Erick Sermon, also known as The Green Eyed Bandit and E-Double, is hip-hop rapper, producer and beat creator. He was born on November 25, 1968 in Bay Shore, New York. Erick Sermon is best known as one half of late-1980s/1990s hip hop group EPMD and production work. Along with Keith Murray and Redman, Erick Sermon was in the group Def Squad.
He delivered scratches, beat juggling and beat mixing for artists like Method Man, Keith Murray and Illegal.
Erick Sermon has also made multiple solo recordings and albums. He began recording solo albums for Def Jam in 1993; in 1997, he rejoined EPMD. The following year, Sermon, Murray and Redman recorded a cover version of "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang, the first hit hip hop record. EPMD disbanded a second time in 1998.
In 2000, Erick Sermon moved over to J Records, and released the album Music the following year. The title track (a Top 40 pop hit that also made it to #2 on the R&B music charts), featured guest vocals from late soul music legend Marvin Gaye, culled from unreleased recordings which Sermon reportedly found in a small record shop in London.
On September 25th, 2001, Erick Sermon reportedly sustained numerous head injuries and was listed under critical condition in what J Records representatives said was a car accident. However, days later, a woman reported that Erick was with her in her apartment when she discovered him in the parking lot bleeding from the head. The police investigated the incident as a suicide attempt. Today, the details of the event are still unknown, as Erick Sermon and J Records maintain that he was injured in a car crash while driving home from a video shoot, despite the evidence that a car wasn't even involved in the incident.
After recovering, Erick Sermon continued working on an album. React was released in 2002. The title track became a major hit song, though the album still had disappointing sales. In 2003, J Records dropped Erick Sermon due to poor record sales. However, he still went on to establish his Def Squad imprint with Motown Records. At this time, he recorded an album, Chilltown, N.Y., which was released a year later in 2004. The album was powered by the single "Feel It" (which contained a sample of Reggae/R&B Singer Sean Paul), a song which became a moderate success in the United States.
On another single from the album, "Relentless", Sermon is quoted with saying "This might be my last hurrah//I'ma rock now til tomorrow, implying that Chilltown, N.Y. is potentially going to be his last album. In an interview, he stated that he was going to step aside and try to get upcoming artists in the spotlight. However, Sermon hasn't stopped doing music altogether, as he has just recently produced the song "Goldmine" on Busta Rhymes' album, The Big Bang in 2006. Very soon after, Sermon has recorded "Don't Make No Sense" with Def Squad.
Erick Sermon was featured in the final episode of Yo! MTV Raps in a legendary freestyle session featuring some of Hip-Hop's most well known artists such as Rakim, KRS-One, Chubb Rock, and MC Serch.
