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Unkut Vs. Combat Jack: EPMD = Great, But Not The Greatest

Posted on June 15, 2009December 23, 2019 by Robbie Ettelson

If you have even the slightest clue about this here rap shit, then you have to acknowledge the fact that Erick and Parrish pretty much had the game in motherfuckin’ headlock with their first four albums. They brought a brand new funk to the scene with Strictly Business, delivered cutting-edge beat science on Unfinished Business and executed a near-flawless B-Boy document with Business As Usual, while Business Never Personal showcased the mighty Hit Squad at the height of their powers while slapping the shit outta listeners with ultra-hard cuts like ‘Boon Dox’. Combat Jack is going to tell you that based on the strength of this discography they automatically qualify as rap’s ‘Dopest Duo’ (word to Craig G), but that’s not the whole equation. My main motivation behind the ‘M.O.P are the greatest’ declaration is the fact that they’ve outlasted everyone and are still bringing that heat. It soon became clear that the most effective way to illustrate the Mash Out Posse‘s superiority is through the classic Take An ‘L’ Comparison Test. Let’s get it in!

Has the crew has ever broken-up under controversial circumstances?

EPMD: You bet.
MOP: Never.

Has member of the crew ever thrown himself out of a window as part of some bizarre love triangle?

EPMD: Affirmative.
MOP: You gotta be kiddin’ me.

Number of sub-par solo albums released while the group was on hiatus that almost tarnished legacy beyond repair:

EPMD: Six
MOP: Zero.

Recorded song with fruity boy band?

EPMD: Nah.
MOP: Afraid so. That LFO collab is some effed-up shit.

Contains a member who has referred to himself as the ‘MC Rap Goddess’?

EPMD: Pause, Erick Sermon. Pause!
MOP: Sure ya right.

Released a song where one member plays the part of the other dudes..um…’member’?

EPMD: Mr. Bozack, huh?
MOP: Fuckouttahere.

Recorded shitty hip-house and rock-rap tracks?

EPMD: Guilty.
MOP: Repeat offenders of the latter, although sometimes it works.

Do they run endless sequels into the ground?

EPMD: They should have stopped at ‘Jane 3’.
MOP: Four versions of ‘Downtown Swinga’ is pushing it, but at least they’re all good.

Contain a member who’s been the target of endless ‘Gay Rapper’ speculation?

EPMD: Headshot!
MOP: C’mon dude…

Need I continue? I count that as eight ‘L’s to the Brothers From Brentwood, LI, and three to the Brownsville Brawlers. How can you go wrong with scientific proof like that? There’s been a lot of talk about who has more hits and classic albums, but not falling off is after all these years is a far more impressive feat in my book. If all we got in this world is our balls and our world, then M.O.P don’t break them for nobody! Salute!

I’m not going to waste your time by running through the Bill and Fame‘s old achievements, I’m sure you’re already familiar. It seems more appropriate to showcase six recent appearances they’ve made. How many new records include Erick and Parrish features again?

M.O.P ft Busta Rhymes – ‘Blow The Horn’

J Dilla feat. Lil’ Fame – ‘Blood Sport’

DJ Babu feat. M.O.P – ‘Dearly Departed’

Jake One feat. M.O.P – ‘Gangsta Boy’

Stoupe feat. M.O.P. – ‘Transition of Power’

Statik Selektah feat. M.O.P – ‘The Good Life’

Elsewhere: Combat Jack delivers his closing argument cops a plea.

Read Part 1 if you missed it….

42 thoughts on “Unkut Vs. Combat Jack: EPMD = Great, But Not The Greatest”

  1. Brock says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    That’s a very fruity picture of E Double … !

  2. AFFEX says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    Blow The Horns On ‘Em!

    M.O.P…to the death

  3. BurDenDEr says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    Why am I still the only one who has yet to hear the full story about EPMD and the fuckery with home invasions and jumping out of windows???

  4. BETONBLACK says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    MOP all day every day. Matta fact, I would put MobbDeep up against the Mash Out Posse and see where that shit go. EPMD gave us some classics, but the majority of their music was below par

  5. spotrusherz says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    i know nobody’s going to agree with me, but i have collected like every single fart mobb deep have ever recorded over the years, and as far as sheer quantity of crazy records, nobody’s messing with them. don’t front, even the post-murda muzik albums had a couple of joints, and if you hunt down all their mixtapes, b-sides, bootlegs, etc., it’s not even funny how many bangin mobb deep tracks there are.

    so yeah.

    mobb deep > m.o.p./epmd

  6. Robbie says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    @spotrusherz: Mobb are great, but they’ve released some weak shit over the years.

    That being said, ‘Everyday Gunplay’ and ‘First Day of Spring’ > most group’s careers.

  7. Combat Jack says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    You do realize on the first cut above, M.O.P. drops a quote from EPMD and gives them their props as one of raps true legends. Did you just shoot yersself in the foot on purpose/

  8. Robbie says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    @Combat Jack: M.O.P also blew EPMD away when they cut ‘Symphony’ but I didn’t want to rub salt in the wound.

  9. Frost Gamble says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    I’ve been looking forward to this all week – not sure which way you were gonna go with it – but when you said

    “Has member of the crew ever thrown himself out of a window as part of some bizarre love triangle?”

    I laughed so hard I spit water all over my monitor. I may not agree MOP > EPMD, but this post wins off that line alone.

  10. gx says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    ..and they shit on PMD on one of his solo albums. Cant remember wtf its called.

    M.O.P always slay people on thier own tracks though jadakiss actually does ok on that static joint.

  11. RonTucker says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    What does any of that shit you posted have to do with the only thing that matters when judging musical artists…..THE MUSIC. To mention M.O.P in the same breath as EPMD is damn near blasphemous. With that being said, this blog is irrelevant because neither of them have achieved the same critical or commercial success of Outkast and they had an 11 year run of consistently making ground-breaking, relevant music.

    RonTucker

  12. Dro says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    this feels like when u did that thing about not really feeling Run DMC …need a little controversy to get your site talked about again do we ? lol
    its cool tho but for someone who really knows his rap history like i thought you did why shit on EPMD of all groups ??
    MOP is dope and 2nd and 3rd album is good stuff but we’re talking bout legends like EPMD , i think a comparison wit Mobb Deep would fit better both from the same era and such … Mobb wins easily tho

  13. mberon says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    Sorry, but what do these facts have in relationship with the music? For me, all the EPMD albums until 1992 are classics, and don’t forget the constellation of artists behind them: Redman, K-Solo, Das EFX, Keith Murray… Man, EPMD is great, for me is greater than M.O.P. Don’t disrespect for M.O.P., but for me EPMD is one of the greatest duos of rap, along with Gang Starr, Mobb Deep, Eric B. & Rakim or Pete Rock & CL Smooth.

  14. Mercilesz says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    EPMDEE CANT BE COMPARED TO MOP OR MOBB OR OUTKAST OR ORGANIZED OR ANY OF THE GROUPS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LISTING HERE. EPMDEE WERE THE 1ST AND THE BEST AND THERE IS NO DENYING THIS.THEY HAD THE BEST BEATS AND RHYMES AND NOT ONLY RULED THE UNDERGROUND BUT THE CLUB DANCEFLOOR ACROSS THE U.S. U CANT SAY THAT ABOUT MOP. THIS ARGUMENT IS DUMB ONLY BECAUSE PEOPLE WHO SAY ALL OF THESE NEW GROUPS ARE BETTER DIDNT START LISTENING TO RAP TIL AFTER 1993 WHEN EPMD DIDNT CARE ANYMORE.THEY HAD ALREADY WENT GOLD 4 TIMES AND INTRODUCED THE WORLD TO REDMAN DAS AND KSOLO. MOBB AND MOP DIDNT COME OUT WITH THEIR OWN REAL PROJECTS UNTIL 92-93 AND DRE’S GFUNK SOUND OF THE SAME YEARS IS JUST ERICK SERMON’S CLASSIC PRODUCTION STYLE. THIS IS SILLY.

  15. Combat Jack says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    Funny ass post though.

  16. dmitry aka brooklyn jew says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    But still no one is even mentioning Gangstarr, Robbie c’mon man u know hip-hop, without gangstarr der would be a piece missing from hip-hop.And please nobody tell me they r not a duo because a duo consists of two members in a group. Wats a tough track made of a tough beat and nice lyrics. Guru provides dat tough rhyming flow and premo provides dat golden beat. Who agrees wit me, Robbie wouldn’t u agree wit me. Can u please contact me also, i would like to hear ur perspective based on my post.

  17. mberon says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    dmitry, I mentioned to Gang Starr, a good MC: Guru (but not the best), and a producer: DJ Premier (for me, the best).

    A fact of the productions of DJ Premier, it’s that many songs he has produced for other artists, not for Gang Starr, I like them more than the Gang Starr produced ones… LOL.

  18. supreme says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    EPMD > M.O.P.

    I luv MOP but you gotta keep in mind Premo formed and shaped M.O.P. to what it has become throughout the years. If not for Premo Fame and Danze would be on the same spot as Smoothe and Trigga are right about now. Premo made them.

    EPMD on the other half is from a generation before them.. grinding way longer. EPMD is hall of fame. Erick on production.. Def Squad, Hit Squad. That all came forth from their foundation.
    Maybe a miss here and there but they earned their stripes and they the generals of this rap shit.

    EPMD > M.O.P.

  19. Shawamar says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    I wouldn’t agree with the article, but it was a damn good read. Many interesting points. I love MOP, and I love EPMD. I would however put MOBB ahead of both of them. To me, MOBB is their own brand of Hip Hop. I would not put Gangstarr in this discussion, for the simple fact that the other groups had 2 MC’s, but to me GangStarr is the best rap outfit of all time.
    Again, this article was the shit..But during their time period no one fucked with EPMD.

  20. DanjaMania says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    Regardless of some of those points or whatever-have-you… nah, homie.

    Even you’ve said that thru EPMD’s initial FOUR YEARS, they’ve had the rap game in a chokehold. The repped and set the standard for the hardcore movement in the early-90s.

    Meanwhile, after 15 years, has MOP EVER had the game in a chokehold at ANY point? Or did they simply make good records for a longer time?

    By that standpoint, you could say Rakim’s prime is pretty much inside of six years (’86-’92), but because someone like say AZ has been (kinda) consistent for 14 years, he’s better. Sounds totally nutso, right? Exactly.

  21. Detroit P says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    to piggyback off of what DanjaMania said

    as far as MOP its hard to “fall off” when you have nowhere to fall off from…you’ve stated that EPMD was on top, did their thing and then diminished…well everybody falls off sooner or later when they get to the top…MOP has just kinda existed for a long time…you don’t get props for that

  22. Dro says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    think you lost a lot of respect for this post Robbie..but then again i dont think you care…anyhow… I was in Brownsville the other day btw ..lovely area you should come and check it out someday…

  23. zues says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    ha ha filed under fudge rap, cuz duos are fudgey

  24. zues says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    now let me scrub the head cuz it smells like bitch

  25. er4se says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    gotta agree with cj… funny ass post man… you still lost the battle tho

  26. keatso says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    I think this settles it:
    MOP did a song with “boy band” LFO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbC5t7LFSqI

  27. Arkitek says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    OUTKAST? THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!!!!!!!!
    how about Public Enemy for a two-MC crew?
    you know i just fucked up your theory…

  28. Arkitek says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    not to mention Tha Liks, two MC’s essentially, E-Swift and J-Ro before Tash, and with Tash, just J-Ro on the mic with E-Swift on the boards… two MC crew, and a tight record when it comes to dropping dope albums…

  29. Arkitek says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    and, and, and, I hope you aren’t classifying ‘No Pressure’ as a weak album, considering the ill production and guest spots, including the first 3 Keith Murray verses when he was crazy Hype… Redman, Ice Cube, Kam, Shadz Of Lingo, Joe Sinister… what?

  30. swordfish says:
    June 15, 2009 at

    SALUTE!

  31. pete says:
    June 16, 2009 at

    M.O.P for the win!!!

    FIIYYAAHH!!!

  32. RowanB says:
    June 16, 2009 at

    best duo is Pete Rock and C.L Smooth! Period! :)

  33. KQ says:
    June 16, 2009 at

    EMPD > MOP

    Combat Jack is right. If you compare their recorded output, there’s no contest.

  34. ian says:
    June 16, 2009 at

    Bottom line: NONE of MOP’s albums are better than EPMD’s first four classics so EPMD still wins.

  35. DJ Dan Speak says:
    June 16, 2009 at

    Taking a shit on another man’s (alleged) sexuality to make a MUSICAL argument=L.
    I’m mad I even took you serious enough to read that B.S.
    Could you say that shit Sermon’s face?Was this shit worth it for the traffic?I guess only you know.
    …..and oh yeah,(c) Ice Cube.
    DanjaMania very thoroughly broke your sorry ass argument down it’s compound.F.O.H.

  36. dj blendz says:
    June 16, 2009 at

    rowanb said:”best duo is Pete Rock and C.L Smooth! Period!”

    HALLELUJAH!!! If it wasn’t for the Mobb they’d be my second pick

  37. Brock says:
    June 18, 2009 at

    What about Ultra … Ced Gee and Kool Keith!!! I know some people are gonna say they were a group … but then TR and Tim Dog were to CG and KK, what Redman and K Solo were to Erick and Parish (kinda), and then Mo Luv was a DJ, and EPMD had DJ Scratch!!!! BTW, why does everyone big up E Double’s production … for me it was all about PMD … those joints he blessed K Solo with on Tell The World My Name were hot!!!

  38. ian says:
    June 19, 2009 at

    Ultra was a group not a duo and for the purposes of this debate, duos are defined as groups comprised of 2 rappers so Gangstarr, Pete Rock & CL Smooth and Run DMC would not qualify but Mobb Deep, Organized Konfusion and Nice N Smooth would.

  39. Thunderthud says:
    June 20, 2009 at

    If longevity and consistency were important in hip-hop LL would get a lot more respect. Your argument isn’t wrong but I tend to judge groups by their best stuff. I don’t care how much crap EPMD did because I don’t listen to it but I do listen to Strictly Business more than the whole catalogs of most other artists.

    I’d put Nice and Smooth in contention too if my favorite of their rhymes weren’t this one:

    “Teddy Tedd and I must prevail
    I buy my gold by the pennyweight scale
    on Thursday I got a check in the mail
    I bought a solid gold 500 SEL
    I tour the world my fortune untold
    on the wheels of steel sportin’ dookie gold.”

  40. fuckyall says:
    June 25, 2009 at

    OUTKAST IS THE BEST YOU NEWYORK CENTRIC FUCKERS

  41. Mercilesz says:
    June 26, 2009 at

    outkast didnt do much for us in the tristate…do u though

  42. no l.a. says:
    June 29, 2009 at

    You’re like in your thirties and still calling cats “faggots”? the interviews at unkut are informed and great, but goddamn, i outgrew 8th grade, robbie.

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