EPMD "Business Never Personal" (30th Anniversary)

Thumpin' fat, no-bullshit hardcore funk is the best description for this LP. Erick and Parrish are back, catchin' mad wreck and solidifying their position as one of the premier groups in hardcore hip-hop. The trademark EPMD slow-flow rhyme style and no-nonsense lyrics combined with their no-nonsense delivery hit you like a Tek-9 slug. And with an abundance of funky hard beats, this one promises to keep your neck jerkin'. "Crossover" deals with the sellout mentality in rap. "Cummin' At Ya" is a duet with the diggedy-Das EFX that has all four MC's flippin' shit over a fat slow beat. And "Boon Dox," with it's exploding bass, is simply the Long Island anthem. Don't forget to check for "Play The Next Man," warning of scandalous females, and "Headbanger," the Hit Squad posse cut that features MVP performances by K-Solo and Redman. Business Never Personal is EPMD at their best. With 12 cuts of pure slammin' funk, there's not going to be much fast-forwarding on this one. Chalk up another gold dish for the Hit Squad in '92. Swayze kids. - The Source (March, 1992). I got this tape at Sam Goody in the Metro Mall in Queens. You had to walk the tracks to the mall, come out through the parking lot or walk down the hill which was a no-go in the winter. I think I might've lost my copy and got another through Columbia House... but that's a whole other story. In any event, I remember taping a copy of "Headbanger" from the radio and waiting eagerly for the album's release. I credit 1994 as my favorite year in hip-hop, but my excitement for music in 1992 was probably at its highest heights. Business Never Personal was one of the reasons why, revisit the album below...

The review in The Source, ads and more below...

EPMD "Unfinished Business" (1989)

"I was working a lot for a label called Sleeping Bag Records and I had photographed EPMD on a few occasions. They were already a legendary duo, Erick 'E-Double' Sermon and Parrish 'PMD' Smith, or 'Erick and Parrish Making Dollars' as they are commonly known. They told me to meet them at a specific spot near where they lived in Babylon, Long Island: 'Go down this road, you're going to hit the water, and we will be there at noon.' "So, I got there at noon with my assistant, and they didn't turn up. It was winter, probably November, so the sun was setting pretty early. I was used to rappers being late, but the guys were really late. At 3:00pm the light started to go down, and we had been waiting for several hours, so we finally went to find a phone box to call their manager. He told me they were getting their rims polished up in the Bronx and I'm like 'The Bronx! That's hours away and the sun is going down!' "Just as I was finishing the call, I heard the V-8 engine roar and they came roaring down the road. I got them to form a V-shape with their cars, which I thought would showcase them well for the shoot. They they got out and they were wearing these outfits that looked like pajamas. That look ushered in this new style of casual sweatsuits and a whole new look for hip-hop. We didn't have stylists or hair and makeup people back then, so it was purely their own unique style. The whole session took about half an hour and turned out to be a really important shoot, especially since the cars, a Mercedes 300SL & a Chevy IROC-Z, were considered a status symbol in car culture. The rims matter, they're a culture of their own, and that's why they were up in the Bronx for so long getting theirs rims polished. I'm glad I waited..." - Janette Beckman

I've read conflicting research on the official release date for EPMD's Unfinished Business. Some say August 1, 1989 and others have it at July 25, 1989. I've even seen April 1, 1989. I'd read an article in Spin that promoted the release date to be "mid-July," but it could have been pushed back, so to this day, I am not 100% certain if it's August or July, 1989. What I do know, however, is that "So Wat Cha Sayin'", "Get The Bozack," "Please Listen To My Demo," "Knick Knack Patty Wack" and especially "The Big Payback" got a ton of burn from a younger Sav in Queens, NY. Their style was extremely influential, and their singles on cassette and vinyl, as well as their LPs were a guaranteed purchase! As an aspiring DJ at 10-11 years old, you can picture me in the basement practicing DJ Scratch's cuts to "The Big Payback" like my life depended on it. I'm thankful I had opportunities to meet and build with E-Double and PMD over the years, show them love and appreciation, and humbly receive their support in return. Revisit Unfinished Business below and pick up a copy of Contact High, which has incredible images and stories from the photographers who've helped document the culture.

EPMD "Business Never Personal" (July 28, 1992)

The members of EPMD (Erick Sermon and Parrish Making Dollars) don't want to be media angels loved and adored by millions. They'd rather be hardcore -- and consistently well-paid... "I'm satisfied with the same fans I've had for the last five years," says Erick Sermon (aka E-Double E). His partner Parrish Smith (aka Pee MD) adds "We just want to focus on the relationship we have with our audience." To this end, Def Jam will release EPMD's fourth album, "Business Never Personal" ... "We just did what we do," says Smith, who produced the release with Sermon. The album, which doesn't deviate from the loopy, often amusing basement style developed on their previous efforts, is being previewed by the Zapp-influenced single "Crossover," which came out July 2nd. It advocates creative control as it admonishes the hip-hop sellouts... Other tracks on "Business Never Personal" further expound of EPMD's hardcore principles. "Don't Play Me Play The Next Man" delivers a warning to skeezers. "Boon Dox" reveals where EPMD comes from, and "Nothing But The Music" brags about what the act relies on for success. On two cuts the group freestyles with K-Solo, Redman, and Das EFX -- acts that are part of EPMD's Hit Squad production crew. And there's yet another chapter in the saga of that neighborhood female with "an Anita Baker haircut," Jane ("Who Killed Jane"). Meanwhile, "Headbanger" advises fans who want to purchase "Business Never Personal" to "drop by Sam Goody's." This is EPMD's contribution to the battle hip-hop acts wage against bootleggers. The article in Billboard (July 11, 1992) goes on to claim that Erick Sermon felt an additional 1.5 million copies of Strictly Business were bootlegged, and that artists would approach vendors with guns drawn, but it's better to just stick to the music. The label also shared that "At retail, Sony will distribute "business cards" containing an 800 number. "When you call it, you will hear bits of songs from the album as well as messages from Erick and Parrish." I miss the 800 numbers, but I don't remember calling for Business Never Personal, despite it getting a ton of replay value form me in 1992. EPMD's Business Never Personal was released on this day in 1992. Revisit the album below...

Below is the full article in Billboard with marketing plans and more...

EPMD "Business Partners" (Vibe, 8/08)

EPMD brings the suburbs to hip-hop - and the funk to the party: "Sporting fishermen hats and a slack style, Long Island duo EPMD's debut, Strictly Business (Priority), was the first hip-hop album to celebrate the splendor of suburbia. "It was the Just-Ice single 'Latoya' that inspired us to rap in the first place, but we didn't come from the same kind of environment," says Parrish Smith. "Me and Erick Sermon grew up near the water, so we thought the caps would best represent where we came from. We were confident in our skills, so we had no problem being different." Signed to the now-defunct Sleeping Bag Records (where labelmates included Mantronix, Just-Ice, Cash Money & Marvelous and Nice & Smooth), the duo's first demo contained the original mixes of "It's My Thing" and "You're a Customer." Laughing at the memory, Smith says, "We didn't even know what samplers were then. We recorded everything on tape and spliced it together later." While their name stood for Erick and Parrish Making Dollars, the moniker EPMD soon became synonymous with soulful samples and computerized funk... the Sermon/Smith style laid the sonic foundation for Dr. Dre's soon-to-come G-Funk." An example of that is their smash "You Gots To Chill," watch below...

"Indeed, famed West Coast radio station 93.5 KDAY, whose program director Greg Mack was instrumental in helping Los Angeles develop its own hip-hop aesthetic, was one of the first to play "It's My Thing." Virgil Simms, Sleeping Bag's then vice president of promotion, says, "Mr. Magic and Marley Marl showed us much love at home in New York, but it was the reaction from KDAY's audience that helped break that single. We had the clubs on lock." ... Sermon says the group just flipped the records they liked. "Strictly Business was recorded and finished in two weeks at producer Charlie Marotta's studio," says Sermon, who experienced solo and group success with Def Squad after the group split in 1993. "Me and Parrish wasn't using James Brown samples because we were listening to different kinds of things; we simply sampled what we were feeling." ... Touring and working ... the boys from Brentwood are back together - and still about their business." - Vibe

The Return of the Hit Squad (2/24/12)

February 24th, 2012: the Return of the Hit Squad: EPMD, Redman, Das Efx, K-Solo, and special guest, Keith Murray. The reunion show was at the Best Buy Theater (now called the Playstation Theater) in NYC. Method Man also touched the stage, as well as DJ Scratch holding it down. The final track of the night was the posse cut, 'Headbanger,' with Redman crowd-surfing! Where were you when one of the greatest collectives in music hit the stage live in New York City? A great reunion show.

EPMD "Business As Usual" (The Source, 1991)

"EPMD got biz! I got this tape three weeks ago and it's been in my walkman ever since mainly because it's dope from beginning to end. The first side starts off with two cuts featuring two of their boys. "Hardcore" shows off the rough, "knockin' heads like Mike Nunn" style of Redman over a slow beat and a lazy loop. And LL Cool J displays much skills on "Rampage," which is sort of a modified "Jinglin' Baby" complete with the chorus - "Slowdown, Baby," instead of "Jinglin' Baby." After that it goes into "Jane 3," the third of the "Jane" series about a girl that they ran into on each album. Flip to the B-side and "Rap Is Outta Control" will have you flipping; they drop crazy lyrics over the most simple (sounding) of tracks. "Funky Piano" is time for DJ Scratch to get off... and does he. It was no accident that Scratch won the DJ Battle for World Supremacy in '89 and I think he proves that here when he cuts up "Pump Me Up" from the old school jam of the same name.... There are still several hype cuts that I haven't mentioned. Believe me, the whole thing is dope." I don't know if it's my imagination or if Erick and Parrish actually got better on the mic? They have always been great lyricists, but on this LP they rock styles that we haven't seen from them before... I hope that EPMD will never change, because they are one group out there that's not trying to be like someone else. All they want to do is improve on their own act and this album proves that they're not bullshitting." - The Source, February 1991. Revisit this classic album from EPMD below...

EPMD's Business As Usual in The Source, February 1991...

EPMD's Press Release Announcing Break-Up (January 26, 1993)

On January 26, 1993, the following press release was sent out regarding the break-up of EPMD: "Parrish Smith and Erick Sermon, collectively known as Def Jam/Chaos recordings artists E.P.M.D., have announced that they are parting ways due to personal differences. The hardcore rap duo's latest LP, Business Never Personal, has been certified gold, as have its three prior albums Strictly Business, Unfinished Business, and Business As Usual. Rush Communications Chairman Russell Simmons has commented that he is hopeful that the group will get "back to business." Both artists released solo projects before reuniting in 1997 to release their comeback LP, Back In Business and have since recorded Out Of Business, We Mean Business and are currently working on new music. 

EPMD "Crossover" (The Source, September 1992)

"Erick and Parrish would not put out a single if it wasn't funky, so right away you know you need to buy this one. This time the boys come out of the box with a hard look at a serious disease that has infected hip-hop - the dreaded "crossover syndrome." How many times have you seen a rapper come out hard and street, only to see him or her deteriorate into a bubble bath taking, pop radio loving, sucker MC? EPMD have seen enough of that noise, and over a fat Zapp chorus they start pluckin' cards. With underground flavor, they drop lines like: "The rap era's out of control / Brothers sellin' their soul, to go gold / Going ...going ...gone, another rapper - SOLD!" and "Came on the scene chillin' / Freakin' the funky dope lines / But when they're finished with you - *BEEEP* - flatline!"

"I speak for the hardcore (rough, rugged and raw)

I'm outta here, catch me chillin' on my next tour

From the US to the white cliffs of Dover

Strictly underground funk, keep the Crossover..."