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1997 studio album by EPMD
Back in Business is the fifth studio album by American hip hop duo
EPMD . It was released on September 16, 1997, through
Def Jam Recordings .
[6] Recording sessions took place at Mirror Image and Soundtrack Studios in
New York .
Production was handled by members
Erick Sermon and
PMD , as well as
DJ Scratch , with
Agallah and
Rockwilder serving as co-producers. It features
guest appearances from
Das EFX ,
Keith Murray , Nocturnal and
Redman .
In the United States, the album peaked at number 16 on the
Billboard 200 and number 4 on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums . It was
certified Gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America on November 17, 1997 for selling 500,000 copies. It also reached number 100 on the
UK Albums Chart and number 14 on the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart.
The song "Never Seen Before" was released as a split single with
Foxy Brown 's "
Big Bad Mamma " from
Def Jam's How to Be a Player soundtrack . "
Da Joint " made it to number 94 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and became the duo's second most successful single (after "
Crossover ") in the
album era . The final single off of the album, "Richter Scale", only reached number 62 on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs .
The album marks the reunion of the group after five year disbandment, when the pair had broken up due to money issues.
[4]
[7]
Critical reception
Vibe wrote that "Sermon's sluggish production makes the duo's paper-thin and finance-driven subject matter that much more irritating".
[8]
Rolling Stone declared: "Gone is the Wall of Sound funk that made EPMD famous".
[9] The
Austin American-Statesman thought that "jams such as 'Richter Scale' and 'Get With This' show true EPMD style as Erick and Parish sound perfect together over guitar funk".
[10]
The Guardian wrote that Back in Business "returns to the breaks and beats that made [EPMD] great: kooky 1970s funk samples mixed with guitar loops and cool-as-ice vocals".
[11]
Track listing
Title Writer(s) Producer(s) 1. "Intro"
Erick Sermon
Erick Sermon 0:13 2. "Richter Scale" Erick Sermon 3:14 3. "
Da Joint " 3:28 4. "Never Seen Before" Erick Sermon 2:51 5. "Skit" P. Smith Andre Weston William Hines
PMD 0:24 6. "Intrigued" (featuring
Das EFX ) Sermon P. Smith Weston Hines Erick Sermon 3:37 7. "Last Man Standing" 3:35 8. "Get wit This" Erick Sermon 3:42 9. "Do It Again" Sermon P. Smith
Tom Browne Thomassina Carrollyne Smith Erick Sermon 2:50 10. "Apollo Interlude" Erick Sermon 1:19 11. "You Gots 2 Chill '97" Sermon P. Smith
Roger Troutman Rob Bell Ron Bell Boyce G. Brown Mickens C. Smith Thomas Westfield
EPMD 3:26 12. "Put On"
DJ Scratch 3:54 13. "K.I.M." (featuring
Keith Murray and
Redman ) Erick Sermon 4:38 14. "Dungeon Master" (featuring Nocturnal) Sermon P. Smith Yasin Muhammedi 3:24 15. "Jane 5" PMD 2:41 16. "Never Seen Before" (Remix) Sermon P. Smith Mark Adams
Steve Arrington Ray Turner Stephen C. Washington Danny Webster Erick Sermon 2:52 Total length: 46:08
Sample credits
Personnel
Erick Sermon – vocals, producer (tracks: 1-4, 6, 8-11, 13, 16) , co-producer (track 7) , executive producer, sleeve notes
Parrish "
PMD " Smith – vocals, producer (tracks: 5, 7, 11, 14, 15) , executive producer, sleeve notes
Andre "Krazy Drayz" Weston – additional vocals (track 5) , vocals (track 6)
Willie "Skoob" Hines – additional vocals (track 5) , vocals (track 6)
Yasin "Nocturnal" Muhammedi – additional vocals (track 5) , vocals (track 14)
Darryl "Pop" Trotter – additional vocals (track 10)
Keith Murray – vocals (track 13)
Reggie "
Redman " Noble – vocals (track 13)
George "
DJ Scratch " Spivey – scratches, producer (track 12)
Dana "
Rockwilder " Stinson – co-producer (track 3)
Angel "
8-Off " Aguilar – co-producer (track 14)
Ivan 'Doc' Rodriguez – recording (tracks: 1, 5, 10, 13-15) , mixing (tracks: 1-3, 5-10, 12, 13, 15)
Tommy Uzzo – recording (tracks: 2-4, 11, 16) , mixing (tracks: 4, 11, 16)
Tom Chianti – recording (tracks: 6-9)
Mikael Ifversen – recording (track: 12)
Chris Irish – mixing (track 14)
Dave Butcher – engineering assistant
Marc Berto – engineering assistant
Mike Koch – engineering assistant
Tony Dawsey – mastering
Bernard Alexander – co-executive producer, management
Danny Clinch – photography
Kevin Liles – A&R
Irving "
Irv Gotti " Lorenzo Jr. – A&R
The Drawing Board – creative director
Jasmine "Jazz" Young – marketing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
^ Stanley, Leo.
"EPMD - Back in Business Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic" .
AllMusic . Retrieved November 18, 2023 .
^
Baker, Soren (September 26, 1997).
"EPMDBack In Business (Def Jam) (star) 1/2On..."
Chicago Tribune . Retrieved November 18, 2023 .
^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music . Vol. 3. MUZE. p. 301.
^
a
b
Brackett, Nathan ;
Hoard, Christian David (2004).
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide .
Simon and Schuster . pp.
281 .
ISBN
978-0-7432-0169-8 .
^ Juon, Steve 'Flash' (July 30, 2019).
"EPMD :: Back In Business – RapReviews" . www.rapreviews.com . Retrieved November 18, 2023 .
^ Nelson, Havelock (July 26, 1997).
"EPMD Reopens For 'Business' " .
Billboard . Vol. 109, no. 30.
Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 21, 24.
ISSN
0006-2510 – via
Google Books .
^ Ducker, Jesse (September 19, 2022).
"Rediscover EPMD's 'Back in Business' (1997) | Tribute" . Albumism . Retrieved November 18, 2023 .
^ Ex, Christian (November 1997). "Revolutions".
Vibe . 5 (9): 148.
^ "Back in Business".
Rolling Stone (770): 54, 56. October 2, 1997.
^ "EPMD".
Austin American-Statesman : C1. September 27, 1997.
^ "Music: This week's pop cd releases".
The Guardian : 16: 4. October 17, 1997.
^
"Official Albums Chart Top 100" .
Official Charts Company . Retrieved May 5, 2021.
^
"Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40" .
Official Charts Company . Retrieved November 18, 2023.
^
"The Billboard 200" .
Billboard .
Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 11, 1997. p. 106.
ISSN
0006-2510 . Retrieved November 18, 2023 .
^
"Top R&B Albums" .
Billboard .
Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 11, 1997. p. 32.
ISSN
0006-2510 . Retrieved November 18, 2023 .
^
"Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1997" . Billboard . Retrieved May 5, 2021 .
^
"American album certifications – EPMD – Back In Business" .
Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved November 18, 2023 .
External links
Studio albums Singles Related articles