So What Cha Sayin': Erick Sermon's 10 Most Influential Songs

Hip hop wouldn't be the same without these classic cuts.

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So What Cha Sayin': Erick Sermon's 10 Most Influential Songs - Just days after Heavy D passed away all too soon, another hip hop legend had a scary close call—producer/MC Erick Sermon suffered a heart attack. Although Sermon is by all accounts recovering, it's never too early to celebrate the underappreciated legacy of a rap pioneer. Though Sermon produced classic cuts for Redman and Keith Murray, his greatest impact was as a member of EPMD and a solo act. Click on see Erick Sermon's 10 most influential songs—hip hop wouldn't be the same without them. —Alex Gale (Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

"Strictly Business" - Erick Sermon was the "E" in the seminal golden-age hip hop duo EPMD. As the producer and arguably dominant MC of the group, Erick was in many ways the driving force behind the influential group. "Strictly Business," their first single and title track from their debut album, introduced the world to the group's funky sample collages and back-and-forth, monotoned raps.(Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

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"Strictly Business" - Erick Sermon was the "E" in the seminal golden-age hip hop duo EPMD. As the producer and arguably dominant MC of the group, Erick was in many ways the driving force behind the influential group. "Strictly Business," their first single and title track from their debut album, introduced the world to the group's funky sample collages and back-and-forth, monotoned raps.(Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

"You Gots to Chill" - With its undeniably funky Zapp's "Bounce to the Ounce" sample, this 1988 EPMD classic was hugely popular on the West Coast, and helped lay the blueprint for the G-funk sound of that dominated the following decade.(Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

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"You Gots to Chill" - With its undeniably funky Zapp's "Bounce to the Ounce" sample, this 1988 EPMD classic was hugely popular on the West Coast, and helped lay the blueprint for the G-funk sound of that dominated the following decade.(Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

"You're a Customer" - Yet another timeless early EPMD cut, this laid-back, bravado-filled head-nodder helped push Strictly Business to gold status.(Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

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"You're a Customer" - Yet another timeless early EPMD cut, this laid-back, bravado-filled head-nodder helped push Strictly Business to gold status.(Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

"Jane" - This skillful twist on the typical sex rap set off one of rap's most beloved song serials (EPMD continued the "Jane" storyline on subsequent albums), and introduced hip-hop to Joe Tex's classic "Papa Was Too" break.  (Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

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"Jane" - This skillful twist on the typical sex rap set off one of rap's most beloved song serials (EPMD continued the "Jane" storyline on subsequent albums), and introduced hip-hop to Joe Tex's classic "Papa Was Too" break.  (Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

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Erick Sermon: November 25 - The EPMD rapper turns 43.(Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

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"Let the Funk Flow" - Hip hop can't get much funkier than this. Led by a classic J.B.'s sample, this beat was later jacked by Nas for "Nastradamus."(Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

"So Wat Cha Sayin'" - This cold-as-ice 1989 banger was the first single from EPMD's sophomore album, Unfinished Business. The song's cocky trade-offs and grungy beat, which skilfully blended samples from the Honey Drippers, B.T. Express and Parliament-Funkadelic, are what EPMD and Erick Sermon are all about.(Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

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"So Wat Cha Sayin'" - This cold-as-ice 1989 banger was the first single from EPMD's sophomore album, Unfinished Business. The song's cocky trade-offs and grungy beat, which skilfully blended samples from the Honey Drippers, B.T. Express and Parliament-Funkadelic, are what EPMD and Erick Sermon are all about.(Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

"Rampage" feat. LL Cool J - "Slow down, baby." This Sermon-produced 1990 hit single, featuring LL Cool J in top form, popularized the classic "Tramp" sample, later mined by Cypress Hill, De La Soul and many others. (Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

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"Rampage" feat. LL Cool J - "Slow down, baby." This Sermon-produced 1990 hit single, featuring LL Cool J in top form, popularized the classic "Tramp" sample, later mined by Cypress Hill, De La Soul and many others. (Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

"Crossover" - This 1992 heater was EPMD's biggest hit, hitting No. 42 on Billboard—ironic, given the song's anti-commercial screed. With a hypnotizing drone of a beat broken up by a Roger Troutman loop, and Sermon mumbling classic couplet after couplet, "Crossover" extended the so-called Green-Eyed Bandit's impact well into the 1990s.(Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

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"Crossover" - This 1992 heater was EPMD's biggest hit, hitting No. 42 on Billboard—ironic, given the song's anti-commercial screed. With a hypnotizing drone of a beat broken up by a Roger Troutman loop, and Sermon mumbling classic couplet after couplet, "Crossover" extended the so-called Green-Eyed Bandit's impact well into the 1990s.(Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

"Head Banger" - This is how you make a posse cut. Erick's mean-mugging guitar-driven beat was the perfect vehicle for EPMD and their Hit Squad homies K-Solo and an in-his-prime Redman. The Ruff Ryders later jacked the beat for their own rap relay, "Ryde or Die."(Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

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"Head Banger" - This is how you make a posse cut. Erick's mean-mugging guitar-driven beat was the perfect vehicle for EPMD and their Hit Squad homies K-Solo and an in-his-prime Redman. The Ruff Ryders later jacked the beat for their own rap relay, "Ryde or Die."(Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

"Music" feat. Marvin Gaye - When EPMD disbanded for the second time in 2001, Sermon punctuated his career with this undeniable runaway hit, which ingeniously blends several Marvin Gaye vocal outtakes with a G-Funk-ish backbeat. The song hit No. 21 on the pop charts, giving Sermon his highest-charted solo single and Gaye his 41st Top 40 pop hit.(Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)

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"Music" feat. Marvin Gaye - When EPMD disbanded for the second time in 2001, Sermon punctuated his career with this undeniable runaway hit, which ingeniously blends several Marvin Gaye vocal outtakes with a G-Funk-ish backbeat. The song hit No. 21 on the pop charts, giving Sermon his highest-charted solo single and Gaye his 41st Top 40 pop hit.(Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Recordings)