REVIEWSEPMD, ‘We Mean Business’

5

• SPIN Rating:5 of 10

• • Listen:

    Spotify

Label: Ep Records

EPMD are back together again, more than a decadeafter the Long Island duo'sinitial 1997 reunion. Despite some truly awful lyrics -- "Don't make me get mad and Barack O-bomb-ya" is particularly wince-worthy -- both Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith sound reenergized, boosted by spirited cameos from Redman, Method Man, and Keith Murray. But this nostalgia trip has its slip-ups: "Backstabber" is a retread of the 1990 track "Gold Digger," and the latest entry in their femme-fatale "Jane" series flogs aconcept, not to mention a lumbering beat, that was tired long ago.

BUY: