Legendary emcee Erick Sermon looks to ‘Make Room’ for New York rap with new single

Photo Credit : TJ Armour for The Armour Agency/Steed Media Service
Photo credit : TJ Armour for The Armour Agency/Steed Media Service

Many hip-hop fans relish the sound known as “that good ol New York rap” and will tell you the game is just not the same since the near sub-genre became less prevalent over the last few years.

But fans of the sound can look no further than legendary rapper and producer Erick Sermon.


Sermon, who happens to be one of the architects of the sound, is back with a new song to give the people what they’ve been missing. His new single, “Make Room,” which features Joell Ortiz and Sheek Louch, is classic New York rap complete with a hard-hitting beat and classic lyrics.

According to Sermon, he wanted to make a New York rally and knew exactly who to call for the record: “I felt that hip-hop was making a come back. Hip-hop was in a bad place for a while, and even though New York was making records, the records were not New York, at least to me it wasn’t. I made this record when I was in Berlin and I had it for a minute and then I thought we need a rally like this now; I made the phone call to Sheek Louch and Joell Ortiz. Out of all the celebrities that I know, as far as an immediate response, Sheek and Joell Ortiz are always there. I worked with them before on the Hard Knock Life album. For ‘Make Room,’ I wanted emcees that were going to represent. Sheek Louch did one of the best verses of his career. It showcases them and it showcases NY and it’s a big record. You can’t front on this. The beats, the rhymes, the chorus, it’s a New York hip-hop record.”


“Make Room” is the first single from Sermon’s upcoming seventh solo album, E.S.P. (Erick Sermon Perception).

In addition to working on the album, Sermon is currently doing EPMD spot dates with his longtime partner in rhyme, Parrish Smith.

No release date has been given for E.S.P. (Erick Sermon Perception).

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