I have to disagree with that
They was popular to Black HipHop heads in America. That's about it.
Numbers don't lie... Epmd wasn't selling records like the popular rappers, groups
Kriss Kross and Digital Underground sold more records than Epmd
For the time, on debut epmd was a gold standard in rap consistently. In an era not defined by sales for a group to permeate.
Epmd was originally the original consistent selling same sale envelope rap group on sleeping bag.
"thirty days later the LP went gold,..."
So want Chu saying
Then epmd doubled sales on sleeping bag and went platinum on defjam on the third album, breh.
Kriss kross was not a cultural group.
Their entire scope was to ripoff the highest selling base of biv10's ABC.
Just like sylk tymes leather was made to ripoff and bite at that time.
the highest selling base sales of salt n pepa.
You really can not compare those two groups sales spike sellout numbers to epmd.
Those two groups were not made to ever draw in the same realm.
Alternatively, Du, a queens based rap group had the impact and connection to the west.
Which created trickle down similar to any west coast gangsta rap group.
With a gateway character, a dance and had what would be for the time.
Easily considered the freakiest and best executed taboo Content in rap on par with what could be looked at as what if luke had skill with the ultra taboo for the time sex packets.
That also included the most fun on film video ever and one of the most fun songs in rap history as their debut.
Which was followed up by a flop lesd single ep in a chevy chase movie but debuted Pac. Where they immediately fell off on that next ep in every facet from culturally to sales to skills.
While du never drew after their first album consistently and their ep did not draw with same song any more in the same fever as sex packets did. As it did not have as strong of single release schedule.
While alternatively epmd had an excellent release schedule, since their debut.
One of the most consistent in rap and had excellent placements on the greatest rap content based and themed perfect classic soundtrack ever in the juice. It just so happened that epmd never had the lead single placement on juice that du had.
Plus, they originally were on sleeping bag and not large distributed labels marketing permeation wise like Columbia and I believe du was CBS.
If I remember labels for du without googling.
Anyway, for that time epmd was as high of a drawing rap group as there was.
Plus they also converted when put into a higher drawing situation for that exact time on defjam. If not for their issues admin wise with pmd trying to play his homies.
all of them Erick included,...then maybe their social dysfunction would not lend such a black eye on their drawing era and careers. They are not the group that will have a reclamation project. that creates a fake mythos like their west coast drawing compatriots in NWA. So, they won't get that nostalgia time honored look like NWA. Yet for the time, they were as high of a fully credible non-fall off group culturally and skill wise as you could find for their era.
They arguably also have four classics in a row and by revisionist ideals would possibly have four straight perfect classics in a row aa well.
Art Barr