Old School Mondays:: EPMD (Business Never Personal Edition)

This year's NCAA tournament marked the return of the Michigan Wolverines to the Madness. This is kind of a big deal to me. I was hooked on Michigan football by the end of the 80's, but even though the hoops Wolverines won a title in '89, it wasn't until The Fab Five arrived with their revolutionary bald heads and baggy shorts did I get on that bandwagon. Seems like a good time for this disclaimer: yes, the Ack and I are Canadian, and yes, we watch American college sports. No, not so much on the Canadian college sports. I'd go ahead and say something about that making us bad Canadians, but considering roughly 75% of Canadian sports fans are the same, it seems that, if anything, it makes us even more Canadian.

So yes, Michigan was back in the NCAA tournament. They managed to gut out an opening round upset win against Clemson, but then they were overwhelmed by the power of Oklahoma's super-awesome caveman destroyer Blake Griffin in the second round. Oh well, it was short, but certainly sweet if you haven't been there in eleven years. I found it hard not to get nostalgic seeing UM back in the big dance, and while thinking about the Fab Five, I vaguely remembered some connection between them and EPMD. I bit of the Googling brought me to this:

Also the thing that was embraced, I think, was hip-hop. Whether it's me doing press conferences in a Naughty By Nature hoodie, or an EPMD hat, that was something they had never paid attention to or understood.

I guess that was outlandish behaviour back in the day, it was certainly a quainter time back then wasn't it? I think there was also a picture of Erick and Parrish with Jalen & Co. after one of their tourney wins. Anyway, this connection would lead one to believe that the soundtrack to the UM kids improbable run to the title game as freshmen would have likely been EPMD's Business Never Personal. I've posted both of the big jams from this album before: Head Banger (such a fantastic song, check that link for my in-depth analysis, but Redman's verse is the bestest: Wicked with the style you think I have cerebral palsy, like AAIEEAHAAA, cause I freak the styles crazy) and Crossover Another fantastic song that uses a Roger Troutman (RIP) sample better that perhaps anyone has). But this is a really great album, and I've never been against repeating myself in the past.

But of course I can't leave it at two jams we've already posted. I'm also posting Scratch Bring it Back, Part 2 for a couple reasons: because I always loved that song, and because "DJ songs" are extinct in hip hop these days, and that is a shame (hearing E-Double say "so George bring it back" in that song reminded me that Sratch's real name is George Spivey. Man, is it awesome or scary that I still know that? I vote for awesome). On top of that, we've got a couple remixes: the radio remix of Head Banger which is like the original, just angrier and cleaner, and then the Trunk mix of Crossover, which I think was on the 12", and replaces the Troutman sample with one from Death Certificate-era Cube, and the results are a predictable switch in the hardcore direction.

So congrats to UM hoops for making it back from the wilderness, and enjoy some classic EPMD on this brisk March Monday.