Biography

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Erick Sermon (born November 25, 1968 in Bay Shore, New York) is an African-American hip-hop rapper and producer. Sermon is best known as one half of late-1980s/1990s hip hop group EPMD, and later went on to perform production duties for Das EFX, En Vogue, Mary J. Blige, Blackstreet, Keith Murray, LL Cool J, Jay-Z, Illegal, and primary collaborator Redman. Along with Keith Murray and Redman, Erick Sermon was in the group Def Squad, which released one album (El Nino) and a mixtape (Def Squad Presents... Erick Onasis). He also goes by the names "E-Double" and "The Green Eyed Bandit".

Sermon has also done some performing on his own. He began recording solo albums for Def Jam in 1993; in 1997, he rejoined EPMD. The following year, Sermon, Murray and Redman recorded a cover version of "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang, the first hit hip hop record. EPMD disbanded a second time in 1998.

In 2000, Sermon moved over to J Records, and released the album Music the following year. The title track (a Top 40 pop hit that also made it to #2 on the R&B music charts), featured guest vocals from late soul music legend Marvin Gaye, culled from unreleased recordings which Sermon reportedly found in a small record shop in London.

On September 25th, 2001, Sermon reportedly sustained numerous head injuries and was listed under critical condition in what J Records representatives said was a car accident. However, days later, a woman reported that Erick was with her in her apartment when she discovered him in the parking lot bleeding from the head. The police investigated the incident as a suicide attempt. Today, the details of the event are still unknown, as Erick Sermon and J Records maintain that he was injured in a car crash while driving home from a video shoot, despite the evidence that a car wasn't even involved in the incident.

After recovering, Erick continued working on an album. React was released in 2002. The title track became a major hit song, though the album still had disappointing sales. In 2003, J Records dropped Erick Sermon due to poor record sales. However, he still went on to establish his Def Squad imprint with Motown Records. At this time, he recorded an album, Chilltown, N.Y., which was released a year later in 2004. The album was powered by the single "Feel It" (which contained a sample of Reggae/R&B Singer Sean Paul), a song which became a moderate success in the United States.

On another single from the album, "Relentless", Sermon is quoted with saying "This might be my last hurrah//I'ma rock now til tomorrow, implying that Chilltown, N.Y. is potentially going to be his last album. In an interview, he stated that he was going to step aside and try to get upcoming artists in the spotlight. However, Sermon hasn't stopped doing music altogether, as he has just recently produced the song "Goldmine" on Busta Rhymes' album, The Big Bang in 2006. Very soon after, Sermon has recorded "Don't Make No Sense" with Def Squad.

Solo discography

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Albums

Def Jam Releases:

• 1993 No Pressure
• 1995 Double or Nothing

Dreamworks Releases:

• 1999 Erick Onasis

J-Records Releases:

• 2001: Music
• 2002: React

Motown/Def Squad Release:

• 2004: Chilltown, New York

Singles

• 1993: "Hittin' Switches"
• 1993: "Stay Real" (US #92, R&B #52)
• 1995: "Bomdigi" (US #84, R&B #39)
• 1996: "Welcome" (R&B #41)
• 1997: "Rapper's Delight" (with Redman and Keith Murray)
• 2001: "I'm Hot" (R&B #49)
• 2001: "Music" (with Marvin Gaye) (US #22, R&B #2)
• 2002: "React" (US #36, R&B #12)
• 2003: "Love Iz" (R&B #80)
• 2004: "Feel It" (with Sean Paul)
• 2004: "Relentless"

Links

• Erick Sermon - Who he's worked with + discography
• News article about Sermon's reported "suicide attempt" in 2001.

1968 births | Living people | African American musicians | American rappers | Def Jam affiliated performers | Hip hop producers | Motown performers | Long Island rappers | The generic version | Artist-producers

Erick Sermon | Erick Sermon | Erick Sermon | Erick Sermon