EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is a concatenation of the members' names "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon ("E" a.k.a. E Double) and Parrish Smith ("PMD" a.k.a. Parrish Mic Doc). During an interview on college radio station WHOV in 1987, Parrish Smith stated that the name evolved from the original: "We were originally known as "EEPMD" (Easy Erick and Parrish the Microphone Doctor), but chose to go with EPMD because it was easier to say." He also stated that they dropped the two "E's" because N.W.A.'s Eric Wright was already using "Eazy-E" as his stage name. The group has been active for years (minus two breakups in 1993 and 1999). History Early years and mainstream success: 1987–1992 Hailing from Brentwood, Long Island, New York, EPMD's first album, Strictly Business, appeared in 1988 and featured the underground hit "Strictly Business," which sampled Eric Clapton's version of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff." Many critics cite this first album as the group's most influential. The group's brand of funk-fueled sample-heavy hip-hop proved to be a major force in the genre. Unlike old school hip hop, which was originally based on disco hits but eventually became more electronic, EPMD based its music mainly on lifting funk and rock breaks for samples and helped to popularize their usage, along with Marley Marl and Public Enemy. "You're a Customer" combined snippets of Steve Miller's "Fly Like an Eagle," Kool & the Gang's "Jungle Boogie, the bass line from ZZ Top's "Cheap Sunglasses" and drum beat (Roger Linn LM-2 machine). "Jane," about a romantic rendezvous gone bad, would be revisited on no less than five sequels; a first for hip-hop. "You Gots to Chill" used 1980s funk band Zapp's "More Bounce to the Ounce," which has become one of the most enduring sample sources for hip-hop. EPMD later appeared on the single "Everybody (Get Up)" by Zapp frontman Roger Troutman on his last solo album, Bridging The Gap, in 1991. "I'm Housin'" was covered some 12 years later by Rage Against the Machine. Managed early on by Russell Simmons' RUSH Management, the group toured with such hip-hop luminaries as Run-DMC, Public Enemy, and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. EPMD signed with Fresh/Sleeping Bag Records, which eventually released its debut album, Strictly Business,