Rakim Allah's perfectly OK with Outkast being considered the best rap group that ever lived ... he's the type of legend perfectly comfortable in his own skin.
Hip Hop's original G.O.A.T. chopped it up with TMZ Hip Hop on the streets of NYC Friday ... and we got his thoughts on his placement in Billboard's latest argument starter, their greatest rap group list.
Eric B. and Rakim came in at a solid #7 while Outkast ranked as the top dogs, and he's not tripping.
Rakim tells us while he could always make an argument for a higher ranking, he acknowledges Big Boi and Andre 3000 wooed fans by thinking outside of the box and their placement is well-deserved.
The Long Island-bred MC lyrically dominated the 1980s with forward-thinking punchlines and is currently an important part of virtually every 50th-anniversary hip hop celebration taking place this year.
He just shot a hip hop tribute with Sprite where they lined up him up next to new school stars in Latto and GloRilla, and the veteran Nas!!!
Outkast producer Sleepy Brown recently named the best album from the "best group" to be "Aquemini" the last time we spoke to him.
No worries, we're certain the Dungeon Family are big admirers of Eric B. and Rakim all the same!!!