Erick Sermon Says His 4 Percent Cut of Metro Boomin’s "Creepin'" Nets Him $240,000 Quarterly

Erick Sermon says he gets $240,000 every four months thanks to Metro Boomin’s “Creepin’” track featuring The Weeknd and 21 Savage.

In a recent interview with Bootleg Kev, the producer and EPMD member spoke about the importance of owning publishing, particularly in the current climate of streaming hits that are often short-lived.

“This is not no boast or nothing, but me owning my own publishing, everybody calls me,” Sermon explained around 35 minutes into the interview. “So if it were for all of 50 Cent shows, whatever my placements, they gotta call me direct. I was telling my man that. The Weeknd is one of the most streamed artists in the world, right? So him and Metro Boomin did ‘I Don’t Wanna Know,’ which is ‘You’re a Customer.’ I only own four percent of that record.”

To be clear, Metro’s “Creepin’” is a remake, of sorts, of Mario Winans’ 2004 hit “I Don’t Wanna Know.” That track featured a sample of the EPMD track “You’re a Customer,” originally released in 1988. Asked in the Bootleg Kev interview to clarify his stake, Sermon pointed to what he says is his publishing stake in the Metro version.

“Listen. Every four months, guess how much it brings in?” Sermon asked the host before alleging that figure to be $220,000. Shortly after, he corrected the number, stating it was actually around $240,000. From there, Sermon spoke more generally about how maintaining control of his own publishing has helped shape the financial side of his career.

“Even though streaming might be less than one cent, it’s still more money being made than [if] you signed to a label,” he said, adding that many young artists “don’t have a clue” when it comes to publishing and related business issues.

These days, Sermon said, artists and listeners alike are subjected to a “fast food” approach to releases.

“Every hour, something is coming,” he said.

"You're a Customer" was featured on EPMD's landmark 1988 debut Strictly Business, most notably one of the few records to get a rare "five mics" from The Source and being known as one of the most acclaimed hip-hop records of all time. Its now-iconic drum outro is heavily featured in "I Don't Wanna Know" and "Creepin'."

Listen to "You're a Customer" below.