One of hip-hop's unsung masterpieces is surely Erick Sermon's second solo release from '95, 'Double Or Nothing' on which his deep skunk-funk production attained ultimate heights and the extended Def Squad family (Redman, Keith Murray etc.) defined a sound that was to dominate their output for the remainder of the decade. Before this, of course, as one-half of EPMD, Erick drew up the blueprint for the laid-back P-Funk sampling sound that was to be so lucratively refined by Dre on the west coast.
Unfortunately, he was destined never to find that commercial formula that would, by rights, have seen Sermon immortalised on hip-hop's Mount Rushmore alongside Dre, the RZA, Premier and friends. After 'Double Or Nothing' and Redman's excellent 'Muddy Waters', he fell into something of a rut, turning out E-Funk-by-numbers, consistent but never quite spectacular. A hit came with the irresistible Marvin Gaye-sampling 'Music' but the ensuing album failed to deliver.
Now, with a hit from the Just Blaze-produced title-track, 'React' arrives in the nick of time to prove the doubters wrong. It is without doubt Sermon's best solo effort since 'Double Or Nothing' and certainly his best shot at the kind of historical impact as a solo artist that he enjoyed with EPMD. Part of the recipe appears to be his willingness to finally relinquish the production reigns, at least on a few tracks, which in turn seems to spur the in-house productions on to greater heights. It also throws up some fine beats from Just Blaze and Megahertz.
On the microphone, Sermon long ago perfected the art of simply flowing in his own monotone New York style, once memorably and accurately referred to as "cottonmouth". It's a flow that's the essence of the apparent effortlessness in all the greatest emcees. But its relaxed nature belies a nagging bitterness on Sermon's part when on tracks like 'Don't Give Up' he fixates on his struggle through the fickle whims of hip-hop fashion and record company favour. It's a shame that he can't just enjoy the success of this unshowy and refreshingly straightforward album. Overlong, of course, and tailing off towards the close, but a fine antidote from releases that feel they have to come pre-packaged with a gimmick to demand our attention.
Most people will buy this for 'React', hopefully some more will discover one of hip-hop's genuine 'slept on' stars and help him to ease that chip from his shoulder.
