EPMD with their sample-reliant productions and monotone rapping styles were among the best in hip-hop's underground during the late '80s and early '90s. Never short of a funky groove and a sharp lyric EPMD created many classics over the course of their four albums (from the 1988 classic Strictly Business to 1992's Business Never Personal). Coming together in 1987 - naming themselves EPMD, short for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars" - the duo recorded their debut single "It's My Thing". That single was later licensed to Chrysalis, and EPMD was eventually signed to Sleeping Bag/Fresh Records for their first full length album "Strictly Business". Ultimately they found themselves on Def Jam by the beginning of the '90s. Presideding over an extended family dubbed the Hit Squad, including Redman, K-Solo, and Das EFX.