''Def Squad Presents Erick Onasis'' is the third solo studio album by American rapper and record producer

Erick Sermon Erick Sermon (born November 25, 1968) is an American rapper and producer. He is best known as one-third—alongside PMD & DJ Scratch—of 1980s/1990s hip hop group EPMD and for his production work. Early life Erick Sermon was born on November ...

. It was released on June 27, 2000, via

DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Mo Ostin, his son Michael Ostin and Lenny Waronker as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label opera ...

. The recording sessions took place at L.I.T.E. Recording Studios in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, Mirror Image Recorders and

Masterdisk Masterdisk is an American multimedia company in New York, located at 8 John Walsh Boulevard in Peekskill. They provide production services such as audio mastering, vinyl cutting and enhanced CD and DVD production. Their clients include such n ...

in New York, and Urban House Studios, Inc. in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. The album was produced by Sermon,

DJ Scratch George Spivey (born June 21, 1968), known professionally as DJ Scratch, is an American hip hop music, hip hop DJ and producer from Brooklyn, New York. DJ Scratch is the 1988 New Music Seminar Battle For World Supremacy DJ champion, the 2010 M ...

, Redman, and Suave House Productions, Inc. It features

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from Khari, Redman, Sy Scott, Big Kim, Billy Billions, Boe & Ruck,

Dave Hollister David Le Chaine Hollister (born August 17, 1968) is an American singer from Chicago, Illinois who found fame during the 1990s as one quarter of the R&B group Blackstreet, before going on to have a solo career. Hollister is best known for his ...

DJ Quik David Marvin Blake (born January 18, 1970), better known by his stage names DJ Quik or Da Quiksta, is an American rapper and record producer from Compton, California, known for his production in the G-funk style of West Coast hip-hop. Blake has ...

Eazy-E Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. Eazy-E is often re ...

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. Born and raised in New York City, Ja Rule became known for blending gangsta rap with pop rap, pop and contempo ...

Keith Murray Keith Omar Murray (born May 29, 1972) is an American rapper from New York. He is best known for being a member of the hip hop group Def Squad, which includes fellow rappers Redman and fellow Long Island native Erick Sermon. The group releas ...

, Noah, Nolan Epps, Peter Moore,

PMD PMD may refer to: Government and diplomacy * Pakistan Meteorological Department * Performance Management Division, of the Cabinet Office, Government of India * Possible Military Dimensions of a nuclear program (specifically that of Iran) Heal ...

Slick Rick Richard Martin Lloyd Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known as Slick Rick, is an English-American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence as part of Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. His songs " The Show" and ...

Too $hort Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by his stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper. A pioneer of West Coast hip-hop, Shaw was among the first acts to receive recognition in the genre during the late ...

, and

Xzibit Alvin Nathaniel Joiner (born September 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Xzibit (pronounced "''exhibit''), is an American rapper, actor, television presenter, radio personality, and record executive. He began his musical career in 1992, ...

. It also features the recording debut of rapper

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...

, who went by his original name Teflon da Don. The album peaked at number 53 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 15 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

charts in the United States. It was supported with three singles: "Focus", " Get da Money" and "Why Not".

Album title significance

The album title is based on an alias that Sermon briefly adopted at the time for this particular album. In regards to the meaning, he stated:

"The name is something I came up with when I was watching the overage of thedeath of JFK Jr. They
ere Ere or ERE may refer to: * ''Environmental and Resource Economics'', a peer-reviewed academic journal * ERE Informatique, one of the first French video game companies * Ere language, an Austronesian language * Ebi Ere (born 1981), American-Nigeria ...
talking about him and
his family ''His Family'' is a novel by Ernest Poole published in 1917 about the life of a New York widower and his three daughters in the 1910s. It received the first Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1918. Plot introduction ''His Family'' tells the story ...
and his mom came up, and then
Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
came up. Then I read something on him, about four or five pages. And it was interesting to me, about how he was, how spiritual he was, how he was just coming up in the game until he mastered his field and became who he became. So I took that name".

Another reason for the album's title was due to contractual issues stemming from Sermon's previous label

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

. Because of the issue, ''Def Squad Presents Erick Onasis'' was promoted as a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

, despite Sermon's appearance and production on most of the songs.

Track listing

;Sample credits *Track 3 contains excerpts from "

Don't Believe the Hype "Don't Believe the Hype" is a song by hip hop group Public Enemy and the second single to be released from their second album, ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back''. The song's lyrics are mostly about the political issues that were cur ...

" written by James Boxley,

Carlton Ridenhour Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D is also a mem ...

and

Eric Sadler The Bomb Squad was an American hip hop production team known for their work with hip hop group Public Enemy. The Bomb Squad are noted for their dense, distinct, innovative production style, often utilizing dozens of samples on just one track. ...

, performed by

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

. *Track 6 contains excerpts from Public Enemy's ''

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back'' is the second studio album by American Hip hop music, hip hop group Public Enemy, released on June 28, 1988, by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records. It was recorded from 1987 to 1988 in sessio ...

''. *Track 8 contains excerpts from "

New Style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various Europe, European countrie ...

" written by

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

, Adam Horovitz,

Adam Yauch Adam Nathaniel Yauch ( ; August 5, 1964 – May 4, 2012), also known by the stage name MCA, was an American rapper, bassist, filmmaker and a founding member of the Hip-hop, hip hop group Beastie Boys. Besides his musical work, he also directed m ...

and Michael Diamond, performed by the

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

. *Track 9 contains an interpolation from "I Play the Talk Box" written by

Larry Troutman Zapp (also known as the Zapp Band, Zapp & Roger) is an American funk band that emerged from Dayton, Ohio, United States, in 1977. Particularly influential in the electro subgenre of funk, Zapp were known for their trademark use of the talk-b ...

and

Roger Troutman Roger Lynch Troutman Jr. (November 29, 1951 – April 25, 1999), also known simply as Roger, was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the founder of the band Zapp who helped spearhead the funk movement and infl ...

. *Track 11 contains excerpts from " Electric Relaxation" written by Malik Taylor, Ali Muhammed-Jones,

Ronnie Foster Ronnie Foster (born May 12, 1950) is an American funk and soul jazz organist, and record producer. His albums recorded for Blue Note Records in the 1970s have gained a cult following after the emergence of acid jazz. Early life Foster was born ...

and John Davis, performed by

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip< ...

Personnel

– vocals, producer (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6-12, 14-16), mixing (tracks: 13, 15), executive producer, sleeve notes *Richard "

" Walters – vocals (track 4) *Reginald " Redman" Noble – vocals (tracks: 5, 6), producer (track 5) *Khari Santiago – vocals (tracks: 5, 10) *

– vocals (track 6) *Eric "

" Wright – vocals (track 8) *David "

" Blake – vocals and additional producer (track 9) *Alvin "

" Joiner – vocals (track 9) *Sy Scott – vocals (tracks: 10, 15) *

– vocals (track 11) *Peter Moore – vocals (track 11) *Jeffrey "

" Atkins – vocals (track 12) *William "

" Roberts – vocals (track 13) *Noah Stephenson – vocals (track 13) *Kim "Big Kim" Sermon – vocals (track 15) *Nolan Epps – vocals (track 15) *T. Warren – vocals (track 15) *Robert Sherman – vocals (track 15) *Harrell Dixon – vocals (track 15) *Parrish "

" Smith – vocals (track 15) *Todd "

" Shaw – vocals (track 16) *George "

" Spivey – producer (track 2) *Triston "

T-Mix Suave House Records, also known as ''The Legendary Suave House'', is a record label in Houston, Texas, United States, founded by Tony Draper. History The label was founded in 1990 when Draper was sixteen years old. Landmark independent release ...

" Jones – producer (track 13) *Darryl "Pop" Trotter – co-producer (track 4) *Tommy Uzzo – engineering & mixing (tracks: 2, 4, 11) *Marc Berto – engineering & mixing (tracks: 3, 5, 8-10, 12, 15, 16) *Troy Hightower – engineering & mixing (track 6) *Bernard Alexander – executive producer, marketing *Jaycen Joshua – associate executive producer *Johnny Sparkles – art direction, design *

Jonathan Mannion Jonathan Mannion is a photographer and film director. He has shot album covers for hip hop and R&B performers including Dr. Dre, Jay Z, Aaliyah, Outkast, Nas, Nicki Minaj, Brandy Norwood and Kendrick Lamar. Early life and education With English ...

– photography *

Ron Handler Ronald Craig Handler is a music publisher, A & R executive and artist manager, who lives in Los Angeles. He has worked for influential companies such as Arista Music Publishing, BMG, EMI, DreamWorks and Interscope/ Geffen. During his career, ...

– A&R *Kisha Maldonado-Madrid – A&R, project management *Chris Tricarico – project coordinator *Deborah Mannis-Gardner – sample clearances

Chart history

References

External links

Def Squad Presents: Erick Onasis
on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

* {{Authority control 2000 albums Erick Sermon albums Albums produced by Redman DreamWorks Records albums Albums produced by DJ Scratch Albums produced by Erick Sermon