31 years removed from the debut album by EPMD, rapper and producer Erick Sermon dropped his eighth studio album, Vernia — an album named after his Grandmother. His first release in four years, it has a special aura surrounding it. Not only does it assemble an incredible cast, but it’s also his first wholly independent release.
“My grandmother died almost three years ago,” he tells HipHopDX of the project’s title. “She was my best friend and, for some reason, I kept thinking about her during the process of the album.”
The 13-song LP has an intriguing tracklist of lesser-known artists alongside as legacy acts, ranging from Too $hort and Xzibit to AZ and (amazingly) Shaquille O’Neal. Sermon says he got serious about the LP about six months ago; Vernia — which was funded in early 2018 via Kickstarter — was initially slated to be titled Go. Backers of the project, he says, will receive two additional songs not on the LP.
“I wanted to go back and get some, you know, people that wasn’t making records as much to do songs with them. Like how the new era is always grabbing each other for songs, I had to fucking grab my people to rock with me,” he says of the eclectic guest menu.
The project is the first official release on his independent Def Squad Records imprint. While not a full-fledged label by any means, in that he doesn’t have any artists, it is (currently) the umbrella that holds Squad Streaming, under which he serves his music to major streaming platforms.
Acting as a conduit of sorts, his platform is hosting releases from the likes of Fred Da Godson, Ali Vegas, Keith Murray and work from himself and affiliates of his close-knit production team that consists of super-producers Ty Fyffe and Rockwilder.
The 50-year-old icon has weathered (and been successful in various eras on Hip Hop) and credits his devotion to his proximity to youthful energy.
“My spirit stays high, but I also surround myself with young people. I always kept myself around young rappers somehow. Every year for my career I was always around new talent and every album I put somebody out,” he says. “Like, even from back then when EPMD came out, we were barely famous, and we dropped K-Solo, and after him, we dropped DAS EFX.”
He also delineates that two distinct generations were up on him for different reasons. “I came out in 2002 with “React” featuring Redman. Younger cats know me from that … they learned about me from the movie Honey, you know, not from EPMD.”
https://youtu.be/suHxR6_5dIw
A listen to Vernia doesn’t at all provide a nostalgic vibe, but rather business as usual. “There’s nothing here that can stop me,” Sermon states. “I got no disrespect, but when it comes down to what this culture is, I don’t see nobody in the way that can stop me from doing this.”
Sharing that he recently joined Redman in Prague for a crowd of 50,000, he points out that Hip Hop is the sole genre that puts a time clock on artists — referencing examples of legacy acts like Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney.
“Hip Hop is the journey we’re on now … This is 45-year-old artwork, so I don’t understand that” he says. “I don’t want anybody out there doing it who can’t do it, but if you still know how this shit work and come here for rhymes I’m still current on everything that goes on the music. There’s no way somebody can just stop it. No way.”
With over 30 years in the business, he notes that he finds himself attempting to influence new acts to focus on creating distinctive sounds, instead of making music for now.
“[I tell them] I’m still here after 30 years and I can still work when I feel like working … that won’t happen with you. So, I hope that you save your money, that you have a plan B and C. I try to save them because they’re not going to be able to have a job. What they’re doing is not going to work anymore.“
He also points to the focused mega-success of Atlanta rappers with respects to longevity. “There were a thousand rappers that came out in Atlanta, yet it’s is still the same five stars out right now. You know, when I tell kids that they get quiet for like two minutes … it scares them. But nobody ever told them that.”
https://youtu.be/ajt5GfTuuHw
With Def Squad Records seeming like a new beginning for Sermon, it begs the question if consistent collaboration with musical brethren Redman and Keith Murray will materialize into a full-scale Def Squad album. Sadly, the answer is no (for now).
“Def Squad never got a chance to live because Red and Meth happened … so it took away from my crew,” he says with a laugh. “After they dropped Blackout, it was over.”
So it seems the long-forgotten follow up to El Nino (the crew’s lone official project), Tsunami, may never see the light of day. But, with a project from Keith Murray, Redman’s long-awaited Muddy Waters 2 (“just trying to get that to the public after 20 years,” he says), and an upcoming compilation for which he’s assembled some of Hip Hop’s most iconic duos, he has his hands more than full.
Ultimately, the most powerful takeaway from Erick is that age is irrelevant; many of the artists who appear on this album are currently back in the studio, he reveals. “This year, I’ll be like Tiger Woods. That’s how I feel right now. You can never put anybody under number. Only you can stop you.”
Vernia is available now, via Def Squad Records. Stream it below.
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He is right about the age thing. Hip hop is the only form of music where you hear people say he/she is too old. I’m not checking for that etc. There is a lack of respect . For me there are only 2 forms of music, good or bad. You either like it or you don’t. I will check for this album because I’m a fan of music and I respect for Erick sermon.
I been saying the same thing. Any other music people can make music till they old as hell but rappers are supposed to stop at a certain age.
I feel it’s changed in last ten years some rappers best work is in there 40’s these days
The group age and obviously young people has always been ignorant towards music styles that were created before their era.
Not many people over 35 listens to rap music about Balenciaga, Bugattis and drugs. Whenever I hear a rapper talking about I just fast forward immediately and I might not even listen to that artists never ever again. I got no time for new rich kids and ignorant wannabes
I was in an Atmosphere show in London three days ago. There was lot of people on their 30’s and 40’s, so there is a place for artists well over their 40’s. But most of them don’t get their lyrics evolve as they grown.
If I’m an artist I should know that as I grow up, my fans will grow up too, so my lyrics should do the same! Atmosphere for instance knows this very well, many artists don’t….
Many artists fail to understand that the same people that was used to love egotrip songs 10, 15 or 20 years ago now probably wants to listen with stuff with more substance not stupid lyrics to zone out from real life.
If you are over 45 and you keep rapping about being being the baddest man on earth or making videos with your male-only group of friends with a “don’tplay with me face” while sitting in your hood then you have a problem… And if you are over 35 and you expect 25yo kids to listen to your music of the one from people their age then you are delusional.
There are a few reasons why hip hop has age limits.One is that most rappers dont stay current after a certain age.They dont evolve musically.All of those acts in different genres have different producers and musicians and writers so their sound changes for better or worse.Does anyone expect DMX to drop an album now and be an emo rapper?Nope.Secondly the way music drops nowadays and only in the hip hop genre an album has a shelf life of a month before it’s on to the next.No one sits with an album and fully listens to it and breaks it down.Its stream repeat delete when the next project comes along a couple days later.