Line for line: EPMD - Chill
posted on Dec 13, 2006
EPMD – Chill
EPMD is an odd group to choose to closely analyze from a lyrical perspective. When I asked Rafi for some help understanding what Parrish said in the fourth line of his verse, he said “I dunno. I don’t think as much thought went into writing it as we’re giving it right now.” It’s a good point. One of the perpetual accusations leveled at postmodern scholarly analysis is that the belief that meaning is independent of the author’s intention allows the critic to scrutinize things that aren’t really there. On the other hand, some things that easily slide by deserve another look. This song’s beat is so masterfully constructed that I felt like some of this off-kilter inspiration had to be reflected in the lyrics.
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“Chill… Chill… Chill… Chill…” (2x)
“Yeah! Ha ha ha ha!”
[Erick Sermon]
Equipped with the rap microchip
Program, aptitude, one more return, aww [shit]
Sermon’s opening couplet comes in perfectly over the end of the sampled maniacal laughter, as the raucous horns and rough “chill” sample drop out for the verse. Sermon’s rhyme, demonstrating the era’s strand of now-quaint techno-fascination, meshes perfectly with the pulsating sample and slowly shuffling drums. Imagine a television mad scientist’s lab, furnished with beakers of colored liquid, Ehrlenmeyer flasks sublimating dry ice, primitive computing equipment flashing and beeping, dramatic blue lighting, and maybe a toy train. Now imagine Erick-N-Parrish stomping around the lab goofily, white coats over their Carhartt denim.
My face in the magazines, showin’ my eyes green
(“Chill”) Chill, freshly dipped when I’m seen
Yo, dig, it’s the new fig for the E-Double
I pack a Mac-10 just in case of trouble
Hot like a handle on a pot, I’m steamin’
Sermon’s choice of metaphor is often subversive, sneaking its bizarre version of reality past the viewer by being pedestrian enough not to arouse suspicion. He’s not as hot as the pot itself, only as hot as its moist and poorly insulated handle.
Fame, and more glory than Morgan Freeman
I’m the original, my style’s deformed
So it can sound crazy ill when I perform
Here, Sermon describes his style with remarkable accuracy. His enunciation, often described as a lisp, is really a literally blunt vision of the English language that gives his verses a rounded, ham-fisted feel. It is not hard to imagine Sermon as the autistic kid at the far side of the playground, Russel Athletic hoodie drawn tight over his head, waving his hands in exaggerated motions, rocking from side to side as he explores large motor skills. But transplant this character to a grimy, packed club, and all of a sudden he’s rocking the crowd.
Yeah, check one two, mic supreme
EPMD, the rap American Dream Team
The E-Double’s def’ly no joke
You can’t see me, even with a microscope
Once again, Sermon’s metaphor is a little unusual. He eschews the standard “you can’t see me” punchline involving great distances or actual blindness (how many kids only know Stevie Wonder through this punchline formula?). Instead, he brags about being too tiny to be seen by the naked eye, a dubious virtue. This boast is set up by Sermon’s assertion that he is “no joke,” which is completely undermined by the mental image of a miniscule E-Double rapping on a petri dish. One wonders whether he really meant “telescope.”
I’m massive dope, funky, who’s deffer
Yo, when I express myself like Salt-N-Pepa
Sermon drops a simile that was dated when the song was released in 1992 (the Salt-N-Pepa song in question is on their 1990 release, Black’s Magic). Maybe pop culture references are a hallmark of rap lyrics because the necessity of writing many more lines of lyrics than other musical formats makes each line seem temptingly like a throwaway. In this case, the work containing the reference is far more memorable than the reference point, orphaning the reference to the mists of time.
Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith
The sickest, the wickest, crazy mad psycho, the slickest
Hardcore rhymin’, yeah, that’s the ticket
Buckwilin’, rough enough for Long Island
[Chorus (repeat all 4x)]
“Yeah! Ha ha ha ha!”
“Chill… Chill… Chill… Chill…”
“Rough enough to break New York from Long Island”
EPMD flip the meaning of the Rakim sample – instead of victimizing Long Island through seismically powerful raps, EPMD are elevating their hood by threatening to jettison the central city which overshadows their native suburb of Brentwood.
PMD is somewhat of an engima. Seen as the straight man to Sermon’s idiot-savant MCing, PMD’s perpetually serious, eyebrows-low rapping made him the less popular of the duo. Combine this with rumors (from Parrish’s own mouth and from elsewhere) that he mentored Sermon in the art of production, and you get a recipe for some bitterness. A closer look shows that PMD was never as straightforward a counterpart to Sermon as he was made out to be. Seen in writing, PMD’s rhymes often look similar enough to Sermon’s to be interchangeable. Is the goofiness really all in the delivery? PMD’s rapping is often just a touch past confident, tinged with the bravado of a not-quite-popular bully. He does not immediately attract with charisma, although his persona does project a rather universal interest, in that he seems to be the everyman trying to rise above the crowd.
[PMD]
Back up, boy, move easy with the hand motion
Don’t even blink kid, or I’ma start smokin’
Parrish’s opening takes the song’s warning theme to the extreme, turning it on its head. The slightest disturbance will push him over the edge. He’s the one that needs to chill.
The glock hammer’s cocked with the speed shot
Twelve shots, the bust target is the crowd, pop
PMD shows us that he can still mushmouth with the best of them. But if this interpretation of his lyrics is correct, this mirrors Sermon’s presentation in the first verse. What is pathologial in normal society becomes a virtue in front of a crowd that eagerly anticipates EPMD catching wreck.
So call me smooth talk, rhyme jay walk wit the slang talk
B-boy fanatic, straight from New York
The foundation, landmark of the rap scene
Going against the sampled Rakim line on the hook, Parrish aligns himself with New York City, building an architectural metaphor. He imagines EPMD as a skyscraper firmly embedded in Manhattan schist.
EPMD in effect, I’m clockin’ mad green
Like Kermit the Frog, sloppy like Boss Hog
Girl was runnin’ wild, ate her like a corn dog
Another bizarre assertion put forth by Parrish, this time with added pique from the Freudian implications of choosing a corn dog to represent a girl who Parrish “ate,” either metaphorically or figuratively. Parrish effectively demonstrates how a deadpan delivery can fool the human brain into treating unexpected stimuli as if it’s nothing out of the ordinary.
Four mics are ready to flow in slow mo’
Know the rap game just like Bo knows hoes
Here, Parrish makes a reference to one of the more memorable ad campaigns of the early 90s (see Phife’s verse on “Scenario”), but simultaneously subverts the kids-stay-in-school image of the athlete and his ad campaigns.
(“Yeah! Ha ha ha ha!”)
Hard, you get scarred, messin wit the Hit Squad
Slide easy or catch a bullshucks charge
No time to ill, stay mental or pop a pill
Get the macadamias, and oh yeah kid, chill
Parrish signs off by first throwing a thesaurus-inspired fuck-you to the audience and then reminding them to relax. Partly overaggressive but also partly overconfident in his superiority, the line captures PMD’s essence, as well as his perhaps counterintuitive appeal.
[Chorus]
“Chill… Chill… Chill… Chill…”
(repeat to fade)
Bonus Beat: David’s sped-up Unscrewed Mix of Chill
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Comments for "Line for line: EPMD - Chill"
That’s some funny reading. I had to chuckle at “The slightest disturbance will push him over the edge. He’s the one that needs to chill.”
— Perttu Dec 13, 08:43 AM
dang i always said ‘ate her like a condor’ when i rapped along. yers makes more sense i suppose…
— ray Dec 13, 02:58 PM
“It is not hard to imagine Sermon as the autistic kid at the far side of the playground, Russel Athletic hoodie drawn tight over his head, waving his hands in exaggerated motions as he rocks from side to side as he explores large motor skills.”
^ What’s better than that?
— Combat Jack Dec 13, 08:50 PM
Somehow reading this just draws me full circle to the days when alt.rap and RMHH would “interpret” rap lyrics for the humor value. I think one of the here’n’gone hip-hop magazines stole this idea and printed “translations” for comedic effect. If somebody’s going to translate for comedic effect though, it might as well be Oh Word.
PMD was seriously buggin’ on that track though, either way.
— DJ Flash Dec 14, 06:19 PM
Speaking of analyzing EPMD lyrics, is it true that Rakim took offense to the “smack me and I’ll smack you back” line on “You’re A Customer”? I’ve heard about that a lot and that he responded to it somewhere on the “Follow The Leader” album.
— Rah-Love Dec 29, 03:01 PM
funny!
— lord plunder Jan 5, 06:48 PM
Very well done. The “autistic kid learning motor skills” line had me nearly falling off my chair.
— floodwatch Jan 13, 11:20 AM
“The glock hammer’s cocked with the speed shot
Twelve shots, the bust target is the crowd, pop”
Glocks do not have hammers they utilize an internal striker system
— chuk May 5, 11:33 PM
amazing.
— Marco Polo Feb 12, 02:25 AM
you should analyze the classic “who’s booty?” from the “unfinished business” album. (“now you can call me gay or a tutti-fruitti, but i won’t touch it till I know who’s booty”)
lmao @ large motor skills.
— zacreole Feb 15, 08:03 AM
“Fame, and more glory than Morgan Freeman,”
Glory should be capitalized I believe, as Mr. Sermon is referring to the 1989 movie that starred Morgan Freeman (where he played Sgt. Maj. John Rawlins, “a middle-aged former slave… one of the many African Americans who answer the call to arms by enlisting in [the army]... a leader amongst the black soldiers, as well as a source of information on their feelings and needs… soon promoted to Sergeant Major making him the highest ranking enlisted man in the regiment” [from wikipedia]).
not that it changes your analysis. it’s more for, you know, accuracy.
Still good stuff though.
— he's hers Mar 18, 03:11 PM
I’ve seen the movie, and I agree the line doesn’t really make sense outside of the movie reference. I didn’t capitalize it as a matter of style, because that avoids breaking up the reading of the non-reference meaning of the pun.
— David Mar 19, 05:38 AM