Business? Not cool, is it? Stiffs in fits and ties grafting at a desk and pondering solely of revenue? The place’s the enjoyable in that? EPMD discovered it. And let’s be clear – these guys had been critical about revenue. That’s why they had been referred to as Erick And Parrish Making {Dollars}. Their debut album, Strictly Business, did it for them; they made loads of Benjamins. And the remainder of us? We had a celebration from listening to them do it.
Hearken to Strictly Business now.
Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith emerged within the mid-80s. These united microphone princes of Brentwood, Lengthy Island, lower their debut single, “It’s My Thing,” in 1987, for the Manhattan-based indie label Sleeping Bag, who put them on its Contemporary imprint, which till that time had a rap roster largely comprising the underrated giants T La Rock and Simply Ice. EPMD would quickly develop into Contemporary’s biggest-selling act, having fun with an increase to pop chart success that started with Strictly Business, the 1988 album that made No.1 on Billboard’s R&B chart. It’s not onerous to see why: downbeat, effortlessly funky, lean and uncooked, Strictly Business is strictly bigness: it’s irresistible.
Excellent product
Kicking off with the title observe, EPMD make their model clear from the off: their dry, relaxed voices discuss to you with out haranguing, stating their enterprise and telling it as they see it. It’s right here which you can instantly hear the quite a few others they influenced; the vocal circulation of UMCs and a proportion of the phrasing of Shock G of Digital Underground, for instance. The intentionally unfussy use of beats, holding it funky and direct, would sway among the artists on Scrumptious Vinyl just a few years later. And EPMD took beats the place they discovered them: did Eric Clapton ever sound as funky as he does in inadvertent help of “Strictly Business”?
“Let The Funk Flow” superbly slices and re-edits The JB’s “(It’s Not The Express) It’s The JB’s Monaurail” to create a gradual and heavyweight grind that churns under a right here’s what’s occurring proper now lyric: you’re listening to the second we’re creating whilst you’re listening to it. The mission assertion “You Gots To Chill” (there’s none extra chilled than Erick and Parrish) betrays the affect of Eric B & Rakim’s “Paid In Full,” dropping as ashy as a saltfish within the Gobi desert and making good use of Zapp’s rubberfunk traditional “More Bounce To The Ounce.” Chill? They do nothing else, even sounding completely languid when warning off bitin’ rivals. The document went on to sway Snoop Dogg, one in all many MCs to present it a nod of lyrical approval.
Even when the blokes are messin’ wit’ ya, as on “The Steve Martin,” a dance-craze tune that didn’t fairly begin a dance craze, the beats nonetheless slide like an oiled sidewinder. “You’re A Customer,” with its alluring snatches of Steve Miller Band’s “Fly Like An Eagle” and the album’s second chunk of Kool & The Gang’s “Jungle Boogie,” nonetheless resonates by means of hip-hop as we speak, with the mighty Parrish being significantly lyrically ripe, evaluating rivals to one thing bathroom paper may wipe off, and Erick paying off with the road that different MCs are mainly paying to be sustained by their good verbal product.
EPMD’s debut single, the Lyn Collins-sampling “It’s My Thing,” and the “give the DJ some” “DJ K La Boss” are each in good step with the remainder: that is an completely cohesive affair. “I’m Housin’,” which made an exploratory displaying within the UK charts after a chunky dance remix, shrugs alongside on a pattern of Aretha’s “Rock Steady” that’s complete groove. Like “Get Off The Bandwagon” and just about each different observe on Strictly Business, that is an assertion of EPMD’s proper to be the place their rivals usually are not.
The actual deal
You possibly can argue that EPMD’s debut document discovered a components and caught with it. Nevertheless it by no means loses its gleam, being sufficiently different and, sure, real sufficient to retain your consideration. For purists, that is the actual deal. For informal listeners, it shakes the butt and tickles the mind with mentions of, say, material softener and a model of cooking oil. And there are innuendoes aplenty, delivered with out the slightest mugging: after they counsel you’re taking off your coat, you assume they wanna go away it at that?
Launched on June 7, 1988, Strictly Business could also be a debut album, nevertheless it fed quite a few different MCs in addition to EPMD’s personal soon-to-be-soaring standing. They usually left calling playing cards for his or her future work: all their albums have “Business” of their title, plus the document closes with “Jane,” the opening assault in a intercourse and dissin’ saga that has helped maintain the duo for many years. Strictly Business is strictly cool. And when an album is that this good, no marvel Erick and Parrish made {dollars}.
Strictly Business could be purchased right here.
