"EPMD got biz! I got this tape three weeks ago and it's been in my walkman ever since mainly because it's dope from beginning to end. The first side starts off with two cuts featuring two of their boys. "Hardcore" shows off the rough, "knockin' heads like Mike Nunn" style of Redman over a slow beat and a lazy loop. And LL Cool J displays much skills on "Rampage," which is sort of a modified "Jinglin' Baby" complete with the chorus - "Slowdown, Baby," instead of "Jinglin' Baby." After that it goes into "Jane 3," the third of the "Jane" series about a girl that they ran into on each album. Flip to the B-side and "Rap Is Outta Control" will have you flipping; they drop crazy lyrics over the most simple (sounding) of tracks. "Funky Piano" is time for DJ Scratch to get off... and does he. It was no accident that Scratch won the DJ Battle for World Supremacy in '89 and I think he proves that here when he cuts up "Pump Me Up" from the old school jam of the same name.... There are still several hype cuts that I haven't mentioned. Believe me, the whole thing is dope." I don't know if it's my imagination or if Erick and Parrish actually got better on the mic? They have always been great lyricists, but on this LP they rock styles that we haven't seen from them before... I hope that EPMD will never change, because they are one group out there that's not trying to be like someone else. All they want to do is improve on their own act and this album proves that they're not bullshitting." - The Source, February 1991. Revisit this classic album from EPMD below...
EPMD's Business As Usual in The Source, February 1991...
