EPMD

Though Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith appeared to offer little on the surface with their sample-heavy beats and flat delivery, the recordings they issued as EPMD ranked among the strongest underground hip-hop releases of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Across four LPs spanning the 1988 landmark Strictly Business through 1992’s Business Never Personal, the pair stuck almost exclusively to two subjects: verbally dismissing lesser MCs and detailing their sexual encounters. Yet closer inspection showed their rhymes to be exceptionally sharp, their impact diminished only by the absence of vocal variation. The duo also possessed a strong instinct for grooves, yielding enduring hip-hop benchmarks such as “It’s My Thing,” “You Gots to Chill,” “Get the Bozack,” “Strictly Business,” and “Rampage.”

Their stark style helped shape the street-focused gangsta sound of the 1990s, even though both Sermon (aka E Double E, born November 25, 1968) and Smith (aka Pee MD, born May 13, 1968) grew up in the Long Island suburb of Brentwood. Each entered rap independently; Smith first worked as a DJ for Rock Squad on a Tommy Boy single. The two joined forces in 1987, adopting the name EPMD—an abbreviation for “Erick and Parrish Making Dollars”—and cut their debut track “It’s My Thing” in a single three-hour session. After Chrysalis licensed the single, EPMD secured a deal with Sleeping Bag/Fresh Records and released Strictly Business. Bolstered by potent singles including “You Gots to Chill” and the title cut, the album attained gold status, as did its 1989 successor Unfinished Business. Signed to Def Jam at the start of the decade, the duo delivered Business as Usual in 1990 and Business Never Personal two years later.

By 1992 they oversaw an extended circle known as the Hit Squad that featured Redman, K-Solo, and Das EFX. The partnership dissolved later that year, leading each member to launch solo work: Sermon issued No Pressure in 1993, while Smith released Shade Business in 1994. EPMD reunited in 1997 for the well-received comeback album Back in Business. Out of Business appeared in 1999, yet the rappers kept developing individual projects through the late 1990s and early 2000s. Both continued issuing solo records, and Sermon joined Redman and Keith Murray in the Def Squad supergroup. They also maintained live appearances together as EPMD, returning to the studio in 2008 for We Mean Business.