 Rakim, in 1986, gave us flow and that was the rhyme style from 1986 to 1994. from that point on, anybody emceeing was forced to focus on their flow".Kool Moe Dee explains that before Rakim, the term 'flow' wasn't widely used – "Rakim is basically the inventor of flow.We were not even using the word flow until Rakim came along.