Erick Sermon Takes “One Shot” W/ Rick Ross’ Protégé: “It Was Like Eminem’s “Lose Yourself””

[SOHH highlights a hot record every week and offers a behind-the-scenes look at the smash in Singled Out. After Maino opened up his "Dreamer" hit, EPMD's Erick Sermon dissects his Masspike Miles-assisted "One Shot" anthem.]

I’ve always been a fan of Masspike Miles. I just figured when he got with Maybach Music Group and Rick Ross he was coming out soon. He was very soulful, the way he sung things. I’m a big R&B guy because I produce and the way I produce hip-hop, I produce R&B. So I’m a big fan of that in the first place.

When I was making this record, it’s been 12 years for me, so there were people saying you can’t do something. So it was like Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” kind of, but not on that type of battle thing but with our genre.

They say old school Paul McCartney, old school Madonna, old school U2, these people are still winning Grammy awards. If you can still do it, you can still do it. There’s no age limit.

I just told people you have “One Shot” to do it and if you give a good effort with your one shot, you’re going to succeed. When I had the idea, the first person that came to mind was Masspike Miles.

He’s not the same voice I hear on every track out or with the same people. I didn’t want to have the same people everyone has heard. That’s what made me call Masspike. It’s not just because I was a fan but that was the main premise of the song, the fact you can succeed when you put in the effort.

The reason my crew is called Def Squad is because of Russell Simmons. Me learning the game, I was on Def Jam from 1991 to 1999, so 8 years I was in that family. At the end of the day, that was my family and I added that to the song.

Check out “One Shot”: