S. Samuel
With the recent release of their Dunc & Toine Makin' Dollas joint debut, SOHH hit up DTMD's Toine to find out if they borrowed their duo name from iconic twosome EPMD.
Although the Maryland-bred emcee respects Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith‘s legacy, he said their group name and music do not derive from them.
“Personally, Erick Sermon, I f*ck with him on the strength of [rhyming with] a speech impediment, yo,” Toine told SOHH. “That sh*t is inspirational. I got a lisp. Like, Kool G. Rap [who also raps with a lisp] go ahead son. I feel like the name is more for kids around our age. You have to remember we’re still pretty young, and [the youth] doesn’t give a d*mn about what came out five years ago let alone ten years ago. So 20 years ago? I feel like what we’re doing is trying to really spread the whole essence of hip-hop, just the knowledge and the wisdom that comes about. Unfortunately we’re not #1 EPMD fans, but we’re not totally ignorant [to what they did].” (SOHH)
Last week, Toine told SOHH they randomly came up with their stage name.
“I don’t know if you know how hard it is to get a moniker, but that sh*t is tough but you got to live with it. I can’t be “Young Killer” and after ten years talking to my family and having them ask what my rap name is. “Young Killer? Oh yeah? How many people have you killed?” So me and Dunc were chilling, smoking and we said, “Why don’t we just name ourselves DTMD: Dunc & Toine Makin’ Dollas?” It kind of stuck. I feel like it definitely does its justice with the sounds that we are bringing forth. It’s very inclusive to all genres of music. We touched on a lot of core sounds on this one album. I think the name Makin’ Dollas is very appropriate.” (5 Reasons Why You Should Buy)
Earlier this year, West Coast rapper W.C. told SOHH EPMD were one of his favorite hip-hop duos of all time.
“EPMD. Come on. As a duo? They brought that funk to hip-hop that a lot of people weren’t up on at the time. Then they put on Redman and brought that funk,” WC told SOHH. (SOHH’s Top 5 Dead or Alive)
EPMD are known for having over two decades of music to their name.
On the surface, the sample-reliant productions and monotone rapping styles of Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith had little to recommend them, but the duo’s recordings as EPMD were among the best in hip-hop’s underground during the late ’80s and early ’90s. Over the course of four albums (from the 1988 classic Strictly Business to 1992’s Business Never Personal), the group rarely varied from two themes: dissing sucker MCs and recounting sexual exploits. A closer look, however, revealed that the duo’s rhymes were nothing less than incredible, simply undervalued due to their lack of intonation during delivery. (All Music)
