EPMD

EPMD is an American rap group that was founded in 1986 in Long Island, New York by Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith. The two were childhood friends and recorded their first album together while on a college break in 1987. Their debut album "Strictly Business" went to number one on the R&B chart in 1988 and went gold.http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/epmd/biography

While other rappers may have been interested in making a cultural statement, EPMD made it clear from the beginning that their main goal was to make money. The group's name stands for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars" and the overall theme of all of their albums was business.http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/epmd/biography The second album released by the group in 1989 was entitled "Unfinished Business". It also went gold.http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/epmd/bio.jhtml

Over the next three years, EPMD released three more gold albums with hit singles that include The Big Payback, Headbanger and Crossover. In 1993 the group broke up over Smith's suspicion that Sermon was involved in a robbery of his house. They both pursued solo careers until their reunion in 1997 with Back in Business. Their final album as a duo, Out of Business, was released in 1999 and afterward they both worked on other projects. Beginning in 2006, they began touring together, most notably as part of the Rock the Bells concert series. In 2008, they began working on their seventh album, We Mean Business'.http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/epmd/bio.jhtml

As a group, EPMD's influence on hip-hop is seen in their involvement with the rise of several other popular artists. They helped to form the Hit Squad in 1992 which included newcomers, K-Solo, Das Efx, and Redman. Later, during a hiatus from the group, Erick Sermon teamed up with Redman and Keith Murray to form the Def Squad.http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/epmd/bio.jhtml

• 1988: Strictly Business
• 1989: Unfinished Business
• 1990: Business as Usual
• 1992: Business Never Personal
• 1997: Back in Business
• 1999: Out of Business
• 2008: We Mean Business