Strictly Business [Bonus Tracks] EPMD Artist

{|EPMD|}'s blueprint for {|East Coast rap|} wasn't startlingly different from many others in {|rap|}'s golden age, but the results were simply amazing, a killer blend of good groove and laid-back flow, plus a populist sense of sampling that had heads... Read more

{|EPMD|}'s blueprint for {|East Coast rap|} wasn't startlingly different from many others in {|rap|}'s golden age, but the results were simply amazing, a killer blend of good groove and laid-back flow, plus a populist sense of sampling that had heads nodding from the first listen (and revealed tastes that, like {|Prince Paul|}'s, tended toward AOR as much as classic {|soul|} and {|funk|}). A pair from Long Island, {|EPMD|} weren't real-life hardcore rappers -- it's hard to believe the same voice who talks of spraying a crowd on one track could be name-checking {|the Hardy Boys|} later on -- but their no-nonsense, monotoned delivery brooked no arguments. With their album debut, {|Strictly Business|}, {|Erick Sermon|} and {|Parrish Smith|} really turned rapping on its head; instead of simple lyrics delivered with a hyped, theatrical tone, they dropped the dopest rhymes as though they spoke them all the time. Their debut single, {|You Gots to Chill,|} was a perfect example of the {|EPMD|} revolution; two obvious samples, {|Zapp|}'s {|More Bounce to the Ounce|} and {|Kool & the Gang|}'s {|Jungle Boogie,|} doing battle over a high-rolling beat, with the fluid, collaborative {|raps|} of {|Sermon|} and {|Smith|} tying everything together with a mastery that made it all seem deceptively simple. There was really only one theme at work here -- the brilliancy of {|EPMD|}, or the worthlessness of sucker MCs -- but every note of {|Strictly Business|} proved their claims. [The 2013 reissue adds five bonus tracks including dub versions of You Gots to Chill, It's My Thing and You're a Customer, an acapella version of You Gots to Chill, and a funky mix of I'm Housin' by {|Simon Harris|}.] ~ John Bush Less