Dr. Dre Made Erick Sermon Never Want To Write Raps Again

[KingsOfKings]

"EXCLUSIVE - Erick Sermon has credited Dr. Dre with changing his approach to making music, saying the legendary producer made him never want to write raps again.

Speaking exclusively to HipHopDX, the EPMD member discussed his time working with Dre in the studio and how it made him reflect on his own creative process.

“We go to Malibu. As soon as I press play, we do one record. I press play again, we do two records. I press play again, we do three records — in one night. The guys said, ‘Erick, we’ve been here for eight years, we ain’t never seen that before. Nobody has done what you did today.’

“I put another beat on and he calls Snoop over. Snoop been working on the records that I did. Then I come back and Dre is working on the record that he rapped on. So I said, ‘Yo, let me rap on that. Let me do your style how you rhyme and how you put your records together.'”

Sermon then recalled pulling out his pad and pen and beginning to write rhymes, until one of Dr. Dre’s songwriters Smitty told him: “We don’t do that here.”

“Dre would say the cadence and then we would all say a rhyme, and then if the rhyme sounds good, then we put that down. So there’s no writing; it’s just 16 bars of whatever your freestyle may be,” E. Dub remembered Smitty telling him.



“The process was something I had never seen before in my life and had never experienced in my life getting produced by somebody. It makes you not want to [write rhymes] no more.

“That method is undeniable. You can’t go wrong because you got a room of people that is agreeing with the line and if the line is not right then it doesn’t go. So everything is right… and my verse was spectacular.”

Erick Sermon previously revealed details of his work with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

In an interview with Bootleg Kev earlier this month, he said: “Me and Dre made five records. And he made three in one night — off of my production, though.

“And then we did another one with Snoop that’s supposed to be on the new Snoop record, and I also did one with him that me and him rhymed on which was crazy.”

Back in 2022, the former Def Jam signee shared images from the recording sessions and credited working with Dr. Dre with improving his mental health.

“We worked on my new project #DYNAMICDUOS … the next day he called [MENTION=369891]Snoopdogg[/MENTION] we made something epic for him,” Sermon wrote on X at the time. “My mental health has been a factor for awhile .. thank u [MENTION=380616]Drdr[/MENTION]e for changing that. # beautiful blessings.”

Dr. Dre Made Erick Sermon Never Want To Write Raps Again

 

[Jerz-2]

"That method is undeniable. You can’t go wrong because you got a room of people that is agreeing with the line and if the line is not right then it doesn’t go. So everything is right… and my verse was spectacular.”

Glad that works for him and Dre's camp.

Some people actually enjoy the process of crafting rhymes, however. Some people get joy outta the actual writing/verse construction process.

 

[KingsOfKings]

Glad that works for him and Dre's camp.

Some people actually enjoy the process of crafting rhymes, however. Some people get joy outta the actual writing/verse construction process.

Very true

 

[CrossBones]

No one is quoting Dre lyrics though. There's a difference between having a committee write you a hodge podge verse that sounds alright compared to one person writing it; one feels produced and the other is crafted. I'd prefer some filler bars or off handed references that other people wouldnt approve of from one mc, instead of trying to be safe and please everyone with acceptable bar after acceptable bar.

 

[jadillac]

I mean, it works both ways.

 

[Deltron]

No one is quoting Dre lyrics though. There's a difference between having a committee write you a hodge podge verse that sounds alright compared to one person writing it; one feels produced and the other is crafted. I'd prefer some filler bars or off handed references that other people wouldnt approve of from one mc, instead of trying to be safe and please everyone with acceptable bar after acceptable bar.

You don't say like a cookie they all crumble or cause if I slip then I'm slippin

 

[Easy-E]

No one is quoting Dre lyrics though. There's a difference between having a committee write you a hodge podge verse that sounds alright compared to one person writing it; one feels produced and the other is crafted. I'd prefer some filler bars or off handed references that other people wouldnt approve of from one mc, instead of trying to be safe and please everyone with acceptable bar after acceptable bar.

I played GTA V and he has a EP on there and the lyrics feel weird.

They aren't wack. But, just overproduced and unnatural. Like you can hear it.

 

[CrossBones]

I played GTA V and he has a EP on there and the lyrics feel weird.

They aren't wack. But, just overproduced and unnatural. Like you can hear it.

That's something that is all over Dre's catalog. You listen to early Snoop, Nate, Dogg Pound or whoever, and everybody sounded different. Had their own quirks or identity. But Dre was generally as generic as they come. Turns out that he doesn't even try to write so he's only as good as his ghost writer, which is why he has no real identity in the mic. It's all about his beats and not his verses and he knows it too.

You don't say like a cookie they all crumble or cause if I slip then I'm slippin

Lol exactly. Those are obviously Snoop bars too. And Erick Sermon has entire decades of him saying something goofy or off handed, but that's why him and Def Squad stood out. Now if we get committee made E Double, I feel like it's going to be less unique and more like everybody else.

 

[Jerz-2]

Also, it's interesting...saying "everything is right" is basically just saying "we all thought it was hot because we came up with it together".

But that don't mean it was ACTUALLY good though....that's mad subjective, of COURSE y'all thought that what y'all came up with collaboratively was hot....but what do people outside of your process think?

Further....it's sad that you can't appreciate wordplay in rap anymore. Nikkas be like "nobody wants to hear that rappity-rap stuff"....uh, yeah, some people still DO, some people still enjoy wordplay and various aspects of lyricism. One could say the same about how "nobody wants to hear basic bars about trapping all the time", or "nobody wants to hear some nikka sing-rappin"....like, let the culture breathe, damn.

 

[King Sun]

E Dub is one of the better producer rappers too SMH.

 

[maxamusa]

this whole "I don't write" facade is a problem.

 

[King Poetic]

Im tired of I don’t write my rhymes shyt as well @maxamusa

All this biggie to jay to lil wayne saying this shyt is cool, but come on nikkas like pac , Scarface sounded just as nice

 

[gho3st]

Nah some nikkas should take time and write

 

[maxamusa]

Im tired of I don’t write my rhymes shyt as well @maxamusa

All this biggie to jay to lil wayne saying this shyt is cool, but come on nikkas like pac , Scarface sounded just as nice

Its not even impressive....I never understood it.....nobody cares HOW you got a million. Its do you have it or NOT

like even on their level.

 

[maxamusa]

Nah some nikkas should take time and write

no it doesn't make a difference. What they do is just repeat it in their head a million times thats it.

the only benefit is your delivery WILL be better cause you're not reading it off a pad most likely.


u already have that shyt down pact. If you write and THAN memorized it; its not even a factor.