459 - EPMD - Strictly Business

[csberry]

This is an album in the middle of the transition between "old school" and the East Coast style that is the foundation for Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G, etc. While the duo's monotone delivery was and somewhat continues to be criticized as a weakness to their music, Jay-Z would probably have a completely different delivery if EPMD hadn't existed. Maybe if EPMD weren't dissin' suckass emcees, doing party anthems, and talking about chicks and. instead, they had the life and lyrical content of Jay-Z; they may have gotten more respect and would be somewhere on contemporary hip hop's radar today. Nah.

The tracks benefit generously from some great structures of samples, thanks to coming in at the end of the golden age of sampling when fair use hadn't taken a royalties bite out of hip hop. EPMD can freely sample Kool & the Gang's "Jungle Boogie" on two different songs, snag some Steve Miller Band ("Fly Like and Eagle" AND "Take the Money and Run"), and an eclectic collection of other artists that would cost a fortune to sample just a few years later - Pink Floyd, Aretha Franklin, Beastie Boys, Rick James, Otis Redding, and Eric Clapton. And not for the "take the whole damn chorus" way that Diddy brought in later. This was a DJ that was showing the diversity of the black community's exposure to pop and rock music. Get tracks by artists the listeners would recognize, but pick and use samples in such a way that you reclaim that riff for your own...just as the Stones and Zeppelin had swiped blues riffs freely. In the end, this whole paragraph merely highlights my love for the DJ feature on the album - "DJ K La Boss."

Songs I knew I liked: None

Songs I didn't know but now like: "I'm Housin'," "You Gots to Chill," and "DJ K La Boss"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: I wouldn't mind hearing anything here again.