Erick Sermon on How NYC Emcees Are Holding It Down for Hip-Hop

According to Erick Sermon, "nobody's grittier than Sheek Louch," and "the nicest underrated rapper is Joell Ortiz." These are just couple of the reasons why he made sure to enlist his fellow New York lyricists on his single "Make Room," from his anticipated new solo album 'E.S.P.' which drops in August.

While at the video shoot which went down in the Bronx, the Green-Eyed Bandit conveyed the story of how DJ Desue encouraged him to use the beat for the track. Erick immediately knew it was "hard as hell," and held an organic New York sentiment.

The EPMD frontman then spoke on his thoughts on New York City MCs, saying, "At the end of the day, when it comes down to New York City, there's nobody to represent New York City [other] than these MCs, and this is our city. They got to stop fronting on us. They got to stop fronting on us making records how we want to make them."

He continues to challenge his contemporary and emerging rappers, saying, "So what, we want to rhyme. What's bad about us wanting to emcee, and have some drums on our sh*t; what's wrong with that? What's wrong with the Hip-Hop? That's why I came, and that's why I called them for that, because I wanted to show them n****s like, 'Yo, New York is here and we ain't playing."

After showing respect to A$AP Rocky, Joey Bada$$, Troy Ave, Action Bronson, and Flatbush Zombies, the "Music" MC contends that New York's proven wordsmiths like Fabolous, Jadakiss, and Jay Z are still at the genre's forefront. "It's just all the OGs still, no new people. They ain't letting nobody else in," he says.