The Green-Eyed Bandit Erick Sermon heightened his impact on Hip-Hop as one half of the legendary group EPMD, and recently the Long Island native stopped by VladTV to discuss how EPMD’s early success impacted his life as an MC and as a man, people mistaking the group’s sound for being from California, and how Ice Cube first told EPMD that he planned to leave N.W.A. When commenting about the group’s debut ‘Strictly Business’ earning a spot on the Billboard 200, Erick explains, “It was a phenomenon…If my group didn’t break up, there’s no telling where we would have been, ’cause we was out of control.” While traveling down memory lane, he refers to other artists like Das EFX, Redman, and K-Solo, who themselves earned acclaim from the lane that EPMD helped to pave. The “Symphony” spitter then says, “I remember one time that I looked at the Billboard and it had all four of us on the charts at the same time,” adding, “That was something unbelievable at the time.” As the convo then covers other accomplishments, Erick talks about how the funky sound of EPMD led some listeners to believe that the Brentwood, Long Island residents were actually from Brentwood, California. Soon, the discussion turns to another iconic Hip-Hop group, N.W.A., and Sermon reveals that while Ice Cube was on tour with EPMD, the “Straight Outta Compton” MC told them of his plans to leave N.W.A.
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