What’s in a name? Sometimes there’s not a lot to it, other times a name can speak volumes. In the case of D.C. duo DTMD, the name is an obstacle that simply can’t be ignored. Any hip hop head can tell you that the name is directly taken from EPMD, the duo of Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith, a group that made their mark in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. EPMD, which stands for “Erick and Parrish Making Dollars,” dropped four albums from 1988 to 1992, all with the word “business” in title, which were directly in conversation with the times in which they were created, when the country was transitioning from the Regan era into the ‘90s. The music definitely spoke to an era of economic and social change, and an updated take on this could be interesting, considering the tumultuous times we’re living in right now. However, when confronted about their name, DTMD, which stands for “Dunc and Toine Makin’ Dollas,” the duo have given an odd assortment of answers. They range from denying any association with EPMD and claiming that kids don’t care about hip hop history, to naming Erick Sermon as an inspiration for rhyming with a lisp, something Toine has dealt with, to just explaining that coming up with a name is hard. It’s strange, and what’s more, it doesn’t allow the duo to create an identity of their own. If they completely embraced the name and used it as a platform to speak about our current financial crisis, that could have been interesting, but that’s not what is going here. Instead we get some mediocre hip hop from some youngsters overshadowed by their own name.

DTMD is Dunc on the beats and Toine on the mic. Both are capable at what they do, but neither produce anything close to a “wow” moment. Makin’ Dollas is a decent album full of downtempo songs built off of soul samples, but none of the songs take you anywhere special. A groove will set in, Toine will start rhyming, and nothing really happens. I’ve listened to this album many times, but I can never remember it in between listens. Songs such as “The Struggle Is Real,” promise meaningful lyrics but they don’t say much. Toine claims to have learned from Black Star and Black Thought, but he never drops any insight into what the struggle is, what’s causing it, and what can be done to get out of it. These insights are all part of what makes Black Star and Black Thought special. It’s a missed opportunity, and it’s holding Toine back. He’s got plenty of battle raps and likes to rhyme about how he’s better than rappers who just talk about women and money, but he never has a moment where he goes into meaningful discussion about anything. It’s one thing to understand that these other rappers are bad, but that doesn’t mean calling them out automatically makes you good. It takes much more than that.

I might be a little harsh in my criticism of DTMD, but when you choose a name that references a classic hip hop duo, you’re inviting close scrutiny. Your work is going to have to be a extremely creative and thought provoking to be considered successful on your own merits. Unfortunately, Dunc and Toine are at best decent on their debut, and that’s not good enough when you’ve dug yourself a hole before the first track comes on.