Redman interview (Def Jam, Jay, Method Man, album, state of hip hop, Def Squad)

[Meho]

Redman and Method Man became household names with a run in movies and TV in the last five years, meanwhile Redman has been steadily crafting over the past five years since his last album, Malpractice, was released. He has been touring with Rock the Bells, creating a crew and working on his new album. Now he's back, ready to drop Red Gone Wild in March, saying " March, man. It's dropping in March and believe me, when the album drops, I'm gonna keep dropping ish, I got a whole crew I've been working on the last three years and we've been building up material. The game has been in shambles, ya know? "

After his last album, he said the rebuilding process was difficult because everyone who was with him at Def Jam before, was now gone.
"I got new staff, new people, new bosses and between that time of people being gone and getting fired from the label, within that three years, there's been a lot of twisting and turning. You know the label wasn't stable, you come out with an album, they give you half a video, then you're back to the drawing board, who wants that? So the real question is, not why did it take so long but why did it take so long for the label to get their stuff together? As you can see, with artists that are on there now, on Def Jam, and what they're going through now for artists that dropped albums this year. You can see what's going on. Ya'll ain't stupid. You see what kind of promotion my man Meth is getting, and Ghostface, you see what's going on, ya'll are not crazy."

While Ghostface dropped two albums in 2006, Redman will also drop two in 2007. Red Gone Wild in March and Muddy Water 2 in November, he said adding, "I felt that March was the right time, Jay done dropped, the Def Jam hype would slow down, and they would need somebody to hold the label up and that'd be me... I ain't playing no games."
While he avoids questions about leaving Def Jam for the indie route and ones about Jay-Z running/ruining the label, he does speak on behalf of his man, Meth.
"I'm really pissed about my man Meth and what his album is doing. He's not getting the right promotion, but you know, that's the name of the game. And you know, I can sit here and say 'yeah, Jay ain't doing his job', but I ain't dropped my album yet for me to say that. But once I get out there on that road, and once my album is out, I'm not going to sit around and depend on Jay. He know it, I know it, and the label know it. They know I'm self-sufficient. You will never hear me in an interview saying 'F*** Jay, he ain't do the man right'. Jay is his own man and I'm my own man, I feel I'm just as big as that nigga. So maybe I can get in there, hit the road and tell him what to do."

As for the crew he's been building, Gillahouse is a crew that consists of some familiar faces; Saukrates out of Canada, Icarus, Ready Rock, E3, and a singer named Melanie. The final member, Runt Dog, is in prison at the moment. Redman says he doesn't consider there to be any special guests on the album, but Snoop, Method Man and Nate Dogg all show up for the album with production from Eminem, Timbaland, Scott Storch, Erick Sermon, Buckwild and Red himself

As for Def Squad, he says there is a Keith Murray album finished and on it's way, adding that, "hopefully we can get in here with a Def Squad album, probably in the middle of next year." He also says he will also be working on a new Blackout album with Meth next year. As for other projects he said, "How High 2, definitely. Matter of fact, when we do the How High 2, we're going to promote the Blackout 2 as the soundtrack to the movie, that will be great. As far as acting I'll do it if they ask... We learned from our mistakes, we're not sellouts. We're out here, we're back in the hip-hop game and we're trying to get everyone circling on the Red and Meth thing like it used to be. We want to get our smokers back"
Finally, he gives his opinion on the state of music today, "I love it. It's just making us work harder that's all. I'm not complaining about down South, I love down South. I'm glad that they got their shine and doing what they want to do. And I put it like this, if ya'll are tired of the down South movement, put out some stuff that'll make a change, shut it down. Everything that goes up, must come down. Everybody knows that. Down South ain't going to reign forever, just like east coast couldn't reign forever, just like west coast couldn't reign forever...I only say that because I know the talk in the streets and when you're talking how you feel about hip-hop and where it's going. That question is really about what do you think about the new artists in the game that's evolving hip-hop and the new artists is mostly down south cats and I think its great"

[GATMAN]

Loooking forward to Redman shit.  I heard Eminem is Co-Producing the album