Hailing from Brentwood, New York and armed with a vibrantly original sonic vision, the pioneering duo of Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith, collectively known as EPMD, arrived on the hip-hop scene in the late 1980s and quickly became an influential force in that heady era.
UMe honors EPMD’s contributions to the art of hip-hop with new two-LP vinyl reissues of the duo’s first two seminal albums, 1988’s Strictly Business and 1989’s Unfinished Business. These classic albums have been unavailable on vinyl for decades, and these reissues mark their long-awaited return to the format in which fans first came to know them. Both albums have also been released in colored-vinyl editions that are available exclusively from the online retailer Urban Legends.
Strictly Business stood out from most of the competition with its funk-flavored, sample-heavy sound, which instantly established EPMD as an influential force in the genre. For instance, the album’s title track made prominent use of samples from Eric Clapton’s “I Shot the Sheriff,” while the classic hit “You Gots to Chill” was one of the first of many to use ’80s funk combo Zapp’s “More Bounce to the Ounce,” which soon became an enduring hip-hop sample source. “You’re A Customer” combines pieces of Steve Miller’s “Fly Like an Eagle,” Kool and the Gang’s “Jungle Boogie” and the bass line from ZZ Top’s “Cheap Sunglasses.” The humorous “Jane,” about an ill-fated romantic rendezvous, would inspire no less than five sequels on subsequent albums.
Unfinished Business finds EPMD (short for “Erick and Parrish Making Dollars”) honing its grooves while sharpening its lyrical attack on such standout tracks as “So Wat Cha Sayin’,” “Total Kaos,” “Get the Bozack,” “the cautionary “You Had Too Much to Drink” and the self-explanatory “Please Listen to My Demo.”
Erick and Parrish would continue to expand their creative horizons on future albums, firmly establishing EPMD as one of hip-hop’s most reliable creative forces. To many fans, though, these early albums represent the duo’s finest work, and retain their freshness three decades after their creation.
See tracklist below.
Strictly Business (2LP)
A1 – Strictly Business
A2 – Because I’m Housin’
A3 – So Let The Funk Flow
B1 – You Gots To Chill
B2 – It’s My Thing
C1 – You’re A Customer
C2 – The Steve Martin
D1 – Get Off The Bandwagon
D2 – D.J. K La Boss
D3 – Jane
Unfinished Business (2LP)
A1 So Wat Cha Sayin’
A2 Total Kaos
A3 Get The Bozack
B1 Jane II
B2 Please Listen To My Demo
B3 It’s Time 2 Party
B4 Who’s Booty
C1 The Big Payback
C2 Strictly Snappin’ Necks
C3 Knick Knack Patty Wack
D1 You Had Too Much To Drink
D2 It Wasn’t Me, It Was The Fame
To order the colored vinyl of Strictly Business and Unfinished Business go here: https://UrbanLegends.lnk.to/EPMDStrictlyBusiness2LP
