EPMD - Back In Business

When EPMD split in 1992, they left behind four albums in five years, every one with "Business" in the title and every one still counted among the classics of hip-hop's golden age. Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith, the Brentwood, New York duo whose name stands for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars," spent the next five years on separate paths. Back in Business, released on Def Jam in September 1997, is the sound of the two of them picking up exactly where they left off.

The formula was never complicated, and it did not need fixing. Sermon's slurred, laid-back drawl plays against PMD's flat, deliberate delivery over thick, slow-rolling funk loops, with the duo handling most of the production themselves alongside longtime partner DJ Scratch and co-producers Rockwilder and Agallah. "Da Joint" became the second Billboard Hot 100 single of their career, while "Richter Scale" and "Never Seen Before" hit just as hard. The extended family turns up too, with Redman, Keith Murray, Das EFX, and Nocturnal all taking verses.

The comeback landed. Back in Business reached number 16 on the Billboard 200 and number 4 on the R&B and hip-hop albums chart, and it was certified gold within two months of release. In a year dominated by glossy, big-budget rap, it stood out for how little it chased the moment: sixteen tracks of sample-driven funk from two MCs who had helped write the rulebook in the first place.

This vinyl edition puts the reunion back on wax, where EPMD's low end has always sounded best. For anyone who owns the first four, it is the chapter that completes the story.