complex rhyme patterns.
Your arguments are so flawed it's amazing. You say it's not all about "this," but then instead of saying it's about everything, you say it's all about "that." You cannot ignore all the aspects of being an MC. Yes, you have to have quality content and you have to be versatile with it, but you choose to ignore everything else
right after telling me that I can't ignore the other aspects.
I don't know how much of Rakim you've listened to, but I take it not much. Rakim has great content over a large sphere of issues. And you want to know how well it transitions? So well that
you don't even notice it.
On a musical level he can't be touched? Really? Name all the great production works he did. I don't know if you actually meant to you use the term "musically" or not, but if you did than you're an idiot. Who do you think do most of the production on the Eric B. & Rakim albums? I'll give you a hint - his name isn't Eric B.
Your charcteristics of a great MC:
Relevance
Unless inner city crime has been completely abolished and racial issues no longer exist, I have no idea what you mean when you say he's not relevant to today. I guess songs like "In the Ghetto" can't be applied to today.
And if you're talking about relevant to today's music, I guess you're right. No rappers take from Ra anymore. Contemporary East and West Coast style's don't take from his style at all. And as for his lines, no one takes from them either. Oh, wait..
"Taking off my coat, clearing my throat / My rhyme'll be kickin' it 'til I hit my last note" - Rakim, "Eric B. Is President"
"Bare witness to the dopest fucking rhyme I wrote / Taking off my coat, clearing my throat" - 2Pac, "Got My Mind Made Up"
Paid in Full - Rakim
Paper'd Up - Snoop Dogg
Appeal
No one puts it down for him in today's era of rap either. Oh, wait..
U.B.R. (Unauthorized Biography of Rakim) - Nas
"My favorite rapper used to sing, 'Check, check out my melody" - 50 Cent, "Hate It or Love It"
Great Body of Work
Paid in Full - classic
Follow the Leader - classic
Let the Rhythm Hit Em - classic
Don't Sweat the Technique - classic
The 18th Letter - classic
The Master - good
Brings Change to Music
Do I even need to argue this?
You forget that rap is what it is today because of Rakim. That alone makes him relevant to today. Not to mention your G.O.A.T. also put Ra's name or words in his music on almost every album he released when he was alive.
Your typewriter analogy is horrible. I have a better one:
Rakim is Nintendo and all of today's rappers are Xbox and Play Station 2. Most of today's kids might be playing Xbox and PS2, but at the end of the day everyone always talks about that classic Super Mario shit.