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Tom Needham speaks with LIMEHOF inductees EPMD members Erick Sermon, Parrish Smith and DJ Diamond the Artist.

Trailblazing hip-hop group EPMD consists of Erick Sermon (E Double) and Parrish Smith (Parrish Mic Doc), who met in high school in their hometown of Brentwood, New York.

Inspired by funky hardcore acts such as Eric B. & Rakim and Public Enemy, the duo formed EPMD, the group name a fusion of their own names—“E” and “PMD”—creating the acronym for “Erick and Parrish Making Dollars.”

EPMD’s first album, Strictly Business, dropped in 1988, and the group’s had six albums since, all with the word “business” in the titles—Unfinished Business (1989), Business as Usual (1990), Business Never Personal (1992), Back in Business (1997), Out of Business (1999), and We Mean Business (2008). (Every album also has a track with “Jane” in the title.) 

EPMD has been active for more than 30 years (not counting two breakups, in 1993 and 1999) and continues to be one of the most prominent acts in East Coast hip-hop.

This interview previously aired on Tom Needham's Sounds of Film.