One of my all time most influential groups on my current hip hop tastes is a group called EPMD, or Erick and Parrish Making Dollars (or Erick and Parrish Millenium Duckets). They’re a duo from Long Island NY, and has both embodied and shaped the East Cost Sound for over twenty years now, having released their first (and highly influential) album in 1988. I had heard of them in relation to the Hit Squad, which was a collective comprised of Erick and Parrish, Redman, Das EFX, Hurricane G, K-Solo, and Knucklehedz, but I didn’t really start listening to them until 97 or 98 when they released Back in Business. Like their earlier records Back in Business had a lot of funky, sample based beats, and great vocals.

[audio:EPMD – Da Joint.mp3]

Bonus:

[audio:Erick Sermon – Music (feat Marvin Gaye).mp3]