When you’re a legend in hip-hop to the level of Erick Sermon, it’s hard to have any regrets. He’s aged gracefully from his days in EPMD to nabbing a massive hit in “Music“. In any rap history, you can guarantee Erick Sermon isn’t too far behind. This can also be a curse as much as a blessing, though. Due to his proximity, there are lots of “what ifs” throughout Sermon’s life. Two of them in particular would’ve radically changed his life.
Recently, Erick Sermon spoke with Fat Joe and Jadakiss on their podcast about his illustrious career. There, he notes two artists he could’ve signed but let slip through his fingers. For starters, Illmatic could’ve sounded a lot different underneath Sermon’s production. “When Nas came to me for Illmatic, I gave him c-list beats because I didn’t understand Queenbridge,” he admits. “My only regret is me not taking Nas seriously, because when he left me, he went to Pete’s Rock house.”
Additionally, the butterfly effect would’ve been wild to see Biggie forgo the Bad Boy route. Ultimately, he brushed him off when someone brought him to a Brooklyn barbershop to connect with Sermon. Consequently, he didn’t see the vision until it was far too late.
Erick Sermon Kept Dropping the Ball on Signing Superstar Rappers
Raekwon and Wu-Tang Clan were also on the docket, but apparently, Sermon thought he was “too young for that.” This is a common refrain when speaking with Rolling Stone, too. Erick Sermon recalls running into young Usher, Ludacris, and Goodie Mob when living in Atlanta. But for one reason or another, it never expanded past visits to his rim shop in the city.
“My story is Ill, nephew. I could have had Game, I could have had 50 Cent, Rick Ross, Yung Berg, Fugees, Akon. People will be like, ‘Goddamn. Imagine if you was a label and you had all these people.’ Can you imagine that?!” he says giddily.
As much as Erick Sermon had a pulse on hip-hop at the time, he doesn’t share the same love for modern hip-hop. In the end, he shrugs that newer artists are going to have a hard time aging their music. “They made records that was going to surpass and be able to live the test of time so they can still work forever,” Erick Sermon says of past artists. “This era is not going to be able to do that, and the era before, because nobody’s going to come watch you say ‘p***y, f**k, s**k, b***h,’ whatever, when they’re 40-something years old. They married, they go to church, got kids, got a life. It don’t match them no more.”
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