EPMD - I'm Housin' - 7-INCH SINGLE [7 inch Vinyl Disc]

Endlessly sampled, covered, quoted and requoted, this may well be one of the most influential hip-hop singles ever released. But, in many ways, it's importance goes beyond it's sheer classic status as a single in it's own right.In retrospect, it shows the duo of Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith as pioneers in production, creating a funk-based sound that helped to provide a blueprint for artists on the other side of the country. In 1987/88, most West Coast rap still adhered to an East Coast audio blueprint. By 1989, they were leaning as heavily on Zapp and Roger Troutman samples as EPMD were on this single.The foundations of the track are interesting, with a snatch of Juice's much-plundered 'Catch a Groove' (which has popped up everywhere from The Beastie Boys to Kings of Pressure) overlaid with big chunks of Kool & The Gang's 'Jungle Boogie' and Zapp's irrepressible 'More Bounce to the Ounce'. Vocodered funk was a rarity in New York hip-hop until this song, but it's the West Coast G-Funk artists who really ran with it.It's popularity spanned the country (and the globe, to be fair), with EPMD performing numerous shows in California on the basis of the sound, moving away from their James Brown-obsessed peers to display their own musical tastes. That said, the flipside - here presented on 7Inch and, indeed, on any single, for the first time - takes it back to that JB-era. '(It's Not the Express), It's the JB's Monaurail by The JB's is woven with Otis Redding and Beastie Boys to create a mid-tempo headnodder par excellence. It was always too good not to be a single. Album Tracks 1. You Gots to Chill (LP Version) 2. Let the Funk Flow (LP Version)

EPMD's initial success in 1987 seemed to take a lot of people by surprise. Without build-up or fanfare, they launched this stunning debut 12Inch and, so ill-prepared were people for it, that the tag was still misspelling their name.Those early 12Inch copies of 'It's My Thing' - and the hard to find UK 7Inch that followed shortly after - have them billed as EPEE MD. Before they were signed, they were going by EEPMD, but they decided to drop an E due to the success of the west coast's Eazy E. The one person not surprised by their success, however, was hip-hop pioneer and producer Kurtis Mantronik, who actually signed them to Fresh Records.It's fitting that he's the man that saw their promise, as he himself was one to go against the grain. His electro-influenced productions for Mantronix and Just Ice were ahead of their time, and perhaps in EPMD he saw kindred spirits. Because, at the time this dropped, hip-hop was going up tempo, taking it's cue from James Brown samples and picking up the pace.On both 'It's My Thing' - underpinned by the languorous 'Seven Minutes of Funk' by The Whole Darn Family - and 'You're a Customer', with it's combination of ZZ Top and Steve Miller Band - Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith slow things right down. It gives their vocals time to breathe and allows us to enjoy the interplay of their metaphor and simile-heavy lyrics. As calling cards go, they don't come any better than this. Album Tracks 1. It's My Thing (LP Version) 2. You're a Customer (LP Version)

EPMD's initial success in 1987 seemed to take a lot of people by surprise. Without build-up or fanfare, they launched this stunning debut 12Inch and, so ill-prepared were people for it, that the tag was still misspelling their name.Those early 12Inch copies of 'It's My Thing' - and the hard to find UK 7Inch that followed shortly after - have them billed as EPEE MD. Before they were signed, they were going by EEPMD, but they decided to drop an E due to the success of the west coast's Eazy E. The one person not surprised by their success, however, was hip-hop pioneer and producer Kurtis Mantronik, who actually signed them to Fresh Records.It's fitting that he's the man that saw their promise, as he himself was one to go against the grain. His electro-influenced productions for Mantronix and Just Ice were ahead of their time, and perhaps in EPMD he saw kindred spirits. Because, at the time this dropped, hip-hop was going up tempo, taking it's cue from James Brown samples and picking up the pace.On both 'It's My Thing' - underpinned by the languorous 'Seven Minutes of Funk' by The Whole Darn Family - and 'You're a Customer', with it's combination of ZZ Top and Steve Miller Band - Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith slow things right down. It gives their vocals time to breathe and allows us to enjoy the interplay of their metaphor and simile-heavy lyrics. As calling cards go, they don't come any better than this. Album Tracks 1. It's My Thing (LP Version) 2. You're a Customer (LP Version)