Head Banger (EPMD song)

"Head Banger"
Single by EPMD featuring K-Solo and Redman
from the album Business Never Personal
B-side	Scratch Bring It Back
Released	October 29, 1992
Format	12-inch, Cassette, CD
Recorded	1992
Genre	Hip hop
Length	4:51
Label	Def Jam
Writer(s)	Erick Sermon, Parrish Smith
Producer(s)	EPMD
EPMD chronology
"Crossover" (1992) "Head Banger" (1992) "Da Joint" (1997)

"Head Banger", also "Headbanger", is the second single released from EPMD's fourth album, Business Never Personal.^[1][2][3][4]

The song, which was produced by member Erick Sermon, featured verses from K-Solo and Redman, both members of EPMD's rap collective, the Hit Squad. The single became a minor hit on both the R&B and rap charts. peaking at 75 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and 11 on the Hot Rap Singles. The song used two samples, Joe Tex's "Papa Was Too" and Brand Nubian's "Slow Down", and was later sampled itself by the Ruff Ryders on "Ryde or Die", which served as the opening song on their debut album, Ryde or Die Vol. 1.^[5][6][7][8] This was EPMD's final release before disbanding,^[9] eventually returning four years later in 1997.

Single track listing

A-Side

1. "Head Banger" (LP Version)- 4:51
2. "Head Banger" (Radio Version)- 4:31

B-Side

1. "Head Banger" (Remix Radio Edit)- 4:57
2. "Scratch Bring It Back"- 3:04

Charts

Chart (1992)	Peak position
Billboard Hot R&B / Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	75
Billboard Hot Rap Singles	11

References

1. Idris Goodwin These Are the Breaks 1935904159 2013 "EPMD was my favorite group. The Headbanger is from their 4th album. It's a classic posse record, a collaboration of the group's core members, Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith, plus featured appearances by K Solo and Redman."
2. Billboard - 14 nov. 1992 - Page 24 "During this time, Redman made cameo appearances on two EPMD tracks: "Brothers On My Jock," from 1990, and "Headbanger," from EPMD's current release, "Business Never Personal."
3. Brian Coleman - Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies 2009 - Page 446 "I would say that that song is one of the best posse cuts ever. with [Marley Marl and Iuice Crew's] "The Symphony" and [EPMD with Redrnan and K-Solo's] "Headbanger."
4. Vibe - Oct. 1993 A . L. Columbia During its four-album "business" operation, EPMD was one of the best hardcore groups going, and clearly ... that fueled hardcore hits like EPMD's "Gold Digger" and "Head Banger" or even Illegal's recent Sermon-produced "We ...""
5. SPIN Dec 1992 "Straight outto Newark comes Redman, another heavy hitter from the hip hop halls of EPMD's Hit Squad. ... This past summer, Redman lent a cameo vocal to "Head Banger," the stomp-along single from EPMD's Business Never Personal, "
6. William Wimsatt - Bomb the Suburbs: Graffiti, Race, Freight-Hopping and the ... 1593763379 2008- Page 16 "Like Headbanger by EPMD, Red Man with that 666. Rappers wearing hard rock T-shirts. Rap is gonna be black heavy metal."
7. Alex Ogg - The Men Behind Def Jam =0857121081 -2009 "Business Never Personal, which included two of their most authoritative statements in 'Head-banger' and 'Crossover', "
8. Billboard - 26 Jul 1997 - Page 21 EPMD, then, is a rare pair as Def Jam prepares to release "Back In Business" Sept. 16. .... Never Personal" — and several classic singles, including "It's My Thing," "You're A Customer," "You Gots To Chill," "Crossover," and "Head Banger.
9. Vibe - oct. 1997 - Page 101 "It speaks for the huddled hip hop masses— here in Brooklyn and elsewhere— who've been wishing EPMD would, well, make the hell up. .... "It was the day after the 'Head Banger' video shoot," he begins, recalling the day EPMD dissolved."

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics