Robbed hit of the week 7/2/18 - EPMD's "Crossover"...
from the album Business Never Personal (1992)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #42
This week's "robbed hit" comes from the rap duo EPMD, who got their start in New York's Long Island suburb of Brentwood in the mid-80s. With a moniker recalling their names, (E)rick Sermon and (P)arrish Smith released their debut album Strictly Business in 1988. Signed to the Sleeping Bag label, which was more successful at the time with dance acts like house music singer Joyce Sims and electronic master Mantronix (a label exec as well), in 1987 their first single "It's My Thing" popped on to the British singles chart for a week at #97. In America, the pair landed on the R&B chart for the first time with the second single from the record, "You Gots To Chill" (#22 R&B). The title track, which sampled Eric Clapton's "I Shot The Sheriff" over a disco beat, followed it into the R&B top-40 at #25, and was a pretty decent club hit, climbing to #19 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart (their best showing of their whole career). A year later, they returned with Unfinished Business, and went back into the R&B top-40 with "So Wat Cha Sayin'" (#23 R&B). But while the album became their second to go "gold" (500,000 copies shipped), their label was struggling, and though many of the acts there suffered as a result, Def Jam bought EPMD and their catalog out, and brought them on board with one of the biggest hip-hop labels of that time.
Sermon and Parrish's first set on Def Jam, Business As Usual, continued their upward momentum, with two top-40 R&B hits including "Gold Digger", which peaking at#14 was their first time in the top-20, while it topped Billboard's Rap Singles chart. The second, "Rampage" (#30 R&B), featured then way-hot LL Cool J, bringing them an even more massive "mainstream" audience. That would bring EPMD their biggest success together on their next record, Business Never Personal. Released in 1992, it sported a lead single that bemoaned the state of rap-to-pop "crossovers" that they felt minimized the artform. However, "Crossover", written and produced by the duo with Roger's "You Should Me Mine" prominently sampled, was their catchiest single yet, and nearly gave them a bona fide "pop hit"...
While "Crossover" matched "Gold Digger" as their highest-charting R&B hit at #14, the single stopped a couple notches south of the pop top-40 in September of 1992. The extended remix even popped on to the Dance Club Play chart at #41. Their second release from Business Never Personal, "Head Banger" featuring then-upcoming rapper Redman, only got to #75 R&B and missed the pop Hot 100 altogether. Problems between the pair caused them to split acrimoniously at first in 1993. They both released work solo, with Erick's "Bomdigi" hitting #84 on the pop chart and #39 R&B in 1995, and Parrish going to #89 pop the year before with "I Saw It Cummin'".
1997 saw EPMD making amends and getting back together for their fifth album Back In Business. "Da Joint" from the record hit #94 pop and climbed to #45 on the R&B chart, though it didn't seem like they were really cool besides "getting the act back". After another set, Out Of Business, which ended up their highest-charting album at #13, but only producing a minor R&B hit with "Symphony 2000" (#62 R&B), they went their separate ways yet again.
Starting to release solo material again, Sermon ended up gaining more and more success in the "mainstream radio" world, and ended up hitting the pop top-40 twice, in 2001 with "Music" (which spent a week at #2 R&B), and again a year later with "React" (featuring Redman). They reunited a second time in 2008 for their Unfinished Business album; they are due to release another set later this year.
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Here's the duo appearing live on MTV...
...and a snippet from a concert in 2012...
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