Business-Minded

07/23/1999 1:00 PM, LAUNCH
Kim Osorio

Since their introduction to hip-hop, Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith have been about one thing: business. Now, with the turn of the new millennium, the two veterans, still recognized as hip-hop's favorite hardcore pioneers, are about to close up shop with their last CD, Out Of Business. Well, not officially. "We're trying to get rid of the 'business' title. If we get rid of that and start with something new, we can come back and shock 'em," says Sermon.

As always, the two members of EPMD are involved in more than just rapping, and despite its title, this album in no way represents the end of their careers. For starters, Sermon has just launched Def Squad Entertainment, a record label under DreamWorks. As CEO of the label, he was responsible for the release of the critically acclaimed R&B album Ghetto Hymns from former Blackstreet lead singer Dave Hollister. Currently, he is heavily involved in the production aspect of Redman & Method Man's upcoming album, America's Most Blunted. As for Smith, he is also working on projects outside of EPMD, including a new Das EFX album.

But even though Erick and Parrish have often pursued separate paths, they always seem to come back to EPMD. Their breakup in the early '90s shocked fans, and when they got back together, many didn't believe they could bring back that same EPMD flavor, but fortunately they did. "We left at the peak of our career. We left the game under certain circumstances. We just feel that we still got something to offer. This right here is gonna set it off. Hip-hop is back on our turf," says Erick.

On Out Of Business, the duo delivers more of the underground street hip-hop with songs like "The Symphony," "Hold Me Down," and "Right Now." Says Sermon, "After the last album came out and sold records, we had a little clique. Somebody was watching, either the young cats or those that used to buy us. We got mad love, so we decided to go back in and do another one."

An added bonus to the group's sixth album is the limited-edition greatest-hits CD that comes with it. Parrish comments, "That came from Erick and I looking at hip-hop take a bad turn. We would have played ourselves if we didn't familiarize the new generation with where 'You A Customer' or 'Get The Bozack' came from. So it was very important to drop a new song with all our old stuff so people could automatically relate once they buy the tape."

And it's that classic hip-hop that so many hip-hop groups have modeled their music after. "I think Mobb Deep shocked the world the same way EPMD did in our day," Erick remarks about the current state of hip-hop. And without a doubt, EPMD has definitely been the group that has handled their business, and paved the way.