Explaining why he doesn’t like to hear Hip Hop artists make claims about “bringing New York back,” EPMD rapper and producer Erick Sermon spoke with HipHopDX about his experience of living in Atlanta for more than two decades.
“I don’t like that thing, that, ‘New York is back thing,’” he said in a clip that premiered in today’s DX Daily. “Everybody say, ‘I’m bringing New York back.’ I don’t like that. New York never went nowhere. You have underground people, people are making Hip Hop…They all over the place but it just ain’t mainstream and dope enough to go on radio ‘cause of how radio is. They never did that. There’s no bringing New York back. You gotta do what you have to do.”
Detailing his years of living in Georgia while watching New York’s music trends from a distance, Sermon also addressed the increased Hip Hop market share held in the Southern state.
“People know me for being in Atlanta,” he said. “I’ve been there for half of my career. When the group broke up, from ‘92 on I’ve been in Georgia. I used to watch them look at TV and be like, ‘Yo, why they doing that?’ They don’t wanna see us doing them. They like us for what we did but then we end up doing them and they lost respect. They’ll laugh in your face but they laughing, saying, ‘Look at them. They doing us and we used to watch them.’ That’s what they’re saying. They never gonna let this go if it was up to them. They laughing, happy. The Hip Hop Awards in Atlanta every year. They loving this shit. Who give a fuck about the culture and the history? We got it now. That’s how they feel.”
There’s a better chance of Christ Bearer growing his dick back than New York ever does shit again and retards like Rosenturd are one of the reasons. Move the fuck on, or go back to jazz and blues. (Should have done that anyway, fuckface.)
New York is fucked from all the years of not playing other coast music. Then the decided to only play South music and riding that dick. NY needs to stop rapping over South beats and make there own. The west and the South are reinventing there self over and over but NY can’t seem to do that
wack south rappers ruined hiphop..it only sells cause most of their lyrics are ignorant and simplistic..young generation like stupidity
The South’s music within the black community has always been centered upon a “release” from life’s grind. This goes back to the days of slavery when music was a form of respite. As music in the South evolved, that “release” has always been present. The North, with all of its artistry has always centered upon creativity and intricacy. The North has always “pushed” music to various levels, while the South is rooted in fun. Southern Hip-Hop is “dumb” because their music has never been intended to be much of a cultural expression in terms of artistry.
The reason Southern rap took over the game is because it’s a larger region with a broader population. Also, the “sound” of Hip-Hop vocals has switched to southern accents, which is why so many New York artist fake southern twangs. They’re trying to make the music sound popular, and in doing so have abandoned the New York sound. Not all New York rappers, but enough that it has affected New York’s standing in the game. As example, a whole lot of New York rappers pronounced New York as “New Yawk” when we don’t speak like that. You can’t maintain New York “music” when you’re busy trying to sound like another region. It makes no sense.
Well said!
thats what i Always have said eastcoast hiphop is dead. they suck to much dirty south dick.
You are a B!tch and don’t know what the hell u are talkign about.
one thing I agree with, but another I don’t. I’m from the South. And I’ve always asked myself, when the south music was taking over, why are NY rappers coming with these dirty south beats (that’s the only way I can categorize the beats, since we’re branded with them, but they actually come from everywhere, eg Afrika Bambatta) but I’ve never laughed and said haha they looking stupid. I always wanted NY to be NY and south to be south, because you can’t just say southern hiphop is based on dumb-assed lyrics. This shit came from radio period, it’s just a fact that the south did capitalize on this bs. I’m not proud of it, but I don’t own this “dirty-south-is-whack” shit either. We have talented artists pushing the envelope, but they are also too far between. West Coast too, I love the sound that the west coast is known for. All this shit was creativity. It’s just that party music got popular, and that’s easy for the radio to play, and voila, you have a fucked up game now.
Just don’t put that shit on the south completely.
only south artists i respect: geto boys, 8ball and mjg, ugk, and outkast and the rest is just garbage.
niggas writing essays n shit like its a final exam. nigga 140 characters or less or stfu aint nobody readin that bullshit
^ dam u sat there an counted how many characters he used an got the nerve to say stfu? maybe u should be the one to shut the fuck up after a lame comment like that u dumb ass
Here’s what really happen to NY… Yall got cocky as hell yall put out BS albums. Even Nas called out those rappers. Only ppl making good records were JayZ and Nas. Ppl from NY act like they never had a wack MC. Who is Ja Rule? We had southern cats rapper lyrically like crazy but mainstream NY didnt give them a chance. Yall booed Outkast because they were from the South and not the north. Nobody likes NY. West or South because yall cocky as hell.
Yeah there some sorry dudes in the south rapping but u got them in the East and West so stop it. Plus lets b real with all the clubs and strip clubs around. Who wants to hear Nas “One Mic” in the strip club?. NOT ME. If I’m in the club I wanna hear Gucci even though he cant rap but he make the strippers twerk. Balance in the music today is what u looking for.
Yo Erick, get with Red and make another classic.
Get with Redman and lets release another def squad album
Funny he never said NY rap is gone. He said its never gone no where. The title is misleading but I guess those who posted never read the article. All he is saying is NY dudes are still doing their thing just not from a mainstream seen.
LOl. these kids are calling Drake a hip hop artist now?
Dude doesn’t even have a DJ.
Hip Hop isn’t on the commercial radio anymore folks.
Did anyone take the time to actually read this article?
Doesn’t seem like it based upon these comments here..
In the last five years no artist from the South sold records so why are we still talking about the South like they doing something. What is this a 2005 Ozone Magazine???? The street buzz is coming out of Chicago, Drake selling records from Toronto, Kendrick Lamar & TDE are highly anticipated out of the West, shared with new acts out of the South like Young Thug and the Think It’s A Game Movement. Outside of the rapper Game, a Southern artist is faster to appear on a reality show than a artist from another region who still has a career. IFrom the South still run Hip Hop then I’m wearing jean shorts with the du-rag under my fitted. The reason events are being held in Atlanta because Atlanta has captured that spark NY once had before Guilliani and Bloomberg sucked the culture out of NY. The South runs nothing.
thats y all them artists and regions u mentioned all swagger jacked the south, drAke sounds like he from the south not canada, cheif keep sounds like be from the south not chicago, kendrick sounds like a fake andre 3000 from. Outkast from the south not cali.
Drake from Canada homeboy… “Sound like he from the south”… 50 sound like he from the south cuz his grandparents raised him so is he a swagger jacket too. Or if your southern parents raised you up north you a swagger jacker? Chief Keef sound like Chicago. His parents or grandparents again who raised Chicago dudes are transplants from below the Mason Dixon. Kendrick Lamar, you a idiot, who from LA is actually from LA. This is why anyone born after 1990 is screwed cuz they do t know their history. When the slaves were stolen from Africa they were dropped off in The South. Kendrick Lamar family is from Chicago by way of a state below the Mason Dixon how is he supposed to sound. Hip Hop is NY culture period. You can type about the South til your fingers is blue, but sorry bud all the rappers you mentioned and who you subscribe to borrowed a style that was born up the street from Yankee Stadium.
what the hell are u talking about? no shit hip hop culture came from the bronx bro im older than u think homie. And i know where all those artists are from my point is everyone wants to sound like the south including ny its sad, I remember back in the day when ny radio played ny hip hop, south radio played south hip hop, west coast radio played west coast hip hop, its not like that anymore everyone sounds like the south, its sad. Id rather ny sounded like ny and each region had there own sound like in the 90s
and 50 cent didnt always sound like that, listen to his 90s shit he sounds like a 90s ny rapper doing songs with nas and onyx im pretty sure getting shot in the face doesnt make u suddenly rap like juvenile, the shit changed when ny and other regions geared there sound to sounding like the south
NY Hip Hop was my jam from age 10-19, im 24 now and I realise why they failed, They never adapted to change and most of them said the same shit as their last album.
I love DJ Premier my all time favourite producer but he is part of the problem, you cannot have 90’s sounding shit because its not the 90s no more you can still have grimmy hard beats but no one under the age 25 is going to be attracted to the beats I know its hard to let go but its the facts.
The West Coast is doing it big at the moment and it’s not just TDE that Vince Staples dude is awesome, listen to his mixtape grimmy new aged beats that sound dope.
First off, you are too young to understand the true aesthetics of hip-hop music. Premier doesn’t do 90’s hip-hop, he produces authentic Hip-Hop, which is why he is still here an relevant for over 25 years. There are very few artists today that will have the longevity to last that long. Many of these new “mainstream” hip-pop artists just follow corporate radio trends. For example that ILoveMakkonen song soungs just like a young thug song which sounds like one of future songs
Dj premier is the greatest producer of all time, and he does songs with young cats like joey bada$$ and a lot of the newer younger artists. 50 cent ruined NY hip hop its no secret, everyone went from trying to make dope music to trying to outshine each other, acting like record sales and publicity stunts is more important than the actual music. How can people call get rich or die trying a classic that shit is garbage thats when NY hip hop started going down the tube because NY quit sounding like NY and started sounding like the south, new yorkers dont say “im tellin ya mayne” and talk about “da trap” fuck outta here
Eh no I am not too young to understand the true roots of Hip Hop I have heard it all, I’ve listened to most “hot artists” from 99-to now the first artist to grab my attention was Lupe now its all TDE, Bishop Nehru, Joey, Logic and Vince Staples.
I’m a massive massive DJ Premier fan I have actually seen him perform twice and once with Guru when I was in my teens to late I used to think Hip Hop in general will never come back and I was pissed off because no one around me knew and understood how good premo is I love his sound he has countlessly made average MC’s look like gods because of his production himself, but his shit does sound old man even the Joey tracks while they sound dope they sound old and young kid’s dont like old sounding shit and if you want to inspire a generation you have to change you cannot force them to get into the old shit, dont get my wrong there are a few old souls that will absolutely love his style not matter what age but still if you want a make an impact you gotta change and adapt, you gotta remember in the 90’s DJ Premier was new thats why hes had so much success.
I think Premo has the potential to adapt to make his beats suit the new generation no doubt he just has to change his sample choices the style can remind the same but the sound has to change, I love premo to bits I’ve even talk to him but he truly is stuck in the 90s man and his Year Round Records signings are examples of that.
I agree there are VERY few artists who have longevity, Jay Z may have longevity but he did not stick to his roots, the only artists who have had mainstream success without with changing who they are and have had longevity is Nas, Tupac and probably in the future Kendrick Lamar.
But back on the topic NYC MC’s did not adapt to change period to give you an example of a new aged NY type beat listen to Underground Airplay by JoeyBad, Smoke DZA and KRIT thats the shit im talking about sounds grimmey 90s with a new sound.
Or listen to Vince Staples ft. Ab-Soul- Killin Y’all.
so u want dj premier to start making trap beats for ass clowns like vince staples and ab soul? Get the fuck outta here u have no place in hip hop!
The thing is so many brainwashed clowns judge whats relevant based off what the white man allows on the radio.Real Hip hop never started off in the mainstream. Real Hip Hop is like jazz nowadays, very little of it will make it to the mainstream, it doesnt take away from the skills.The problemwith New York truthfully is they have always been defined by sampling.which although its easy to say thats Hip Hop.LOOK we are in 2014.Cats can afford to make original music and craft fly shh….I cant think of one producer from New York thats ever been dope with all original non sampled beats…except swizz…and not my style…but I salute him ….New York producers half of them dont even replay the samples with real musicians like Dj Quik , Kanye , Dr dre… and they want shh to sound dusty …lol man nickas aint riding subways out here we lean in cars and bump our shh….times change..you can be hip hop and put a real musician on bass. real keys etc….mad kids at churches and colleges that can play….I love sampled beats but I love originality and totally new creations way more Robert Glasper , Roots etc…..come original where the new era of great musicians that push the art forward…sampling is great but kids arent amazed by that no more….too many kids tin every city that can do that….some Daw damn near chop for you….and you can lift the entire groove off a record…
ok but tell that to J Dilla (who is arguably the best hip hop producer and who robert glaspert is influenced from) or Madlib who sample and play instruments. sampling is original as how hip hop does it’s the hip hop sound MPC,ASR,sp-1200 are hip hop instruments. you say quik yeah he plays but samples too it’s rare but he does do it and dre who samples too isn’t original cause he don’t even make the beats he actually samples from other producers who turns the beat in first and he has been doing that since world class wrecking crew so don’t diss the last 30 years of how hip hop has been doing music cause we learned how from NY and nothing but classics has been dropped in that era of beat making which we are still in so get your facts straight and respect what brought you to hip hop in the first place. you can’t name the top ten hip hop producers without naming J dilla,q-tip,pete rock,rza,marley marl,erick sermon,premo,and other classic producers like easy mo bee,bomb squad,diamond d,k-def,mark 45 king,lord finess,beat miners,havoc,large professor,etc i can on and on you say kanye but he samples too he can’t play shit and wont crack the top 25 ever and if music is so original now than before why does it sound so bad and terrible the south out side of dungeon fam,ludacris,and anybody who dropped in the golden age have no talent and is responsible for ruining hip hop even mannie fresh said just using 808’S and fast hi hats all the time is wack and his foundation to his sound is off that bullshit. hip hop didnt get better it got worse cause it made it so the simple and mediocre people can relate and do it as before it was like making the nba not everybody can get on cause you had to be good and what made it that way was how it was done from a real hip hop stand point and i agree with erick cause the new york sound never went anywhere it’s the same with these new west idiots who think they doing something than what was already done. the only people who talk down on authentic hip hop are the ones lost in this bullshit the record labels put out and they need yall there cause you fall for anything why we sit and watch you play yourself cause it will be over soon and what will still be here is what made hip hop shout out to the golden age and death to those with no respect but y’all don’t hear me though
Can someone please explain to me how a NY artist is supposed to sound like? Can i get some examples of a “NY Sound?”
see Nas & AZ
see modern-day swag jackers:
A$AP Rocky (Houston/learn sipping/Bone Thugs-n-Harmony flow)
A$AP Ferg (Bone Thugs-n-Harmony flow)
Bobby Schmurda (Chicago drill music-ish)
I could name more “down south/ in it for the money wannabes”, but I would ruin your day.
yall act like the south never stole from new york..LL Cool J an and Mantronix was doing the 808 beats sound in 1985..oh and remember when when you down south punks were stealing Mobb Deep’s talk by saying “Dunny”/”what up dun”..you stole the way we dressed until lil wayne started wearing gay clothes..the best rappers from the south were scarface, luda and andre3000..eightball and south circle were cool..only probably was rappers from my generation are in their 40’s and 50’s and they dont wear gay clothes..lloyd banks and action bronson are better then the new south..new york doesnt even claim french montana , he only does that south stuff to make money..
yall act like the south never stole from new york..LL Cool J an and Mantronix was doing the 808 beats sound in 1985..oh and remember when when you down south punks were stealing Mobb Deep’s talk by saying “Dunny”/”what up dun”..you stole the way we dressed until lil wayne started wearing gay clothes..the best rappers from the south were scarface, luda and andre3000..eightball and south circle were cool..only problem was rappers from my generation are in their 40’s and 50’s and they dont wear gay clothes..lloyd banks and action bronson are better then the new south..new york doesnt even claim french montana , he only does that south stuff to make money..
lol. tell him why u mad son… to quote sermon : They laughing, happy”.
the south has always been open about looking up to NY. southern artists never tried to attack NY (trinidad does not count, he’s a 1 hit wonder). NY is the reason NY fell off. yall wanna be too hard, don’t know how to work with your own ppl. you wanna believe you’re superior but you’re not. no one really cares about you being from NY and at the same time ppl everywhere love NY. me personally i’ve never been but definitely want to visit one day
If the NY sound is so popular than why is Joey Badass without a record deal and radio spins?
If being played on the radio and getting a record deal is your definition of success I got some she’ll toe Adidas with orange n black fat laced with the fat boys “all you can eat” maxi single to next day air deliver to you
Joey has turned down multiple record deals which would have watered him down and got him radio play.
they called the underachievers, flatbush zombies, and proera
nyc hip hop is still tha best hip hop. nas, jay z, biggie
Yeah…like 10,15 years. It’s 2014 now. But Jay is still in the game and connected to the new generation. He’s about it.
you cant “bring new York back” by making music that sounds like it would’ve been good in 2004 like maino or troy ave or music that sounds like its from the mid 90s like pro era
new York needs a new sound that isn’t a complete rip off of southern rap
#africa where its all started & new york perfected the art
Lil niggas dont know shit. You cant say shit about new york or the east coast if u been bumping it since 99. No disrespect to outkast but that was the year some virginia cats took their beat and made a hotter song wu syndicates “young brothers” anyway ny went downhill when niggas tried to sound down south and thats mainstream artist real shit is underground n
nyc negroes are da realest
El-P is a New York born rapper who is killing it. Joel Ortiz as well. J. Cole has lived in New York nearly a decade and is killing it. He reps Queens to the fullest. Check out his verses on Knock Tha Hustle Remix by Cozz. Verse 2 is the best of the year.
Nas is still making dope music. Astro is on the come up.
NY hip hop is still dope.
Unfortunately, non of these NYC artists you named are popping right, with the exception of J. Cole, and even he’s not on fire right this moment.
Face it…NYC rappers screwed themselves with hometown arrogance, internal beefs, and unoriginal/copycatting swag.
The hottest markets right now are:
Atlanta (some mainstays, many fly-by-nights, but has stayed on the radar regardless)
Los Angeles (courtesy of DJ Mustard and his affiliates and others….enough said)
Cole just dropped the best verse of the year with Knock Tha Hustle remix verse 2
You see the crowd for his Made In America set? Fucking wild.
You hear Be Free? You see him in the streets of Ferguson with the people?
Cole is the king of the new era.
Even his mainstream songs are on point…Power Trip, Can’t Get Enough, Nobody’s Perfect. Dope as fuck.
J Cole is from North Carolina and a NY dickrider basically.
New York Times by J. Cole featuring 50 Cent and Bas = Dope!!
only 1 of them is from NY though
jayanderson06 u sir are correct! Ive read all of these comments and yes we all have an oppinion BUT cockiness can make you assume you’ll never fall, you’ll never be number 2. I remember when like snoop used to say the north diss and booed the south artist like REDMAN if you go listen to the one album when he had a skit dissing the south the way we talk and Shit but NOW REDMAN F PLIES LMAO. Marvin Gaye said it best “aint it funny how things turn around”(its also the cosby show sample jitterbugs)
yo nehruvianDOOM just dropped
new yorks underground is poppin
Erick Sermon is the original gay rapper, way before Drake & Wayne ever came around.
NYC niggaz is MAD as usual pop off on the web but d ride in yo face
sound like you madder at nyc LOL
The faster people realize the true power of the internet and mass media in general; the faster they realize that this regional bullshit is over with. You’ve got people from Toronto, New Orleans, Miami, Brooklyn, Compton, Chicago, DC, Atlanta, Philly etc… all over the place running the game. What’s the problem? I’ve never heard anyone from the Karl Benz estate say “we invented gas cars so all these other car manufacturers are wack and we gotta bring Germany back.”
you late
they still live vicariously thru other people’s come ups, already abused the internet
and you need more studies about media
…………huh? Idiot,lol.
There’s plenty of NY rappers making that real NY gritty music, but…………..that just aint whats hot at the moment. Sad reality.
LA running this rap shit right now. period point blank. cus the sound is new has commercial appear with gangsta culture as its roots. plus everybody out here doing business. atlanta has no new talent outside of future and young thug which is garbage (not future hes talented)
You are obviously not paying attention…..Atlanta is connected in this thing point blank period because they have always been accepting of people no matter where you are from….Young Jeezy ( A Georgia Boy by the way) singlehandedly helped to bring the new Cali movement out and lead the charge by being up in those “offices….”So make sure you get your facts straight!
erick sermon..the generic version
Corny niggas everywhere smh
Toronto running the rap game we got the face of rap drake. Not to mension other popular artists like justin bieber, the weekend, party next door, tory lanez and many more. We run this rap shit #416 #OVO. Lets face facts here no rapper today is as big as drake besides popstar eminem who shouldn’t even be considered a rapper.
LMAO! Thanks for the laugh.
Wow! what man reps DRAKE! U sound like a light and fluffy dude right now.I bet u fall asleep to Marvin’s don’t u? U real tuff dog.
Perception or perspective? There really are no boundaries when it comes to rap music. People (The Owners) create these divisions and categories to “capitalize” on current trends and opportunities. Claiming a city, region that doesn’t belong to you. It doesn’t matter what the next person is doing. It’s all about change and evolution. That remains a constant. What’s is important and missing as things become bigger is quality. Passing down values. The fact remains that hip hop is something you live, rap is something you do. Get in where you fit.
troy ave singlehandly brought new yoik back
back to 2003….no one care about troy ave here
The Legends speaks
he’s wrong! The artists being pushed out of NYC are either trash or copying a sound(Flow & Beats) from another region. You shouldn’t say you’re going to bring back quality hip-hop from NYC though….JUST DO IT!!