Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon Recalls 'Pains' Before Heart Attack

15 Nov 2011 12:39:19 EST

'Go out there and check yourself, it don't matter which age you are,' 42-year-old EPMD rap vet tells 'Sway in the Morning.'
By Rob Markman

Rap veteran Erick Sermon is on the road to recovery after suffering a mild heart attack last week, he tells MTV News correspondent Sway Calloway.

The EPMD rapper/producer called into Shade 45's "Sway in the Morning" radio show on Tuesday (November 15) and described to listeners how things unfolded. After recording a track last Wednesday, the Green-Eyed Bandit was relaxing when he started to feel discomfort.

"I sat on the sofa and I got two sharp pains on my left-hand side," Sermon, 42, told Sway from the hospital where he has been recovering for the past five days.

The platinum producer didn't think much of the pain, though, and instead of seeking help, just shifted to a better position on the couch and kept watching TV. The next afternoon, Sermon began experiencing the pains in his side again and decided to head to the hospital. "When I got there, as soon as I hit the door, my whole left side cramped up on me and the heart palpitations started going really fast again and I started to get the pains again," he recalled.

The Long Island, New York, rap star seemed to have taken action just in the nick of time. According to Sermon, his blood pressure was "200 over 190," and if he would've waited much longer, things could have gotten far more serious.

"If I didn't get there in time, I would've suffered a stroke first, then I really would've been in trouble," he said."So when I got to the emergency room, they did all these tests and said that the heart attack was a mild one."

Sermon's health scare came just days after another hip-hop icon, Heavy D, died suddenly. Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the 44-year-old rapper/actor's death. And in October, Rick Ross had his own health issues, suffering two seizures in one day; the Miami rapper has slowly been getting back into the swing of things.

Sermon, who is still in the hospital after undergoing a procedure to unclog his arteries, warned listeners to take their health seriously. "Go out there and check yourself, it don't matter which age you are," he urged.

With health in hip-hop becoming such an important topic of late, rapper N.O.R.E. will stop by "RapFix Live" on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET to discuss the steps he's taken to shed pounds and live healthy. Ross and Meek Mill will also check in on this week's live stream.

Tune in to "Sway in the Morning," on SiriusXM Radio's Shade 45, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon ET.

Catch up with Rick Ross, Meek Mill and N.O.R.E. on Wednesday's "RapFix Live" at 4 p.m. ET on MTV.com!

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Jadakiss' Kiss Of Death Is Anything But, Debuting At #1

30 Jun 2004 14:36:00 EDT

Usher holds on to #2 as the Beastie Boys fall to #3.
By Joe D'Angelo

Jadakiss' second album is hardly the bad omen its title suggests.

After selling more than 245,000 copies last week, Kiss of Death will debut atop the next Billboard 200 albums chart, according to SoundScan figures released Wednesday (June 30). The singles "Why," featuring Anthony Hamilton, and "Time's Up," featuring Nate Dogg, helped the LOX leader best his previous first-week mark set by 2001's Kiss Tha Game Goodbye. That album placed at #5 and sold more than 203,000 copies during its first week in stores.

It's been three weeks since Usher last held the #1 slot, but Mr. Entertainment hasn't gone far. While giving the Beastie Boys and Velvet Revolver a chance to rule the roost on the last two charts, Usher's Confessions only slipped to #2, where it remains after selling more than 149,000 copies last week.

The success of her single, "Leave (Get Out)," suggests that JoJo is here to stay. The teen-pop singer's self-titled debut sold more than 94,000 copies for a #4 placement.

As "Spider-Man 2" gears up to rake in millions of dollars, the soundtrack is making a pretty penny on its own. With a pair of singles providing the thrust — Dashboard Confessional's "Vindicated" and Train's "Ordinary" — the decidedly rocking soundtrack lands at #7 with more than 82,000 copies sold.

Wilco's fifth album, A Ghost Is Born, trails the superhero-inspired soundtrack by a little more than 1,000 copies, though its #8 debut can't be attributed to the prominence of a hit single or video. With a growing, dedicated fanbase and a sea of praising press, Ghost trumped the first-week sales of its predecessor, 2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, by more than 26,000 copies and five chart slots.

The Beastie Boys' former chart champ To the 5 Boroughs falls two to #3 after selling more than 142,000 copies in its second week on shelves. The rap trio's sixth album has broken the half-million mark in total sales.

The top 10 is rounded out by Prince's Musicology, moving up one spot to #5 on sales of 92,000 copies to break the 1 million mark; Gretchen Wilson's Here for the Party falling two spots to #6 (86,000 copies sold); Velvet Revolver's Contraband plummeting six to #9 (78,000); and Avril Lavigne's Under My Skin sliding five to #10 (75,000).

Switchfoot's The Beautiful Letdown makes a huge stride thanks to the hit single "Dare You to Move" and a re-release that includes bonus tracks and a DVD. After more than a year on the chart, the band's fourth album jumps 28 spots to #16.

Other notable debuts include Erick Sermon's Chilltown, New York at #61; "You Got Served" actor Young Rome's Food for Thought at #98; Orange County rockers' Lit's self-titled fourth album at #113; multicultural collective Ozomatli's Street Signs at #125; and the Crunk Classics compilation, featuring cuts from Three 6 Mafia, Paster Troy and Youngbloodz, at #164.

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Erick Sermon Keeps It Old-School With Chilltown, New York

29 Jun 2004 21:29:00 EDT

MC/producer's fifth album is an old-school homage to his hometown.
By Joseph Patel

For his most recent single, "Feel It," Erick Sermon didn't invite the reggae vocalist Sean Paul into the studio to sing the song's chorus. Sermon didn't even call Paul — he just sampled him instead.

Owing to the high cost of samples, mainstream hip-hop producers do very little actual sampling these days, but Sermon, an ambassador from the old school, still relies on such tried-and-true methods for his solo career. Three years ago, he scored a hit with his song "Music," which borrowed an obscure, soulful riff from Marvin Gaye.

"[That] cost me $200,000, cash-money," Sermon explained recently. "But it [brought] me another four years in the career, you know? I feel I put down a sample not because I'm trying to grasp an audience or get any type of sales, I just grasp whatever feels good at the time."

That approach has worked for Sermon, who just released his fifth solo album, Chilltown, New York. The album is Sermon's homage to his hometown, similar to what the Beastie Boys did with their latest album, To the 5 Boroughs. In fact, the albums' covers are very similar, both showing a profile of the vaunted city skyline.

"It's bugged out, but that's the kinda vibe I was singing about," Sermon said. "They must've felt the vibe. I wanted to represent home because we had strayed and lost our identity and what we represent as hip-hop music. It feels chill to know they're on the same page as me and I'm on the same page as them."

Unusually, Sermon has managed to maintain a healthy, consistent solo career without having the fame and fanfare of some of his peers. He, of course, is celebrated as one-half of the influential rap duo EPMD, whose records in the late '80s and early '90s still impact young MCs today. His career seems to be propelled by well-timed singles, like "Music" and "Feel It," that buy him more time as a frontline artist.

But in addition to being a solo artist and a rap icon, Sermon has also forged a third career as a producer, making records for artists like Jay-Z, Ludacris, LL Cool J and Method Man. "I get more excited about producing other people's records because those other artists get more liked than I do," Sermon said. Still, the sound he cultivated with EPMD remains his stock in trade. "I'm still bass-line driven," he said. "I got a lot of groove and melody in my music. People know me for that."

Sermon said his solo material arises from tracks he has left over that haven't been used by other artists. He may not have many of those to choose from in the foreseeable future: Busta Rhymes, Nas, Juvenile and Game are all slated to work with Sermon in the coming weeks.

Although they both appear on Chilltown, Sermon admitted that Redman and Keith Murray were probably too busy to resurrect Def Squad, the supergroup they and Sermon formed in 1998. But he's got a new group of rappers he's putting out as a young group called Squad of Death. "I'm making some great material," he said. "I'm coming."

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Erick Sermon Insists He Didn't Try Suicide Last Month

31 Oct 2001 15:18:00 EST

Rapper/producer sticks to record label's initial statement that he was hospitalized due to a car accident September 25.
By Shaheem Reid

"There's no window, there's no fall. Get that out of your head," Erick Sermon said with consternation Tuesday about the reports he plunged three stories from a New Jersey apartment window on September 25.

"Hell no," he said, speaking out for the first time since that night. "I didn't fall from nothing like that. I would have been laid up for months and months."

Sermon is sticking to his record label's initial statement that he was hospitalized due to a car accident (see "Erick Sermon In Stable Condition After Car Accident"). J Records later recanted its statement after Paterson, New Jersey, police said their investigation determined that the rapper/producer, who first found fame as part of the duo EPMD, fell from a window and no foul play was involved. That caused police to believe that a suicide attempt was likely (see "Police Say Fall, Not Car Accident, Injured Erick Sermon"). Earlier this month, a spokesperson for the department said police were no longer investigating the case.

"I'm 250 [pounds], I ain't jumping from nothing," Sermon declared. "I just don't get that. This is one of the best times in my life. Me jumping out the window, or trying to commit suicide, I was like 'Are y'all serious?' I'm like 'Yo, where did they get that from?' I just want to say that what they said is not true."

All Sermon will say about the matter is that he crashed his vehicle after coming from a video shoot for his latest single, "I'm Hot."

"I had just finished doing my video, I was excited about that," he said. "I was riding around, just happy and chillin'. Got to Jersey and that was it. Got to the wrong spot where I wasn't supposed to be at. I woke up in the hospital."

On Tuesday, Sermon was at home resting the broken arm he said he suffered on September 25. His label had previously listed a broken jaw and leg among his injuries, but Sermon claims to have only damaged his arm.

He was feeling no pain, however — his LP Music had just been released and he was running on adrenaline.

"I'm fine, man, I'm great," said Sermon, who disclosed that he has to go to therapy once a week for his arm. "Matter of fact, I went last night to the Virgin Megastore. It's exciting. I woke up nine o'clock [this morning], called one of my workers. I was like 'Yo I got a new album out today.' I got 13 years in the game.

"For the first time I'm getting looked at," he said. "EPMD has been an underground group. Even though we was big, it was an underground-type big."

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Erick Sermon Released From Hospital, Will Explain What Happened

05 Oct 2001 18:08:00 EDT

Rapper/producer recuperating from injuries at his Long Island, New York, home.
By Shaheem Reid

In a couple of weeks, Erick Sermon will be able to tell the world what actually happened to him on September 25, a spokesperson for the hip-hop legend's label, J Records, said.

Sermon, who sustained several injuries and had to be hospitalized in intensive care after falling from a third-story window that night (see "Police Say Fall, Not Car Accident, Injured Erick Sermon"), has been released from a New Jersey hospital.

His spokesperson said he's in good sprits and resting at his Long Island, New York, home, where he's recuperating from his injuries, which include several broken bones and a broken jaw that requires his mouth to be wired shut for the next two weeks. The spokesperson also said he'll be able to hit the road in six to eight weeks to promote his new LP, Music, which drops October 30 (see "Erick Sermon Making EPMD, Def Squad, Solo Albums").

While J said it is going to let Sermon himself disclose the events of September 25, it has been adamant in proclaiming that his plunge into a parking lot was not a suicide attempt. When the news of the fall first broke, the label had reported that Sermon was in a car accident (see "Erick Sermon In Stable Condition After Car Accident"). J blames that on miscommunication between the label and those who were with the rapper/producer at the hospital when he was admitted.

A spokesperson for the Paterson police department, which was investigating the case, said Friday that police have not discovered any criminal element surrounding Sermon's fall and are not pursuing the case any further.

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Police Say Fall, Not Car Accident, Injured Erick Sermon

02 Oct 2001 21:56:00 EDT

Rapper in stable condition after suffering head trauma.
By Shaheem Reid

Erick Sermon, who was hospitalized last week because of what his label said was a car accident, actually plunged from the third-story window of a New Jersey woman's apartment, police said Tuesday.

According to police, the 32-year-old rapper/producer was visiting a woman on Paterson, New Jersey's Mill Street on September 25, and at some point he was left alone in the apartment. When the woman returned, police said, she saw an open window and looked out to see Sermon laid out in the parking lot below.

A police spokesperson said there was no evidence of criminal activity in the apartment and that the information they've received points to a suicide attempt. Paterson police said that although he's in an intensive care unit in stable condition, Sermon was unable to be interviewed. The hospital would not discuss the extent of Sermon's injuries, but police said he had suffered head trauma.

The J Records representative who last week provided the car accident report (see "Erick Sermon In Stable Condition After Car Accident") was unavailable for comment, but the label issued a statement on Wednesday (October 3), saying, "We can confirm that Erick Sermon was indeed in an accident, but in no way, shape or form should it be made to appear as a suicide attempt. The idea of that is damaging to him as a vital artist and ludicrous to all of us who know him. Quite the contrary, Erick is in great spirits."

Sermon's manager, Bernard Alexander, issued his own statement, saying, "As his manager and a personal friend for over 20 years, I must go on record to say that the idea of a suicide attempt is completely ridiculous, and it is just plain wrong to report it in this manner."

(This story was updated at 8:46 p.m. ET Wednesday, October 3, 2001.)

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Erick Sermon In Stable Condition After Car Accident

27 Sep 2001 16:31:00 EDT

Rapper/producer injured in collision following video shoot.
By Shaheem Reid

Hip-hop pioneer Erick Sermon is in stable condition in the intensive care unit of a New Jersey hospital, the victim of an apparent car accident.

Sermon was involved in a collision with an automobile on Tuesday night which sent his vehicle into a wall, a J Records spokesperson said. The rapper suffered a broken jaw, a broken leg and head injuries, according to the label.

A spokesperson for the hospital confirmed that Sermon is in its intensive care unit but would not discuss the rapper's injuries. J Records has requested that the name of the hospital not be released to the public.

The New Jersey Police Department could not confirm the accident.

Sermon had just finished shooting the Little X-directed video for his latest single, "I'm Hot," in New Jersey and was on his way home when the accident occurred, according to J Records.

A member of the seminal rap duo EPMD, Sermon saw his career reinvigorated this year with his hit "Music," which sampled Marvin Gaye (see "Erick Sermon Makes 'Music' With Marvin Gaye"). He also signed with J Records (see "Erick Sermon Making EPMD, Def Squad, Solo Albums").

"I'm Hot" again samples Gaye, this time from the classic "Sexual Healing": "I'm hot just like an oven." At the Source Awards in August, Sermon said he was confident that his second track featuring the late soul singer would be a success, joking that he was following in the footsteps of Ja Rule and his back-to-back radio smashes with Lil' Mo.

Among the projects on Sermon's current production schedule are a Keith Murray solo album and the soundtrack to the Redman and Method Man movie, How High. He was also slated to work on the film's score.

Sermon's third solo album, also titled Music, is scheduled to drop October 30 and features appearances from R. Kelly, Foxy Brown, Redman and Blondie's Deborah Harry.

The rapper/producer was lined up to appear at Cypress Hill's Smoke Out Festival on October 6 in Devore, California, and on October 13 in Oakland, California (see "Two Of Cypress Hill's Smoke Out Dates Postponed").

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Erick Sermon Making EPMD, Def Squad, Solo Albums

27 Jun 2001 17:27:00 EDT

Busy Green Eyed Bandit working with Debbie Harry, R. Kelly, more on new projects.
By Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Curtis Waller

Erick Sermon is living up to his "Green Eyed Bandit" nickname. Having just moved his Def Squad imprint from DreamWorks to Clive Davis' J Records, Sermon has a boatload of money in his sights. "The J Records deal is dope," E-Double said Monday. "Just what [Clive Davis] has done at Arista and the stars he's made, he's a genius. He knows what records should be, what artists should look and sound like. Clive Davis is music." It's "Music" that has Sermon, who's been staying busy producing other artists, going through rejuvenation on the mic. Using a sample of Marvin Gaye's vocals, the song has endeared itself to the public because of its thematic break from the monotony of hip-hop song content, which lately boils down to icy wrists and necks, Bentleys, and how chicken heads flock to MCs. It's just the story of a man and his true love — music — and how it has inspired him. "Marvin used it as a third person when he was singing about music," Sermon said. "Just how it influences and affects our lives as people. I wanted to be able to show that. I have a line in the record that says 'Have black and white vibe in one room with no confrontation/ And they party all night because of the sensation of the music.' " "Music" came together when Sermon received an import version of his favorite album, Marvin Gaye's Midnight Love, as a gift from a friend. As a bonus, the LP included studio outtakes of the singer, and Sermon decided to make a song using the vocals. He started production on the track with the intent of just having something to play around the house — he was not looking to make a hit record.

"I went down in my basement and just started looping a couple of words he was saying," Sermon said. "It took me about 20 minutes to program a beat to it. Once I got the concept and a rhyme, which was like an hour-and-a-half process, I was calling [my friend] on the phone telling her to check it out." Sermon then played the song for one of his business partners, and in turn, his partner started to distribute it at the Impact music convention earlier this year, where radio station programmers dubbed "Music" a future hit and wanted to add it to their playlists.

Things happened so quickly that Sermon was caught with his pants down — he had yet to clear the sample. With the help of his friend, legendary hip-hop DJ Eric B., Sermon set up a meeting with Gaye's family and was given the OK to put out the song ... for a small fee.

"Marvin's ex-wife, Marvin III and his other son heard it and they were like 'You gave my pops some justice and it sounds good.' So they came at us with a real high number and I was prepared to pay that. We ended up paying $200,000 for the clearance and it was worth it." Sermon has devised a song that the thugs in the clubs can dance to, and at the same time your grandmother would want to sing along to. He said that now that he has the attention of a diverse congregation of listeners, he plans to address everyone with his third solo album, The Sermon, scheduled to drop in August. One of the points he plans to preach is bringing an end to the discord in the hip-hop community.

"Biggie Smalls is dead," he griped. "Tupac is dead over a rhyme, beefing back and forth because of lyrics. With a record like ['Music'] it shows that it ain't about that. Have a good time, it just makes you feel good." He plans on making people feel even better when he releases a new version of "Music," this time with more guest vocals.

"We got a remix going on with Dr. Dre and Jay-Z that will be happening around," he said. "I don't know when we are going to drop that though, because the [original version] is still heating up. Hopefully when we start dying down a little bit, we will drop that. I'm going to use the same beat. The beat was already hot so don't change it if it ain't broken." Another visitor coming to work with E-Double is Debbie Harry, who'll perform on an updated version of Blondie's "One Way or Another." "It's hard though," Sermon said of the record. "Don't picture what you think it might be. It's hard, it's hip-hop." R&B King R. Kelly will sing on a song about hardship, while veterans Scarface and LL Cool J join in on "Do Re Mi," where each vet boasts about his longevity in song-making. Foxy Brown has also collaborated with Sermon for the album, as have Def Squad members Keith Murray and Redman.

Sermon, who produced 10 tracks on the current Redman album, said that in addition to working on a new Keith Murray album, the Def Squad are planning their second LP as a collective, titled Tsunami, to be released next year. Also on his plate is a return to the foundation that made him a rap legend — Sermon has already recorded seven songs with Parrish Smith for a new EPMD album. They plan to call the new effort, their seventh, We Mean Business. "We do mean business this time," Sermon said. "Before we really weren't into ourselves because of what was going on." (During the recording of its last album, the duo was coming to the end of its relationship with longtime label Def Jam). "This time we really know what time it is. I just did two shows in Portland and San Francisco and I brought Parish with me and it was like off the meter. The type of love that is happening right now is just incredible. I just appreciate all this." You could say it's music to his ears.

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Erick Sermon Makes 'Music' With Marvin Gaye

11 May 2001 15:58:00 EDT

Rapper/producer also working on solo album, EPMD LP.
By Shaheem Reid

Digging in the crates is how some producers make a living. Blowing off the dust from their vinyl, they find old sounds and discover new ways to introduce them to the world.

Erick Sermon's been digging in his crates for the past 13 years, flipping songs by such artists as George Clinton and Roger Troutman into his own brand of murky funk. Sermon's latest find came courtesy of Mr. Smooth himself, Marvin Gaye.

On "Music," off the soundtrack to Martin Lawrence's upcoming comedy "What's the Worst That Can Happen?," Sermon uses rare vocals by Gaye. According to Bernard Alexander, Sermon's co-manager, Sermon had a limited release, special edition of the late singer's 1982 Midnight Love LP, which included outtakes of Gaye singing a cappella during some never-before-heard studio sessions.

"Music," which is fast becoming one of radio's most played songs, will also be featured on the Green Eyed Bandit's August 7 solo album, The Sermon. Alexander said Sermon has already recorded songs for that LP with his Def Squad compatriots, Redman and Keith Murray, as well as with Dr. Dre, Ludacris, Xzibit, LL Cool J, Too Short and Foxy Brown. Soon after The Sermon, E Double is going to bring his career around full circle — he's been hard at work on a new EPMD album as well.

Sermon's been just as busy behind the boards as he's been in the vocal booth. Redman's Malpractice, which drops on May 22, features 10 Sermon tracks. Alexander said his client also contributed three beats to Teddy Riley's upcoming solo debut. Sermon has been collaborating with Xzibit and Method Man on their new projects, and he'll jump into the studio with Keith Murray upon Murray's release from a halfway house on May 17. He will also serve as one of the executive producers on the soundtrack to Redman and Method Man's starring vehicle, How High, and score the film as well.

Alexander said he'll secure a label deal by May 29 for the Sermon solo and EPMD projects. That same day, the soundtrack to "What's the Worst That Can Happen?" hits stores. The track listing for the "What's the Worst That Can Happen?" soundtrack: