Business Never Personal

1. Boon Dox

2. Nobody's Safe Chump

3. Can't Hear Nothing But the Music

4. Chill

5. Headbanger

6. Scratch Bring It Back, Pt. 2 (Mic Doc)

7. Crossover

8. Cummin' at Cha

9. Play the Next Man

10. It's Going Down

11. Who Killed Jane

Business Never Personal,EPMD,Def Jam,East Coast Rap,Golden Age,Hardcore Rap,Hip-Hop,Rap,Rap & Hip-Hop,Soul/Reggae/Rhythm & Blues

Business Never Personal

Average customer rating:

Business Never Personal
EPMD
Manufacturer: chaos(sony)
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
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Average customer rating:

Ruff rugged-n-raw! Keep your hoodies on and your boots laced!
4.5 stars: The last of the classic EPMD albums..............
It continues to be great...
EPMD's bestest
Vastly Underrated (4.5 Stars)

Business Never Personal
EPMD
Manufacturer: Def Jam
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | R&B | Styles | Music

General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music

East Coast | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

Gangsta & Hardcore | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

Old School | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Unfinished Business
Strictly Business
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ASIN: B000008FEF
Release Date: 1994-07-26

Tracks:

Boon Dox
Nobody's Safe Chump
Can't Hear Nothing But the Music
Chill
Headbanger
Scratch Bring It Back, Pt. 2 (Mic Doc)
Crossover
Cummin' at Cha
Play the Next Man
It's Going Down
Who Killed Jane

Customer Reviews:

Ruff rugged-n-raw! Keep your hoodies on and your boots laced!.......2007-06-20

First of all, can somebody please explain to me why this is the only EPMD album that's out of print? I mean, not only was it their best-selling album, including their most successful and recognizable single, but it's easily among their finest work and is a great piece of hip hop from an awesome year, 1992. Somebody at Def Jam needs to wake up.

Anyway, "Business Never Personal" is pure dope. This was EPMD's fourth album in five years, following three certified classics, Strictly Business, Unfinished Business, and Business as Usual. This one's one of their most interesting, it's a departure from their familiar sound on their first albums. Where they were once very sample-reliant on funk and disco records, "Business Never Personal" favors a more stripped down approach, resulting in a very hard, grimy sound, a type of vibe that Boot Camp Clik and others would emulate in the years that followed. The bass hits heavy and the percussion is rough, these beats are really effective. This sound would continue into both Erick and PMD's solo careers, from Erick's early work with the Def Squad to PMD's albums with the Hit Squad. The rhymes are built to match, though. At this point in EPMD's career, Erick and Parrish were as rough as their beats. Their hostile, intimidating approach bashed sucker MCs left and right, heavy on the threats and gun-talk. There's no way a track like "The Steve Martin" of their earlier days would have found their way onto "Business Never Personal." Their rough style is only amplified here. With Parrish's determined, rumbling delivery and Erick's more laidback, conversational rap, it's engineered to near perfection and their chemistry is remarkable. Guests are limited to two songs and only include the rappers from their immediate circle. The album is remarkably consistent.

Some would complain that it's too short, at only 39 minutes, but I find that to be a strength. There's little room for error on a short album of this quality, and it's a very manageable quantity. My only complaints would come in the last few songs, where it's a little redundant and forgettable. Granted, these songs are fine cuts showing EPMD in their prime, but on an album with a few certified classics they don't quite stack up.

The first song is "Boon Dox," a rugged opener that's pretty indicative of what's to come. The beat is grimy and rough, and the chorus contains a distant-sounding vocal sample. Erick and Parrish drop their standard boom-bap, sucker MC-bashing type lyrics, it's a nice start. It hits hard, you can see from the beginning how they're a little rougher this time around. "Nobody's Safe Chump" barely clocks in at two minutes, with more posturing and great chemistry over a looping, tough track. "Can't Hear Nothin' But the Music" is a highlight, showcasing great, original production and two particularly potent verses from each rapper. This song's got so much style, I really like the hook. "Chill" is built around some lethargic horn samples, but somehow still manages to keep a very hard flavor. "Headbanger" is just short of incredible, largely thanks to guest spots from Redman and K-Solo, making it a fist-pumping track with some awesome verses and another great beat. Over a simple beat, DJ Scratch is given a chance to get busy on the turntables in "Scratch Bring It Back, Pt. 2 (Mic Doc)," and PMD's verse is excellent. My favorite track, without a doubt, is the classic "Crossover," arguably the single finest song of their catalog. This showcases EPMD at their most affective: determined, focused, and aggressive. Here, they shut down the sellout rap artists who sacrifice artistry for mainstream success. The production uses a great Zapp sample for an awesome hook, and the winding, rolling beat is perfect. Each verse is great, and their chemistry is at their finest. It's almost ironic that this song became their most successful single, given the subject matter. "Cummin' at Cha" is musically very average, and Erick and Parrish's verses are surprisingly ordinary, until Dre and Skoob of Das EFX take over, entertaining as always. "Play the Next Man" is a little more upbeat and the raps are more directed. The head-nodding "It's Going Down" is solid but not the album's most memorable song, and the disc closes with "Who Killed Jane," probably my favorite installment of their infamous "Jane" saga.

I'm not going to say that "Business Never Personal" is the best EPMD album, but it's hard for me to compare them to each other, they're all so consistent and great for their own reasons. In any event, this album showcases the EPMD product in its prime, and this is the last one to do so. Even though their two "post-retirement" albums (Back in Business and Out of Business) are great, this is the sound they tried to recreate on those albums. EPMD was one of the dopest hip hop products ever, and this album is just one of the reasons why.

4.5 stars: The last of the classic EPMD albums.....................2007-04-26

The production on here is their darkest to date. Other than that the E & P are in top form lyrically. This would be the last album they would drop before they broke up in the fall of 1992. Message to all future classic groups - Beef kills careers.

Top Joints:
Can't Hear Nothing But the Music
Chill
Headbanger
Crossover
It's Going Down

It continues to be great..........2006-11-15

With every listen I can't help but to find myself in aww about how good this keeps sounding. Both Parrish and E. drop dope verses over raw-funk produced beats. I highly recommend this for your hip hop collection. As far as being one of their best LP's you can bet on that. Its outstanding! Peace.

EPMD's bestest.......2006-03-09

This is EPMD's best album, because they didn't rigidly follow what every one else was doing at the time. They took some chances with different beats on "Boon Dox," "Cummin' at cha," and "Chill," which, if you like EPMD's previous recordings, you should like these. The production on the album was much more clear and the bass heavier than the previous albums. Other tracks that must get a listen are "Can't hear nothing...," and "Scratch bring it back..." (DJ scratch is nice). If those songs don't work for you, then you can still fall back to the hits off the album like "Crossover," "Headbanger" and "It's goin down."

The "Jane" song was much better than the previous janes, because the whole skit was hilarious, it was a great way for EPMD (whose noted for their dead-pan humor) to end their work. "Easy partner, chill, put the gun down..." "oh now you're tryn to play me out like homie the clown...and you know homie don't play that," "play what?" BANG "See, See"

Rough enough to take new york from long island

Vastly Underrated (4.5 Stars).......2006-01-10

When cats speak about the dopest EPMD albums, for whatever reason, Business Never Personal is always left out. And it pains me, since this may be my FAVOURITE album of theirs (though their BEST is probably Unfinished Business...)

This is pure, un-cut rap music. Rugged and raw. Though Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith were far from lyrically gifted, the lyrics were always on-point, no matter what they rapped about. Even though there may have been just a bit too much gun-talk from EPMD on this album, the music has an almost unparalleled hardcore sound; quite honestly, E and P could've rapped about bunny rabbits over THIS production, and they would've sounded rough and rugged doing so. It also helps that this album features a few extremely tight guest appearances; Das EFX gets busy on Cummin' At Cha, and Redman & K-Solo catch wreck on what is in my opinion the greatest posse cut ever: The Headbanger. This track, along with Crossover, alone are worth the price of admission. They're that dope.

Also, the music on this album doesn't sound even the slightest bit dated - and this thing came out in '92. EPMD always had a knack for a good groove or a dope loop, but they just took it to another level here. Just peep Can't Hear Nothin' But The Music and the way they sampled the same break that Eric B & Rakim used on Microphone Fiend. It almost makes the latter look childish, but E and P were no Rakims and they knew it - that's why they kept making their beats as tight as possible. No track on this album suffers from a less-than-dope beat.

Also worth noting: Parrish was even able to steal the show from DJ Scratch (not easy to do) on HIS OWN DJ showcase track - Scratch Bring It Back, Pt. 2 - by dropping one of the most hype, energetic verses I've ever heard. And this verse came from the self-proclaimed "Slow-Flower".

Perhaps one flaw this album has is the short length. 39 minutes is very little room for error. But I suppose I need a real reason to give it less that 5 stars. Oh yeah, what's with all the Michael Jackson references? There's TWO of them on "It's Going Down" alone, and plenty more throughout the rest of the album. That's all, I'm done.

Yeah, call me crazy, but almost everything about this album just hits home with me. I can't guarantee you'll feel it as much as I do, but it definitely warrants a listen the same way Strictly Business, Unfinished Business, or Business As Usual do. I didn't know whether to give this album 4.5 or 5 stars, but I guess the extra .5 star is apparently just me feelin' the album more than everybody else (since only 4 other people have done it any justice by reviewing it). Too underrated, and an album as good as this should definitely NOT be out-of-print, Def Jam.

Average customer rating:

Business Never Personal
No Play
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000FSMPXC
Release Date: 2005-12-13

Tracks: