Erick Sermon Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records (Part 2)

The Green-Eyed Bandit talks about producing for Method Man and Redman, Ludacris, and many more.

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Complex Original

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Last week, we hit you with Part 1 of our Erick Sermon Tells All feature, highlighting the stories behind his work between 1988-1995 with EPMD and Def Squad associates Redman and Keith Murray.

But the hits didn’t stop in ‘95, as Erick continued his production prowess, matching up Redman and Wu-Tang Clan megastar Method Man on “How High,” assisting them in becoming one of the most potent duos in hip-hop history. He also blessed Jay-Z and his associates with the landscape for “Reservoir Dogs,” and re-worked LL Cool J’s posse cut “4, 3, 2, 1” with newcomers DMX and Canibus (plus Red & Meth) to make it into a huge single.

He even helped a young 50 Cent craft his certified street classic “Da Heatwave,” and he managed to reunite with his old partner-in-rhyme Parrish Smith aka PMD to give the world another dosage of raw EPMD flavor.

And his run continued after the turn of the century, as Erick Sermon gave the world two of the biggest records of his career. First, it was “Music,” featuring a hypnotic Marvin Gaye sample, which led to a four million dollar 50/50 record deal with Clive Davis at J Records. Then, he followed it up with “React,” produced by a new beatmaker named Just Blaze and featuring Redman. Plus, he laced southern stars Scarface and Ludacris with his signature flavor.

In Part 2, the Green-Eyed Bandit tells us just how high Red & Meth were during their first recording session together, how collaborations with his ‘88 rap classmates Too $hort and Slick Rick came about, and just how nice Rick Ross was when he first worked with him over a decade ago. Let’s get back to business.

As told to Daniel Isenberg (@StanIpcus)

Method Man & Redman “How High”/“How High (Remix)” (1995)

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Album: How High 12 Inch
Label: Def Jam
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “'How High' came from Dr. Dre and Ice Cube's 'Natural Born Killaz.' If you play 'How High' and you play that, it's the same beat. I didn't use the same sounds, but the melody and the way the bass line is going is the same. I used the melody of 'Natural Born Killaz' to make 'How High.' It was incredible.

“I played the beat over. At that time, I was using a Roland W-30 station. It was like an ASR-10, but by Roland. And I played the bass line. That's what I do. I play keys. Since '89, this is what I was doing.

“Me and Russell hooked them up, for The Showsoundtrack. They were in the studio, and I walked in, and I couldn't see shit. There was so much smoke in the room. They're the most consistent blunt smokers you will ever meet in your life, besides Snoop and them. Nobody smokes more blunts than Red and Meth. The room, you can't see in it.


 

That song came from Dr. Dre and Ice Cube's 'Natural Born Killaz.' If you play 'How High' and you play that, it's the same beat. I didn't use the same sounds, but the melody and the way the bass line is going is the same.


 

“So I come in there with that beat, my version of 'Natural Born Killaz.' And they start writing to the beat. And that was them saying, 'How high,' because they're in there smoked out of their minds!

“So I had the original record, but it was street to me. But my mind is saying, 'I got Red and Meth' on a record. I'm not going out like this. I'm making something bigger.' So I go and remix it.

“I had a Crusaders sample, and then in the studio, somebody had an acapella of some band that had done the vocals for that classic 'Fly Robin Fly' part over. It was the weirdest shit. So I took it, and put it in the key of what my Crusaders loop was in. Fuck it.

“And then, I took the vocals, and took the parts that I liked, and put them in the remix. The original version was longer, and had different, longer verses. So I was chopping them up the way I liked them.

“They didn't like the remix at first when I made it. They hated it. When they got to the video shoot, and saw they were [using the remix instead of the original version], they were pissed. They were expecting to go and shoot the video to the hard version. They were like, 'This isn't the one we want.' They thought it was too soft. But I told them, 'Trust us.'

“At the end of the day, it sold one million records. And to this day, they still thank me for that. Like, 'Yo Erick, thanks so much for doing that remix.'”

Too $hort f/ Erick Sermon “Buy You Some” (1995)

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Album: Don't Try This At Home
Label: Dangerous/Jive
Producer: Shorty B

Erick Sermon: “Too $hort saw me in The Source magazine, and was like, 'Yo Erick, what are you doing in Atlanta?' I'm like, 'Yo, I'm down here.' So he came. Scarface too. They all came when they saw me in The Source. Scarface came, $hort came, and Pac came. I was in The Source for my rim shop. It said, 'Erick Sermon Moves to Atlanta.'

“$hort was my friend. I knew him from the industry. He came out the same year, in '88. So I was in Atlanta, and he came about two years later. $hort had a lot of money. When he got his studio up, my boy said, 'Let's go to $hort's studio.' So we went there, and we made the record. That was the first one we did.


 

That record was so monumental because while the East and West coast was beefin', two guys from the East and West coast had a hit record out together. On the low, it was a hit record.


 

“I was really hostile on that record. I was cursing a lot on the song. That was a raunchy record compared to what Erick does. I wrote that record on a freestyle or something.

“That record was so monumental because while the East and West coast was beefin', two guys from the East and West coast had a hit record out together. On the low, it was a hit record. When I came home to New York, I couldn't believe it was big. Funkmaster Flex blew it up here.

“Then I performed it at the Apollo, and when I brought $hort out, on the Survival of the Illest tour! Oh my god! Pandemonium! That record played on Atlanta radio for ten years straight. But it blew up to a huge record, out the blue, [around the country]. $hort sold a million records on it. It was on a Dangerous Crew compilation, but he put it on his album too. And we did a remix with MC Breed too—God bless the dead.”

Erick Sermon f/ Redman “Freak Out” (1995)

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Album: Double or Nothing
Label: Def Jam
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “Is that beat crazy or what? That shit is phenomenal! Yo, Double or Nothing is one of those records that people in hip-hop say, 'Yo Erick, Double or Nothing was my favorite CD [of yours]. Because those drums are real. Redman was like, 'Boogie boogie to boogie to bang, boogie to back...' He was going in.”

Redman “Funkorama” (1996)

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Album: Insomnia
Label: Interscope
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “I was doing a compilation with Jimmy Iovine, but Def Jam wouldn't let them go and sign me. They wouldn't let me go with him. So I ended up doing a compilation. It was put together really fast. I, of course, used my crew.


 

I asked Redman to do me a favor [and be a part of the compilation]. It was really stopped and slowed down by Lyor Cohen. They really weren't playing fair. [The project] was in the Universal system, but it was still shut down by Def Jam. [They wanted to have control] over Redman. [They didn't like having] me and Redman over there doing records at Interscope.


 

“The beat was done by me and Rockwilder. Rock had the bass of it, but I fixed up the snare, and the Rhodes in the melody to give it that A Tribe Called Quest feel, because we used that, 'Comin' down the block' Q-Tip sample. It started from that.

“This was before Muddy Waters. Muddy was coming. I asked Redman to do me a favor [and be a part of the compilation]. It was really stopped and slowed down by Lyor Cohen. They really weren't playing fair. [The project] was in the Universal system, but it was still shut down by Def Jam. [They wanted to have control] over Redman. [They didn't like having] me and Redman over there doing records at Interscope.

“I don't remember who shot the video, but the idea was to have Q-Tip in it, because [his vocal sample] was in the chorus. And then me, Rockwilder, and Meth is in there because they were off of 'How High' and they became friends. That was it."

Keith Murray “It's That Hit” (1996)

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Album: Insomnia
Label: Jive
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “'This goes out to my niggas on lockdown...' That's one of my favorite records, and dopest videos, where there's three of him in the kitchen eating cereal. That video was incredible!

“That record was just the 'Impeach The President' drums. The sample I had to get replayed because Bootsy Collins didn't want to clear the record for some reason. I had to go through a whole big thing. We wanted that record so bad. Jimmy Iovine wanted the record so bad.

“They had the 'Hit or Miss' back on 98.7 Kiss, and he made it [as a 'hit'] three days. Even though he didn't make it the whole week, it was one of those records people liked. And the video played all the time. Ill video.”

Redman f/ Erick Sermon “Whateva Man” (1996)

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Album: Muddy Waters
Label: Def Jam
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “That was for my album, for Double or Nothing. It was my song. He liked it a lot. And he was singing some of my verses. I can't remember right now [which parts were mine originally]. But he was keeping a lot of my lines, and then adding his.

"He took the full song of mine, and kept adding to it. And for some reason he kept that one part with me rhyming. I'm not even in the video. I'm like, 'Red, why'd you keep that?' And he was like, 'I like that.'

“And then me and my friend were doing the, 'Bam bam, dee bam dee dee dee bam.' That was all me. But the 'Whateva Man' title was all his. That was what he wanted to do. He liked the record. It wasn't a big deal for me. He liked it, so I gave it to him.


 

Doc's Da Name 2000 was his biggest album. That's when Jay-Z and Dame Dash said, 'We got Doc's Da Name [flyers] on every car.' Jay was like, 'Erick, you outdid yourself on that.'


 

“The video with The Blues Brothers was all their idea. Him, Def Jam, and Steve Carr, the video director.

“The only thing I didn't do on Muddy Waters was the him and K-Solo record 'It's Like That.' I wish I made that record though. They killed it on that record.

“I like 'Da Bump.' That's my Tonight's Da Night' part two. I always like doing part twos to records. And I really like 'Who Rock The Spot,' because of the Biggie sample and the drums.

“That album was a comeback. It had to be dope. People didn't get Dare Iz A Darkside. And it worked. But Doc's Da Name 2000 was his biggest album. That's when Jay-Z and Dame Dash said, 'We got Doc's Da Name [flyers] on every car.' Jay was like, 'Erick, you outdid yourself on that.'

"'I'll Bee Dat' wasn't even me. The lead [producer] on that was Rockwilder. And 'Da Goodness' was the second single, which was produced by Redman and Rockwilder. But they just knew Erick was Reggie, and Reggie was Erick.”

EPMD “Da Joint” (1997)

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Album: Back in Business
Label: Def Jam
Producer: Erick Sermon/Rockwilder

Erick Sermon: “2Pac had died, and then Biggie Smalls had passed away. And while hip-hop was mourning two losses, I figured that an EPMD reunion would be dope. DJ Dice, who was Das EFX's DJ, was able to get me and Parrish on the phone. And we didn't bring up any negative stuff. It was just, 'Let's do this for hip-hop.'

“So Rockwilder was at the 'Whateva Man' video shoot, and he was playing some beats [which is when I first heard it]. In the beginning, matter of fact, he was making the record for somebody else. And then in the middle of making the EPMD album, I called him for the beat, and he gave it to me.

“The beat was dope the way it was sounding, but I knew it would really, really be dope once I got it in the studio. I wanted to enhance the bass line, and add a chorus imprint so you know the chorus is coming on.


 

'Da Joint' was kind of undeniable, with the, 'I made a million bucks...' It just made sense to do. Everyone that heard it [loved it]. Even Irv Gotti came in to Kevin Liles' office and said, 'That's the record.'


 

“[Getting back together in the studio] was easy. It was something that EPMD was known to do. That album, he kind of let me do everything. I was already prepared from after the break-up, putting in so much work. I had all the music, or most of it, and we were able to get it done faster. I always have a lot of music. He ended up doing two songs on there.

“We always played stuff for the label. 'Da Joint' was kind of undeniable, with the, 'I made a million bucks...' It just made sense to do. Everyone that heard it [loved it]. Even Irv Gotti came in to Kevin Liles' office and said, 'That's the record.'

“Hype Williams wanted to shoot the video for 'You Gots 2 Chill Part '97.' But that wasn't the one I wanted to do first and come back with. I wanted something fresh. We wanted Hype Williams to shoot 'Da Joint.' And he said, 'I'll do it if you let me shoot 'You Gots 2 Chill '97' also.' But that never happened. So 'Da Joint' video was done by Steve Carr. He was doing all the Def Squad videos at that time.

“We got back in the swing of things, and again, like how other EPMD albums and our success would go, it was fast. The excitement was there, the record blew up.

"The CD sold like 100,000 copies the first week, and no one was expecting that because we were gone for so long. Even the label wasn't expecting that. They knew we were going to do something, but not like that.

“Then the tour came right away. We were touring like crazy. We ended up in Paris first, and overseas. Then we started doing the United States. It was automatic excitement.

"Everybody wanted to be down and be around because we were back together. Then we had 'Richter Scale' as the second single, and with that type of momentum it was kind of crazy.”

LL Cool J f/ Redman, Method Man, DMX, and Canibus “4,3,2,1” (1997)

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Album: Phenomenon
Label: Def Jam
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “That record was originally done by Trackmasters. But I didn't like that beat. The beat was a club record. So I said to Kevin Liles, 'Give me the record. Let me do something with it.'

“Nobody was in the studio when I made that record. The rhymes were already down. But the order of the rhymes was wrong. I put Red and Meth together, then DMX afterwards.

“I used the same beat as Busta Rhymes 'Put Your Hand Where My Eyes Can See.' All I did was change the bass line. The shaker, the high hat, the kick, the snare, is all 'Put Your Hands.' Everything was moving the same way. None of the Trackmasters beat is in mine. Their beat was a loop of an old '80s record.


 

I used the same beat as Busta Rhymes 'Put Your Hand Where My Eyes Can See.' All I did was change the bass line. The shaker, the high hat, the kick, the snare, is all 'Put Your Hands.'


 

“I tell people to this day that I made that beat because 'Put Your Hands' was hot. I tell them to go listen to both of them back-to-back today, like, 'How can you not hear that?'

"But until somebody tells you, you don't know. Everything comes from something. The human brain can't make nothing up. That's a jewel. You can't make anything up [from scratch]. If that's a cup holder, it came from the idea of a cup.

“Then, after I remixed it, and LL heard Canibus' verse, he did a different verse. He had another verse before that. That was part of the record, as far as them battling, but I just put it together how I thought it should sound. And it became a smash hit record.

“DMX was dangerous. I heard him already on the Cam'ron record. I knew him, but I met him and Ja Rule afterwards. I knew Canibus, because he wanted to be Def Squad. He used to say 'Def Squad' in all his interviews. He was down with us. He's on Murray's album. Before he got with Wyclef, he was with me. But it never went. The Lost Boyz had him under contract, and there was a whole big thing. But he was shouting Def Squad for a long time in the beginning.”

Def Squad “Rapper's Delight” (1997)

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Album: In Tha Beginning... There Was Rap
Label: Priority
Producer: Sylvia Robinson

Erick Sermon: “That came from whatever that Priority album was that went Platinum. We were a part of that, where everybody had to do [classic] songs from other people. They told us to do a song, and we picked that. It was the fact that we had three people, and that was the first thing that came to mind. Like, 'Yo, let's do “Rapper's Delight”.'

“We didn't take that record seriously. We were doing a favor by remixing a record. That's what they told us to do. We didn't know if was going to blow up like that, and go No. 1 on MTV. We had no idea that they were going to ask us to make a video. Hell no.”

Def Squad “Full Cooperation” (1998)

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Album: El Nino
Label: Def Jam
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “I just had some beats. I was making a whole bunch of shit at one time. I was like, 'Yo, we gotta do something. These shits is crazy.' El Ninowas retarded, as far as creativity.

“Again, 'Put Your Hands' was so prominent. 'Full Cooperation' is a loop, but it moved like 'Put Your Hands.' Pharrell was like [about 'Full Cooperation,'] 'Erick, you changed my life. Because people that I did, 'Shake it Fast' and 'Danger' for Mystikal, because they sound like that.'


 

Pharrell said, 'I played 18 beats for Jay-Z, and the one he chose was ['I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)']. And Pharrell said, 'Thank you.' Because he took the whole entire technique and style from 'Full Cooperation.' I took it from Busta, Pharrell got it from me.


 

"Pharrell said, 'I played 18 beats for Jay-Z, and the one he chose was ['I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)']. And Pharrell said, 'Thank you.' Because he took the whole entire technique and style from 'Full Cooperation.' I took it from Busta, Pharrell got it from me.

“Def Jam loved it. Kevin Liles was like, 'I like that record.' It was for Keith Murray's album. He flipped the chorus and melody from an old record, I forgot which one though. I knew it before, but I can't remember it now.

“Murray wrote my verse on that record. That's the only verse I didn't write. We were in Atlanta, Georgia, in my house. That verse is all Murray. That was the first time in my life I didn't [write my own verse]. It was because that was Murray's record. So I just took his verse, because I was being lazy that day. It was his song originally. He had all three verses on the record. We took it from him, [and then Redman wrote his verse].”

Jay-Z f/ The Lox, Sauce Money, and Beanie Sigel “Reservoir Dogs” (1998)

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Album: Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life
Label: Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
Producer: Erick Sermon/Rockwilder

Erick Sermon: “Well, my boy Pop had the idea to use the Isaac Hayes record. He took the record to Rockwilder, and Rockwilder put whatever he thought was dope on there. Then, they brought it to me. Then I went to Mirror Image [Studios] and did my beef-up to it too. So, the original came from really all three of us. I gave it to Jay [so they put my name in the credits].

“I was in the studio across the hall from Jay-Z. My boy Bernard went over there and said, 'Yo, Erick made something for you last night.' Just lying to him, whatever. And there were two records of mine that he did.


 

Hov was already frustrated about what happened to his last album. He was mad. So that 'Hard Knock Life' record took him to where he's a billionaire now.


 

“One was a Maxwell beat that was looped, and that one. He rhymed on both of them. The other one [never came out] because Maxwell didn't clear the sample. So there's a record out there that's dope that we never heard before. I don't have it, because that studio—I forget what studio it was, but it's shut down. Doesn't exist anymore.

“Yeah, I was there for the session. That's why he's saying at the end [to me], 'Put some more beat on that joint!' But the song was already five minutes long. Nobody makes records like that anymore.

“I didn't know everybody. I didn't know The LOX, or any of those people like that. But it sounded dope that way that it came out. They just kept playing it over and over and over again. I didn't see everybody rhyme, just Hov.

“Nobody knew that was going to be a big album. Nobody. People were very skeptical about that record blowing. 'Hard Knock Life' blew Jay. Jay even said on the intro that he was going to pass the torch to Bleek. Hov was already frustrated about what happened to his last album. He was mad. So that 'Hard Knock Life' record took him to where he's a billionaire now."

Method Man & Redman “Y.O.U.” (1999)

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Album: Blackout!
Label: Def Jam
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “So dope. I love that beat. And their style! Method Man started the flow. Then Reggie followed. I don't remember that session. A lot of their sessions I wasn't there for. I just made the beats. They were on the Hard Knock Lifetour, so I was sending them beats.

“I wasn't expecting them to pick that beat. I put that beat on there by mistake, I think. Again, It was a '4, 3, 2, 1' type of technique beat. That 'Put Your Hands' was in my head the whole time again. And that producer, he never came out again. He only made one record in his life, and that was it. I don't know [his name]. [Ed note: The record was produced by Shamello & Buddah.]


 

I was surprised that The RZA didn't do more, and why people let me [do the bulk of the production]. That wasn't my best work. I guess I was the only one making records that they liked.


 

“I was involved [heavily] in that album, because I was the one who put those two together. So of course, the Executive Producer is going to be me. I'm the one that made 'How High.'

"I was surprised that The RZA didn't do more, and why people let me [do the bulk of the production]. That wasn't my best work. I guess I was the only one making records that they liked. I listen to it like, 'Damn, man. I didn't have any samples. I was making almost the same beats.' But at the time, it felt good.

“I would have made more excitement. The record was a huge success, I just think I could've done more. I like the sample on 'Maad Crew.' That's [the type of stuff] I probably could have done more of.

"It was too much of the same type of beat, kick, snare with stabs. I love the LL Cool J and Ja Rule crew record. That was dangerous. But [overall] I could've had more variety, and done some iller shit.”

Scarface “It Ain't Part II” (2000)

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Album: The Last Of A Dying Breed
Label: Rap-A-Lot Records
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “I was in the other room working on the Redman album, doing a cut for Doc's Da Name 2000with George Clinton. And Scarface happens to be upstairs. So I go up there, and it took me fifteen minutes to create this beat. And he's like, 'What's up with that one?' I'm like, 'This one I'm making right here? You can have it.'

“So he lays it down. And I come home from L.A., and I see a video made from that record. Out of all the shit on his album, he chose that as his first single. That was an underground, thug, gangster anthem to people! Down South?! Yo. I couldn't believe that he shot [a video]. Out of all the beats I got, you want to shoot this? I'm like, Damn, I could've been in the video or something. [Laughs.]

“I don't know what the part one was. That still bugs me out. Maybe on one of his other albums they had a part one. I don't know.”

Erick Onasis f/ Slick Rick “Why Not” (2000)

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Album: Erick Onasis
Label: DreamWorks
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “Oh my God! I'm coming out of the studio in L.A., where I was [working with] Scarface at the time. Puffy stopped me and said, 'Whoever got that 'Why Not' record, make sure they don't lose it. You got a hit.' Puffy!

“I was making the beat, and I passed by these bowling alley sound effects. In the record, you can hear the pins and the ball rolling and [knocking down] the pins. The bottom of that beat is a bowling alley. And Slick Rick's 'Mona Lisa' beat [influenced] that. The whole shit was [inspired by] Slick Rick.

“So I called him. 'Yo Rick, I need you on this record.' Then the concept was to [spell out] Erick and Rick. Just the fact that the concept [was so dope] I was like, 'Yo, we're about to kill 'em!' And it did nothing.


 

It was DreamWorks, Erick Onasis was my first [project] with them. They were brand new, and they were brickin' and bombin' everything up there. Until Dave Hollister won. I brought them Dave Hollister, and he went platinum.


 

“It was DreamWorks, Erick Onasis was my first [project] with them. They were brand new, and they were brickin' and bombin' everything up there. Until Dave Hollister won. I brought them Dave Hollister, and he went platinum.

“They were new. They didn't have radio staff or none of that. I got on Hot 97 just from me being cool. Even me and Ja Rule 'Get Da Money.' I'm like 'How did that record not work!?!?!' We were killing that record! Even me and Scratch's record. I don't give a fuck, man. That Erick Onasis record, there were songs on that record.

“Me and Rick go back to the '80s. Russell [Simmons] had everybody, so we all had the same management company. Those are all '88 albums. Slick Rick, EPMD, Eric B. and Rakim, Too $hort, Salt N Pepa, Hammer, Special Ed, MC Lyte. Go Google '88. They all come up. It's the best year in hip-hop. Because everything that you see here came from that one year.

“Rick was always quiet. Everybody was crumbs. He's from London, so he had the Queen attitude, where he looked at everybody as crumbs. That was Slick Rick's whole demeanor. 'Y'all all under me. Beneath me.' And he meant it. Slick Rick the Ruler.

“He was dope [on the record], but he still stuck me up for money. Ten thousand for the video, ten thousand for the record. He stuck me up. That's the part I didn't like. It wasn't right to do that to me. I thought [we were cool from back in the day]. But it was business.

“Yeah, we're still cool. I tour with him a lot. He's touring. Everybody still tours. We tour more than any new act in America. EPMD is the least touring ones. Kane does a hundred shows a year. Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh do two hundred shows a year. Chubb Rock does seventy to eighty shows a year.”

50 Cent f/ Noreaga “Da Heatwave” (2000)

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Album: Power of The Dollar
Label: Columbia
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “Incredible. It was done right here. Cory Rooney lived next door. He was Tommy Mottola's right hand man. He did Mary J. Blige's 'Real Love,' he did Jennifer Lopez. And he was Sony. And Trackmasters were with Sony. And 50 Cent was with Trackmasters.

“My boy Bernard was managing 50 Cent. And he brought him to my house. He used to just drop him off, and we would do records. Play boxing and making records. All that stuff was new to me. I didn't have rappers like that who were talking street stuff. My rappers were all style, technique, and metaphors. He was a street rapper.

“Bernard brought me Nas too. I had Nas in 1991 at the same studio I did 'Headbanger,' 'Crossover,' and 'How High.' I could've been on Illmatic. I did two songs in that studio that day with Nas. I didn't understand at first.


 

I had Nas in 1991 at the same studio I did 'Headbanger,' 'Crossover,' and 'How High.' I could've been on Illmatic. I did two songs in that studio that day with Nas.


 

"It feels weird to say, and I'll tell the public right now because I feel embarrassed, because I didn't understand that. I was used to rappers having something with them. And when Nas was spittin' that street shit, it was over me. I don't have the Nas records. That studio burnt down, and whatever was in it burnt down with it. But I'm working with Nas now.

“I had Wu-Tang and Biggie in the beginning [too]. My story is ill as far as rappers. From Ludacris to Game to Rick Ross, every rapper was in front of me first. Uno. Crazy.

“I was doing the [50 Cent] records because my friend asked me to do them. He picked some beats that he liked, and he spit. I took 'The Bridge Is Over' and played the bass line and the melody over it.

"Of course, it came out dope because he was killing it. But I wasn't that excited because it wasn't my group, it was my friend's group. And then he put Nore on it. That's something he did.

“'Da Heatwave' would've blew. But he got shot. So he wasn't around. But I don't remember what happened. I wasn't involved in any of that. That was my friend's friend, even though me and 50 hung out here, and I held him down at a couple of conventions. He was having problems after 'How to Rob,' and I was with him, and people knew I was with him, so [I vouched for him]. But I haven't talked to 50 in a long time.”

Redman & Eminem “Off The Wall” (2000)

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Album: Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (Soundtrack)
Label: Def Jam
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “There was another beat on that record [at first]. And I didn't like it. So I remixed the beat. When Em heard the beat, he said, 'I'm doing my rhymes over.' So they [both] used the same rhymes, but they said them over. I wasn't there when they spit their verses though.


 

Whenever there's something that has to do with Redman, I gotta listen to it. And I didn't like the beat. I said, 'Let me do the beat over.'


 

“People know that Eminem is a big Redman fan, so that was just something to do. Whoever hooked it up, hooked it up for the movie. And then, whenever there's something that has to do with Redman, I gotta listen to it. And I didn't like the beat. I said, 'Let me do the beat over.'

“They both were going in. It could have been a better record. The beat [I used for the remix] was something like the original beat that was made. If it was up to me, It would have been a funk beat.

"But the [original] beat was on that new style. I made mine a little funkier, with a Timbaland-type style. The other beat was weirder than the one I made. Mine had a little more funk to it.”

Erick Sermon f/ Marvin Gaye “Music” (2001)

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Album: Music
Label: J Records
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “My homegirl Carolyn was overseas in Europe. She found the acapella of 'Midnight Love.' She calls me all excited, so I drive to Brooklyn to get it.

“I get back here at like one o'clock, and I've got to make a beat for the acapella. And I've got to get the right key because it's an acapella. I know that song, because when I was twelve years old, I knew it. But it sounded different on the acapella.

“So I played the melody on the beat, and when the part came up, I was like, 'Oh shit, I'm gonna loop that up right there.' And I'm in the W-30 sampling machine, so I only got fifteen seconds [of space to loop]. So I loop it.

“The rhymes I'm putting on there was just something for me to have to see how it sounds. But my friend Bernard stole the CD and brought it to L.A., and next thing you know, it's a hit record. That record wasn't supposed to leave my house. That was just for me to listen to Marvin Gaye on a beat with me rhyming on it. It was a reference, and they used it.


 

I paid for the sample. I went to go meet Jan, [Marvin Gaye's] widow, who had the estate with her kids. I paid $150,000 to her, and the attorney $50,000. The whole sample cost me $200,000. But it was already out, so I had to do what I had to do. They kind of stuck me up. But they did give me 30% of the publishing, which they didn't have to do. That's the biggest part.


 

“Then, [the Martin Lawrence and Danny Devito movie What's The Worst That Could Happen?] came out, and Jimmy Iovine called for it. Then Clive Davis called for it, and next thing you know, I signed to J Records.

“I gotta thank [Bernard] because that record was never made to get played. I wasn't gonna get the sample cleared. I was like, 'Nobody else is gonna feel this shit.' It was a fun thing.

“I paid for the sample. I went to go meet Jan, [Marvin Gaye's] widow, who had the estate with her kids. I paid $150,000 to her, and the attorney $50,000. The whole sample cost me $200,000.

"But it was already out, so I had to do what I had to do. They kind of stuck me up. But they did give me 30% of the publishing, which they didn't have to do. That's the biggest part.

“$200,000. That's the chance you take. But Clive Davis gave me $4 million. I had a 50/50 contract with J Records. It was unheard of. Pull that contract. Never in the history of music was a contract written like mine.

"I made money when he made money. That's how amped he was on me. And it was all off of 'Music.' He said, 'Anyone who can create something like that is a fuckin' genius. I'm going into business with him.' And he had Alicia Keys coming in the same year.

“I sampled Marvin Gaye for the Juice soundtrack in '91 for EPMD's 'It's Going Down.' I sampled 'I Want You.' Then I did 'Music' in 2001. And now I got some new Marvin Gaye shit I made in 2011 coming out in 2012. The shit is crazy.

"I didn't want to do it, but my boy's gonna be like in the beginning, 'Yo, make some more of that Marvin Gaye shit.' I got this loop that's ridiculous. Wow. And I don't give a fuck, my new record out with Jimi Hendrix is on fire.”

Erick Sermon f/ Redman “React” (2002)

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Album: React
Label: J Records
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “When I came right back the second year with 'React,' [Clive Davis] was like, 'Oh my god! I did the right thing! He's a hit maker!' Clive Davis loves music. Even at his age, he knows what shit's supposed to sound like.

“[Just Blaze] stuck me up. He wasn't [fully popping yet], but it was too late. The label got amped, because somebody gave the record to Angie Martinez, and she was like, 'Oh my God, somebody have Erick Sermon call me right now!'

“Now, the record's everywhere. Damon Dash is mad, because he's like [to Just Blaze], 'Yo, how are you gonna give shit away without letting us listen to it first?' People want their stuff to stay in house.


 

Now, the record's everywhere. Damon Dash is mad, because he's like [to Just Blaze], 'Yo, how are you gonna give shit away without letting us listen to it first?' People want their stuff to stay in house.


 

“But Red and Meth had the beat [before me]. If you ever watch the Hard Knock Life tour [documentary], Red and Meth are in the car somewhere, and you can hear the beat playing. Busta had the beat too. People had the beat. But I was like, 'Whatever she said, then I'm that.' People didn't know what to do with the beat, but I did.

“$60,000 I gave to Just Blaze for that beat. He said in a magazine, 'I know Erick says that's the biggest check I got [but it wasn't].' But what I meant is that was the first big check he got at the time. And [the trend of using Arabic samples] all came from that one record.

“[Redman] didn't want to get on the record. He didn't feel it. That's why people say that I got him on my verse. Because he took it lightly. But Reggie and them, they love me. So if I say, 'Get on this' they do it. But it blew him. That was a great look for him. In the beginning, he couldn't see it, but I knew.

“When I walked into Clive Davis' office, I knew it. They called all the staff in, and put me in a whole big conference room. Just me and the whole J Records staff. And they put it in. But [even though it says Just Blaze in the beginning of the song], I lied to them [Laughs]. I didn't tell them I bought the beat. They thought I produced it!”

Ludacris “Hip-Hop Quotables” (2003)

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Album: Chicken-n-Beer
Label: Def Jam
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “For that simple beat, Ludacris chased me down for three months. I don't know what it was about that record. He was like, 'Yo E, I need that record for my album.' I used to make beats to freestyle to. I had the CD in my car or something, and I was like, 'Yo, take this CD.' But he needed the session to mix it.

“He was a big Redman fan. He used to come to my house with demos that sounded close to Reggie. I knew him from being on the radio as Chris Lova Lova. He would come to my house with [our mutual friend] Greg Taylor who I did the rim shop with.


 

When Ludacris [about to sign] to Def Jam, he called me first. He said, 'Sylvia Rhone's gonna give me a million dollars, and Def Jam is gonna give me $700,000.' I said, 'Go to Def Jam.'


 

“When Ludacris [about to sign] to Def Jam, he called me first. He said, 'Sylvia Rhone's gonna give me a million dollars, and Def Jam is gonna give me $700,000.' I said, 'Go to Def Jam.'

"We had gotten close, and he liked what I was doing and all my albums. I was kind of a mentor to him in certain ways. Even though we didn't have an extensive relationship, he would still call me and ask me.

“[I didn't think he was going to be big like that], but his first record was big in Georgia. It blew up. But I figured they were playing it because he was on the station and one of Atlanta's own, not knowing that it was going to get him a deal. But when you have that much airplay going on, it's going to pick up. And Def Jam saw it.”

Styles P “What, Why, When, Where” (2003)

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Album: he Desert Storm Mixtape: Blok Party Vol. 1
Label: Desert Storm
Producer: Erick Sermon
Erick Sermon: “Yo, you got that? Let me hear that. [Listens.] Wow!

“Yeah, DJ Envy had told me to do two records. Styles P and Redman. I did two of them on that album. I forgot all about that. When I talk in articles, and they mention rappers that I worked with, he never comes up.

"He's another icon that's a part of my catalog of music. I fucked with the greatest. But I wasn't a mixtape person. So I never knew if songs like these were being played or heard or not.”

Busta Rhymes f/ Raekwon “Goldmine” (2006)

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Album: The Big Bang
Label: Flipmode/Aftermath/Interscope
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “That was the first record that Dr. Dre EQ'd on the album. Busta Rhymes called me like, 'Yo Erick, send me that record now. Dre wants to mix the record now.'

"So I had to go home and go get it. And this was before YouSendIt was out, so I had to do some shit where you could bounce the tracks in and put them through in the big studio in Manhattan and send them to L.A.


 

Busta Rhymes had about ten beats of mine. And Dre picked that one record. A lot of the stuff Busta had, Dre didn't like. That's why it took three years for Busta to come out on Aftermath.


 

“That record right there, I played it on the W-30, but Dre enhanced it with the EQ and made it stronger. I love that record. Those drums were from the other side of the Isaac Hayes record I sampled on 'Tonight's Da Night.'

“Busta Rhymes had about ten beats of mine. And Dre picked that one record. A lot of the stuff Busta had, Dre didn't like. That's why it took three years for Busta to come out on Aftermath.

“I love that album. That album was phenomenal. But say it was three years earlier, he would've sold mad records. Him only going Gold on that was a problem. That was an amazing album. But it was too late.”

Raekwon “Baggin' Crack” (2009)

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Album: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II
Label: Ice H2O/EMI Records
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “That was an interlude. I don't look at that as being a record. That beat was Busta Rhymes' beat. He gave that beat to Raekwon. Raekwon had used another beat that I gave him, but he didn't [put that song on the album]. He used the one of mine that Busta Rhymes gave him. Busta Rhymes was an Executive Producer for that album.

“He blew up [again after that album]. He did was he was supposed to do as a hip-hop artist. He didn't conform, he did Raekwon. He won. New York Times, iTunes. He did it right. Even though it was a good story [to be a producer on the album], I would've wanted to have a real record, with some depth, like 'Goldmine.' But I'm not mad, because I was on it.”

Erick Sermon f/ Rick Ross “Ain't Me” (2011)

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Album: Breath Of Fresh Air (Mixtape)
Label: Def Squad
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “He was nicer back then [when he was on the Erick Onasis album under the name Tephlon Da Don]. What you hear right now is how he's always been. It took him a while to come in, but he was nice back then.

"Tony Draper brought him to my house. He would drop him off at a hotel in Long Island, then he used to come over here, and we used to do records. I used to let Redman hear him too, and he would be like, 'Yo, homeboy's nice.' He was always nice on the mic. Metaphors, style, technique. He came in how he had to come in, but he was more of an East Coast rapper.

“In every interview, he brings my name up. He always talks about how I was influential in his career, and how he watched EPMD, and the sequels, how we did things, and how he learned a lot from being over here with me.

"So when I made the beat with the Biggie Smalls 'Get Money (Remix),' I just figured it would be dope to have him on there [because he's like the new Biggie].

“That wasn't a real video. Somebody was having a party, and my boy was up there filming. And I said, 'Yo, let's see if you can do this, because if this comes out pretty cool, we can do a real video.' I fired him, because he put that out without me giving the okay, knowing that it wasn't a real video.

"I was like, 'Let's see,' because he was new. None of my friends were there, I wasn't even dressed up. My crew wasn't even in the video, and there was no Ross. Why would I play myself and do that video? I'm Erick.

“Hopefully, one day soon [we'll do something else together]. He always asks me. I saw him at DJ Khaled's birthday party, and he was like, 'Yo Erick, I know you got something for me. Where is it?' I'm like, 'I'm gonna get it to you.' So he's waiting for me to bring him something. And when I do, you know it's gonna be right.

“It feels amazing to have this resume. They can't take that away from me. Even if they don't mention my name, they'll be like, 'Yo, that's the most underrated producer in the game!'”

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