Erick Sermon Suffers Heart Attack, DJ Scratch Tweets

Mere days after the death of Heavy D, more bad news has emerged from the world of hip-hop.

According to a tweet from DJ Scratch, Erick Sermon, 42, one-half of the legendary New York City duo EPMD, has suffered a heart attack. Details are sketchy at this point, but Scratch's message suggests that Sermon's condition is not life-threatening.

"Erick Sermon had a heart attack today," Scratch wrote. "He's ok, but still send your prayers. He is not on Twitter."

Also known as 'Funklord,' 'E Double,' 'The Green-Eyed Bandit' and MC Grand Royal, Sermon got his start in the mid-'80s, when he teamed with rhymer Parrish Smith to form EPMD, short for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars."

EPMD presumably did just that with its 1987 single 'It's My Thing,' which sold 500,000 copies, according to AllMusic. The duo scored a number of other hits before breaking up in 1993, and Sermon went on to build a solid solo career, releasing records under his own name and producing tracks for everyone from baller-turned-rapper Shaquille O'Neal to the R&B group En Vogue.

Since reuniting in 1997, EPMD has dropped three albums, the most recent of which, 'We Mean Business,' arrived in 2008.