Erick Sermon Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records

Album: Power of The Dollar
Label: Columbia
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “Incredible. It was done right here. Cory Rooney lived next door. He was Tommy Mottola's right hand man. He did Mary J. Blige's 'Real Love,' he did Jennifer Lopez. And he was Sony. And Trackmasters were with Sony. And 50 Cent was with Trackmasters.

“My boy Bernard was managing 50 Cent. And he brought him to my house. He used to just drop him off, and we would do records. Play boxing and making records. All that stuff was new to me. I didn't have rappers like that who were talking street stuff. My rappers were all style, technique, and metaphors. He was a street rapper.

“Bernard brought me Nas too. I had Nas in 1991 at the same studio I did 'Headbanger,' 'Crossover,' and 'How High.' I could've been on Illmatic. I did two songs in that studio that day with Nas. I didn't understand at first.

"It feels weird to say, and I'll tell the public right now because I feel embarrassed, because I didn't understand that. I was used to rappers having something with them. And when Nas was spittin' that street shit, it was over me. I don't have the Nas records. That studio burnt down, and whatever was in it burnt down with it. But I'm working with Nas now.

“I had Wu-Tang and Biggie in the beginning [too]. My story is ill as far as rappers. From Ludacris to Game to Rick Ross, every rapper was in front of me first. Uno. Crazy.

“I was doing the [50 Cent] records because my friend asked me to do them. He picked some beats that he liked, and he spit. I took 'The Bridge Is Over' and played the bass line and the melody over it.

"Of course, it came out dope because he was killing it. But I wasn't that excited because it wasn't my group, it was my friend's group. And then he put Nore on it. That's something he did.

“'Da Heatwave' would've blew. But he got shot. So he wasn't around. But I don't remember what happened. I wasn't involved in any of that. That was my friend's friend, even though me and 50 hung out here, and I held him down at a couple of conventions. He was having problems after 'How to Rob,' and I was with him, and people knew I was with him, so [I vouched for him]. But I haven't talked to 50 in a long time.”