July 07, 2004 @ 9:30 pm

Interview: E-Dub - Back In Business + Video: "Feel It"

Shanel Odum

Classic hip hop has been admitted to the ICU. The rhyme-slinging, boastful B-Boy who reigned supreme in the late 80s has been replaced by a gun-toting gangsta, ravaged with bullet wounds. He’s laid out on a stretcher rocking a bulletproof vest and

But there is one emerald-eyed emcee determined to redeem our fallen hero. This Funk Lord isn't packing a gat-he's gripping defibrillator paddles and his latest effort is the electric current that will resurrect retro-rap. You guessed it-Erick Sermon is back in business. The 35-year-old lyrical legend has hip hop's heart monitor bumping with the release of his fifth solo album, Chilltown, NY. Right now fans are doing just what he demands in his latest joint, "Feel It" featuring Sean Paul and Sy Scott. Radio and club DJs are serving up this shot of hip hop with a reggae chaser, stirring up a little extra wind on the dance floor. Chilltown, NY is inhabited with bass heavy jams and nostalgic narratives. The relentless hip hop vet is still pounding out gritty tracks and lacing them with his signature monotone mumble. His superior craftsmanship sets him apart from his predictable peers earning him new fans while maintaining old ones. Few hip hop artists have mastered the game and stuck around to tell the story. E-Dub is one of them. VIBEOnline recently caught up with MC Grand Royal, who had plenty to say about his music and the changing face of hip hop. VIBE Online: As a vet, how do you feel about what hip hop has evolved to today? Erick Sermon: Hip hop today is definitely out of control. Anybody who you speak to will tell you that hip hop is very disgusting. They won't say it on the air or try to change it cause they're making their money. They have to do what they have to do to feed their families. Back in the day-we had our own identity in hip hop. We made our own records. Everybody who came out didn't sound the same. We didn't have this much consistency-people doing the same songs. Everybody was creative and had originality. Right now there's none of that. At this time people are-just like Jay said, 'I'm making my club record, I'm making my street record, I'm making my girl record. It's a hit.' Make it worldwide but do it your way. Don't do what anybody else is doing. VO: How does that affect how you write? E-Dub: It affects how I do it because when I'm doing hip hop music it's going to be harder because the kids are not programmed to hear this. They're only programmed to hear shake your ass. Shake your ass and love songs. Rap music's turned into a love song. You got people in the club dancing to it so every rap artist that comes out has to make a girl record and a love record to get poppin. That's just showing that they had to convert to sell these units. I will never do that. VO: So what's your album all about? E-Dub: I got a hip hop CD and I represent New York City. I wanted to do something that was going to have a little bit of controversy cause my songs are very controversial. There's real talk in a lot of them. I'm talking about the game a lot. I'm talking about a few issues. Short songs, so it's real, I don't bore you - I get in and get out of there. I got a couple of special guests on the CD-Sean Paul, Talib Kweli, of course Redman and Keith Murray, and all my new people, Sy Scott and them. It's real cool. It's for those who pick up Kanye West or Jadakiss. I come with conversation and true talk. VO: What would you say to the young kids who didn't grow up listening to you, who grew up listening to 50 Cent and Fabolous, stuff that's out now? E-Dub: I couldn't say nothing to them. This is their era. I just know that kids are worse than they used to be. Everybody wants to be famous. They don't have anybody telling them anything. They're not even coming with the fun style of hip hop. I mean, to be able to rhyme and do lyrics is fun; to be able to come up with something different is fun. They don't know that part. We don't really see anybody rockin a show and really mastering their craft anymore. Hopefully some new ones will come up here and see that. Kanye West is making a big impact and kids are listening, well, hopefully they are listening and not just checking out his production because his conversation is serious. Jadakiss is wild but then he has a serious record. Hopefully those records can overcome some of the stuff that's out there and people will start making some more real tunes. VO: How do you feel about the reality shows, like Making The Band and American Idol offeingr instant fame? E-Dub: Da Band was dope. Reality shows is realty shows. I don't get into none of them. I think that those shows just show you how commercial and fake the industry really is. 'Come out here and we're going to make you famous.' And of course the record could be wack, it don't matter. It was on American Idol so when they drop a record it's at least going to go gold or sell a million cause they got fans automatically. VO: Do you still live in Atlanta? E-Dub: I haven't been there in a while but I still rest in ATL. I'm in NY a lot though because I built a studio in my home. I do a lot of work at home now. VO: Did living in the South influence your music? E-Dub: No, I was in ATL in '92 before the wave even happened. I didn't go southern or anything like that. I brought the hype to the South. Lil Jon did parties for me. OutKast and Goodie Mobb was all in my rim shop. I signed Bone Crusher in 1995 with another group. The South never changed me. I was still a New Yorker. VO: Will we ever hear from EPMD again? E-Dub: Naw, girl, that was way backÂ…maybe a Def Squad album, maybe that El Nino Part II. But that's gone, baby. I'll holla! Video: Erick Sermon - Feel It click here click here

Article tags: Interview, E-Dub, Back, Business, Video, Feel 

Page printed from:
http://www.vibe.com/news/online_exclusives/2004/07/interview_edub_back_business_video_feel/

Return to previous page