Strictly Business was the beginning of what was to become. Hip-Hop legends were introduced to the WORLD on June 7th, 1988. I'm not telling you my age, but I was a teenager in LOVE with this group. To this day, this is still my favorite group. Let's debate in the comments.
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EPMD (Parental Advisory)
EPMD (Parental Advisory)
"STRICTLY BUSINESS" (10 Tracks)
Release date: June 7th, 1988 Length: 44:53
EXPLICIT
1. *Strictly Business/ Producer: Erick Sermon & PMD
2. I'm Housin'/ Producer: EPMD
3. Let The Funk Flow/ Producer: EPMD
4. *You Gots To Chill/ Producer: EPMD
5. *It's My Thing/ Producer: EPMD
6. *You're A Customer/ Producer: EPMD
7. The Steve Martin/ Producer: EPMD
8. Get Off The Bandwagon/ Producer: EPMD
9. D.J. K La Boss/ Producer: EPMD
10. *Jane/ Producer: EPMD
10. *Jane/ Producer: EPMD
In Bold: Favorite Tracks
With Asterisk: Rotation Songs in My Playlist
My Grade For Album (Rate: 1 Lowest and 5 Highest)
Beats: 5.0
Lyrical Content: 5.0
Album Structure/Theme: 5.0
Review:
Let's talk about Hip-Hop just in the year of 1988. Let's talk about the competition that came out that year. I'm just going to name a couple of groups/solo acts. Slick Rick (The Greatest Adventures of Slick Rick), Kid 'n Play (2 Hype), Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock (It Takes Two), MC Lyte (Lyte as a Rock), N.W.A. (Straight Outta Compton), Eric B. & Rakim (Follow the Leader), Public Enemy (It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back), Big Daddy Kane (Long Live the Kane), Run-D.M.C. (Tougher Than Leather), Boogie Down Productions (By All Means Necessary, etc. If you want to list more, hit the comments.
All the albums I mentioned above are #hiphopclassics or close to it. Can you imagine the pressure of putting out your first album? It seemed like EPMD didn't break a sweat on making this album and putting it out. They were the best duo hip-hop group since Run-D.M.C. And they took over my attention right away.
Every track on this album was hypnotizing the ears of us back then. And to this day, it still holds up. This is what a classic is. All the tracks are quotable. Like karaoke quotable. Even the one track with just D.J. K La Boss scratching over a club like beat, you know where all the scratches start and stop. You find yourself imitating the scratches with fake turn tables.
[Verse 1: Erick Sermon]
Try to answer to the master or the MC rap God is no joke
On the lyric - it's hard to be modest
I knew I was the man with the master plan
To make you wiggle and jiggle, like gelatin - Strictly Business
[Verse 2: Parrish Smith]
To the average MC I'm known as The Terminator
Funky beat maker, new jack exterminator )
Destroying a ploy, when your rhymes are not void
Never sweatin' your girl (Why P?) 'Cause she's a skeezoid - You Gots To Chill
No matter what song you listen to, the lyrics are so quotable. People say, Hip-Hop is real when you can turn the beat off and still head bob to someone's voice. This is what you get if you turned off the beat. Both of there voices were instruments. And they are still creating music, so they are still putting out hits with there intrusmental voices. Check out Erick Sermon's "Vernia" Album that came out last year April 19th.
The "E" and the "P" were some of the best when it came to trading verses too. Y'all think "J" (Jadakiss) and the other "P" (Styles P) invented the back and fourth flow, but brace yourselves for some of the originals that did it. Check out "It's My Thing".
[PMD]
The rhythmatic style, keeps the rhyme flowin'
Good friends already bitin', without you knowin'
Can't understand, why your body's gettin' weaker
Then you realize it's the voice from the speaker
The mind become delirious, situation serious
Don't get ill, go and get curious
[Erick Sermon]
'Nuff about that, let's get on to somethin' better
And if gets warm, take off the hot sweater
And if you want some water, I'll get you a cup
And if you don't want it then burn the hell up
I'm tellin' you now boy you ain't jack
Talkin' much junk like Mr. T has your back
But he's not, so don't act cute
'Cause if you do you in hot pursuits - It's My Thing
This is my favorite cut on the album. You would think it would be one of the singles that they put out first. Nope, this song the MC's go back and forth like it was a rap battle. And every time one of them lays a memorable lyric, the next one does as well. I've listened to this song more than a million times. This is one of the songs that made me fall in love with this genre of Hip-Hop. And this is when songs were over five minutes and still were HIT RECORDS. Where does time fly when your listening to a piece of art.
This album was one of those albums that came out and the WORLD stopped. The world changed. There are so few albums that have done so. Albums like Mary J. Blige (What's the 411?), Jimi Hendrix (Are You Experienced), Prince and the Revolution (Purple Rain), Michael Jackson (Thriller) or De La Soul (3 Feet High and Rising). Albums that influenced your life just through sound. Music is so important to the mind. It's therapeutic.
*Side Note: Pay De La Soul Tommy Boy Records!
So without further ado, this album is a 5 MIC classic. And guess what? There albums got better. Production and lyrics got better. Keep your eyes and ears for MY future past Album REVIEWS.
All the albums I mentioned above are #hiphopclassics or close to it. Can you imagine the pressure of putting out your first album? It seemed like EPMD didn't break a sweat on making this album and putting it out. They were the best duo hip-hop group since Run-D.M.C. And they took over my attention right away.
Every track on this album was hypnotizing the ears of us back then. And to this day, it still holds up. This is what a classic is. All the tracks are quotable. Like karaoke quotable. Even the one track with just D.J. K La Boss scratching over a club like beat, you know where all the scratches start and stop. You find yourself imitating the scratches with fake turn tables.
[Verse 1: Erick Sermon]
Try to answer to the master or the MC rap God is no joke
On the lyric - it's hard to be modest
I knew I was the man with the master plan
To make you wiggle and jiggle, like gelatin - Strictly Business
[Verse 2: Parrish Smith]
To the average MC I'm known as The Terminator
Funky beat maker, new jack exterminator )
Destroying a ploy, when your rhymes are not void
Never sweatin' your girl (Why P?) 'Cause she's a skeezoid - You Gots To Chill
No matter what song you listen to, the lyrics are so quotable. People say, Hip-Hop is real when you can turn the beat off and still head bob to someone's voice. This is what you get if you turned off the beat. Both of there voices were instruments. And they are still creating music, so they are still putting out hits with there intrusmental voices. Check out Erick Sermon's "Vernia" Album that came out last year April 19th.
The "E" and the "P" were some of the best when it came to trading verses too. Y'all think "J" (Jadakiss) and the other "P" (Styles P) invented the back and fourth flow, but brace yourselves for some of the originals that did it. Check out "It's My Thing".
[PMD]
The rhythmatic style, keeps the rhyme flowin'
Good friends already bitin', without you knowin'
Can't understand, why your body's gettin' weaker
Then you realize it's the voice from the speaker
The mind become delirious, situation serious
Don't get ill, go and get curious
[Erick Sermon]
'Nuff about that, let's get on to somethin' better
And if gets warm, take off the hot sweater
And if you want some water, I'll get you a cup
And if you don't want it then burn the hell up
I'm tellin' you now boy you ain't jack
Talkin' much junk like Mr. T has your back
But he's not, so don't act cute
'Cause if you do you in hot pursuits - It's My Thing
This is my favorite cut on the album. You would think it would be one of the singles that they put out first. Nope, this song the MC's go back and forth like it was a rap battle. And every time one of them lays a memorable lyric, the next one does as well. I've listened to this song more than a million times. This is one of the songs that made me fall in love with this genre of Hip-Hop. And this is when songs were over five minutes and still were HIT RECORDS. Where does time fly when your listening to a piece of art.
This album was one of those albums that came out and the WORLD stopped. The world changed. There are so few albums that have done so. Albums like Mary J. Blige (What's the 411?), Jimi Hendrix (Are You Experienced), Prince and the Revolution (Purple Rain), Michael Jackson (Thriller) or De La Soul (3 Feet High and Rising). Albums that influenced your life just through sound. Music is so important to the mind. It's therapeutic.
*Side Note: Pay De La Soul Tommy Boy Records!
So without further ado, this album is a 5 MIC classic. And guess what? There albums got better. Production and lyrics got better. Keep your eyes and ears for MY future past Album REVIEWS.
Please check out my daughter's clothing line below. Also, my YouTube and other clothing ventures. Thanks in advance.
EPMD Strictly Business YouTube Review<<<<<
EPMD Strictly Business YouTube Review<<<<<
Cincerely Yours,
Marquis J. Walker
Father, Blogger, Youtuber and Ear For Good Music Expert
Please check out my daughter's clothing line below. Also, my YouTube and other clothing ventures. Thanks in advance.
Marquis J. Walker/Daughter's Apparel
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