2018 reissue, originally released in 1988 - 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.
W1 | Strictly Business | 4:43 |
W2 | Because I'm Housin' | 3:59 |
W3 | Let The Funk Flow | 4:14 |
X1 | You Got's To Chill | 4:20 |
X2 | It's My Thing | 5:41 |
Y1 | You're A Customer | 5:23 |
Y2 | The Steve Martin | 4:37 |
Z1 | Get Off The Bandwagon | 4:19 |
Z2 | D.J. K La Boss | 4:27 |
Z3 | Jane | 2:56 |