EPMD

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EPMD
Erick Sermon (left) and Parrish Smith (right) at the 2013 Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival
Erick Sermon (left) and Parrish Smith (right) at the 2013 Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival
General information
origin Long Island , New York , USA
Genre (s) Hip-Hop :
East Coast hip-hop , hardcore rap
founding 1987, 1997; 2006
resolution 1992; 1999
Founding members
Erick Sermon
Rapper / producer
 Parrish Smith

EPMD is an American hip-hop duo from Long Island , New York . It consists of Erick Sermon (born November 25, 1968 ) and Parrish Smith (born May 13, 1968 ). The most common interpretation of the acronym is " E rick and P arrish M aking D ollars" partially the abbreviation is also as " E rick and P arrish M illennium D ucats" or " E rick and P arrish M icrophone D interpreted Octors".

history

Both members grew up in Brentwood , Long Island. Nevertheless, they started their music careers independently. However, they only had their first successes after they founded EPMD in 1987. The first joint work was the single It's My Thing , which was recorded in three hours. It was later licensed to Chrysalis Records , which resulted in a placement on the UK music charts . In addition, she brought the duo a record deal with Fresh Records , through which they released their first two albums Strictly Business (1988) and Unfinished Business (1989), which were distributed by Priority Records . Both long players were awarded the RIAA gold record for sales of more than 500,000 copies each in the USA .

The group then switched to Def Jam Recordings . There followed two more albums in 1990 and 1992 with Business as Usual and Business Never Personal , each of which also received gold, as did the single Crossover , which thus became the duo's most successful song. At the same time, they were leaders of the hip-hop collective The Hit Squad , in which, among others, the careers of Redman and Das EFX began.

However, the duo split in late 1992 and both members started solo careers. In 1997 the reunification followed with the album Back in Business , which again achieved gold status. In 1999, the duo separated again with the release of Out of Business . It became the first full-length player in the group who did not receive an award from the RIAA.

After Sermon and Smith had taken care of their solo careers again in the episode, they joined forces again in 2006 and recorded the seventh studio album We Mean Business , which was released in 2008. For the first time they couldn't reach any charts with it.

Then both performed together regularly, but new music was no longer brought onto the market.

Style and reception

EPMD's lyrics consist mainly of battle rap and narratives about sex, which made the group into representatives of hardcore rap . However, this simple topic selection was processed into complex rhyme structures.

The rhymes were performed in a slow, monotonous flow , which was particularly characterized by the fact that the pitch hardly changed during the verses. This style was developed to compensate for Erick Sermon's lisp .

The accompanying background music, especially on the first two albums, was characterized by numerous samples taken from the genres of Adult Orientated Rock , Soul and Funk . Then the use of samples was cut back a bit and more of our own elements were produced.

EPMD is considered to be one of the most influential duos in hip-hop history, which helped usher in the so-called Golden Age . Because of the frequent use of funk samples and the explicit texts, they are also considered pioneers of gangsta rap , especially G-funk .

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1988 Strictly business - US80
gold
gold

(24 weeks)US
Sales: + 500,000
1989 Unfinished business - US53
gold
gold

(14 weeks)US
Sales: + 500,000
1990 Business as usual UK69 (1 week)
UK 		US36
gold
gold

(21 weeks)US
Sales: + 500,000
1992 Business Never Personal - US14th
gold
gold

(18 weeks)US
Sales: + 500,000
1997 Back in business UK100 (1 week)
UK 		US16
gold
gold

(11 weeks)US
Sales: + 500,000
1999 Out of business - US13 (8 weeks)
US
2008 We mean business - -

Compilations

  • 1999: Greatest Hits
  • 2009: Original Business
  • 2014: Icon

Singles with chart positions

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE UK UK US US
1987 It's My Thing
Strictly Business 		- UK97 (1 week)
UK 		-
1988 Strictly Business
Strictly Business 		- UK90 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
1989 I'm Housin '
Strictly Business 		- UK89 (1 week)
UK 		-
1992 Crossover
Business Never Personal 		- - US42
gold
gold

(20 weeks)US
Sales: + 500,000
1997 The Joint
Back in Business 		- - US94 (3 weeks)
US
1998 Strictly Business
Blade - Soundtrack 		DE85 (5 weeks)
DE 		UK43 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
Mantronic vs. EPMD

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Allmusic : EPMD | Biography & History
  2. ↑ a b Allmusic: Strictly Business - EPMD | Songs, reviews, credits
  3. ↑ a b laut.de : EPMD
  4. ↑ Allmusic: Business as Usual - EPMD | Songs, reviews, credits
  5. ↑ Chart sources (albums):
  6. ↑ RIAA : Searchable database with search for "epmd"
  7. ↑ Chart sources (singles):