I have been to live venues such as the Forum on many an occasion, but rarely have I been amongst the only people in the building or privy to seeing the technicians whizzing around preparing for the nights main event.
I had not simply come to sneak a peak at the sound check, there was indeed the small matter of an interview with one Erick Sermon and one Parrish Smith aka EPMD. As I climbed the endless staircase to what would have been the equivalent of the Forum’s penthouse, I entered the dressing room. It is not unusual for me to be the only lady amongst a room full of men. I preceded towards the leather sofa where a figure I recognised from iconic album covers and magazine interviews sat, as I shook Parrish Smith’s hand the figure sat on my right turned his head, whilst still negotiating a bottle of cold and flu syrup, flicking up the most amazing, piercing hazel eyes and said “hey mummy”, it was of course Erik Sermon.
There was so much I wanted to ask, and too much I wanted to know. With just fifteen minutes it seemed hardly enough to even get started, let alone cover a career spanning over two decades, starting out with them hitting the scene in ’88 and catching the attention of the likes of Run of Run DMC who invited the then youngsters on tour, to becoming legends and architects of the hip hop landscape in their own right. The only way to proceed was to get straight down to business by asking how they feel they game has changed.
Parrish: This generation need to be more educated on what the pervious generations did before them. Like we knew who RUN DMC was and what they did, we knew what KRS One did, Rakim and so forth. I was talking to someone earlier and the bottom line is that they don’t know, so they are already showing up with the whole kit, chain, crew, the money and no skills - rap skills.
JEM: You mentioned fellow legends of the scene such as KRS One, who I also caught up with when he was last in the UK
Parrish: First of all it looks like it went in a big circle, because before you had all the independents, you had Cool Chillin’ Record, Sleeping Bag Records, B-Boy Records and so on. Then it got super big with million dollar videos, now it is coming back to the independents where the music is speaking for itself, not all the big effects. Basically through the years me and E were working with people and it ended up OK, then we just did it ourselves, which was a lot easier because there was no middle man.
Erick: I don’t know so many crews, but as far as somebody new, everybody that is trying to make a statement underground is solo and I feel that at this particular time hip hop is at a good place touring wise and hopefully music wise we will have a balance soon.
We used to count on Europe for being underground, then Europe got young and now Europe is on the commercial mainstream too now. Before you couldn’t go to Europe without having Hip Hop music, now its switched too, so if we lose this then we are really kind of in trouble because Europe gets quote on quote not just us, but people that never got a chance to work, people who only have one single or one album out, Europe would give them a chance to work, because they enjoy the music. To an extent you have to be like really careful and hopefully, Europe looks at that and saves the sound and culture of the music because.
Luckily we come from live shows, and that’s what the new kids can’t touch us on is live performance because they all lip sync and they don’t have a DJ. I don’t know what you call what they have though, but it be more flash, I have to put on the jewellery too – there’s nothing wrong with that, but they need that as the whole ambience to make their thing look right on stage and we don’t need all that. KRS don’t need it, Rakim, don’t need it, [big daddy] Kane don’t need it, P doesn’t need it, those people from the era don’t need none of that, they just need the music and that’s it.
JEM: So is that the secret then, it that why you guys remain where you are in the business after all this time?
Erick: Entertainment, the Show, and those young folks they can’t touch it. I think that it was Busta Rhymes who said one time at the Hip Hop awards too, that he would run circles around anyone out there on that awards show, meaning that, which is true, what it really boils down to is, I don’t want to watch a video, I don’t want to hear that record in a club, and you rhyming over that record, at the end of the day, I am paying money, coming to see a show.
Parrish: They be saying I thought that it was going to sound like the album, mean while they are screaming over their main vocals, and when you are singing a song, over a vocal, you can’t put no emotion in it, or no rhythm because you are then competing with yourself.
JEM: Taking it way back in the day, tell me about your earliest memory of hip hop. What made you think, this is me, this is what I am going to do and this is what I am about?
Parrish: My first memory of hip hop I would say was King Tim III, probably around Planet Rock and Rappers Delight. Then it was just a movement around the popping and the breaking, and the DJs and we come from a neighbourhood with a whole bunch of DJs, and when you go to the parties, you were either watching or you was getting busy.
Erick: Probably in my neighbourhood, and probably watching like Soul train, and the ‘Pop Along’ kid popping. But the neighbourhood where I came from had hip hop in it, so from my neighbourhood, Brentwood Long Island, that is where I probably first saw it popping off at.
JEM: So tell me what you guys have got coming up for 2011? Is there any new material due for release?
Parrish: We have got a new single called “Don’t get clapped”, which is dope, and right now we are on a thirteen show run, we have been to like thirteen countries.
Erick: Yeah it is a lot of work.
Parrish: And we set it up, that is what is so funny. We did this, we put ourselves right here so then it started getting a little crazy, we thought we better chill [laughs], so then we chilled, [laughs].
JEM: So quickly before I get chucked out of here, what in your opinion is the future for hip hop?
Parrish: Hip hop is always going to keep on recreating itself and the artists, and the groups that put in that extra go hard effort, are always going to come out on top.
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