Islip, New York emcee/producer Erick Sermon taking a backseat vocally for his 9th LP. A member of the duo EPMD & the trio Def Squad, it was’t until the early/mid 90s where he made his solo debut No Pressure & followed with a sophomore effort Double or Nothing under Def Jam Recordings. Following the DreamWorks Records-backed Erick Onasis as well as Music & React under J Records, he contemplated retiring in the summer of 2004 with Chilltown, New York under Universal Music Group. He fortunately made a flawed yet solid comeback over a decade later with E.S.P. (Erick Sermon’s Perception) & his last album Vernia was a great tribute to his late grandmother, but he’s ready to roll out the Dynamic Duos trilogy.
After the intro, the lead single “Look at ‘Em” by Method Man & Redman begins with them talking about their whole crews going off over a ghostly instrumental whereas “Sidewalk Executives” by M.O.P. works in a soul sample to proclaim administrative status of their home turf. “Like That” by WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg takes a funkier route to spit playful romance & after the “Maya Crockett” skit, “God Mode” by Conway the Machine & The Game links up to talk about their verses being scriptures.
“How Do You Know?” by Cypress Hill goes for a boom bap vibe cautioning that nobody want the purple haze smoke from them while “How Long?” by Public Enemy brings back the funk shifting from hardcore lyricism to the politically relevant subject matter they’ve always been known for. EPMD get a song of their own with “Test Me” daring for their opposition to try them & see what happens but after the “Pimp Gators” skit, “The City” by Tha Dogg Pound represents the west coast.
The song “Spectacle” by Heltah Skeltah blends soul & funk talking about making the music world experience something incredible while “No Gimmicks” featuring 38 Spesh finds the 2 reminding us all that they remain authentic. Prior to the outro, “Back 2 the Party” by Salt-n-Pepa finishes with the recently inducted Rock & Roll Hall of Famers smoothly getting nostalgic over the days of block parties.
Focusing more on the production side of things, Dynamic Duos marks the 1st time since the insomnia compilation under Interscope Records almost 3 decades ago where Erick Sermon lets a list of guest performers shine on the mic although he does drop a couple verses here & there. And it’s no surprise that the inaugural entry of this series has great potential to be his greatest material honoring some of hip hop’s most iconic groups & duos.
Score: 9/10