If Raising Hell was a revelation, Licensed to Ill was a rebellion, and It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back was a revolution, EPMD’s debut was a reinforcement: you know what hip-hop should be, and we are it. Two MCs who were so smooth and laidback it made their pop-culture punchlines and g-funk-anticipating beats slap twice as hard, Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith remain the underheralded heroes of zero-bullshit rap, inspiring everyone from Redman to Run the Jewels.