Photo courtesy of Def Jam FUNK DOCTOR SPOT: Redman in the “Put it Down” video. Timbaland produced the lead single from “Red Gone Wild.” Redman, ‘Red Gone Wild’ ★★★ Reggie Noble — Redman’s government name — has done it again. Just when you think he can be boxed in, he moves sideways on you. During a self-imposed five-year hiatus from recording, he starred in a very forgettable Fox sitcom with smoking buddy Method Man. Fox’s “Red and Method” not only bombed in prime time, but stripped the legendary hip-hop heavyweight of some of the ever-important street credibility he’d gained since his days as part of the Erick Sermon-led Def Squad. In those heady days during the 1990s, Red and the rest of the squad were producing seminal rap tracks at will. Sure, the likes of Keith Murray and Das EFX were mainstream, but they were anything but pop. With Red’s forays into pop culture behind him, he seems to be going back to what made him an icon in the rap game. On the debut single “Put it Down,” Redman enlists track master Timbaland to create an almost old-school rap jam that evokes his earlier work. There’s nothing too progressive on “Red Gone Wild,” but it delivers on so many levels. He’s not going to be making any friends with Russell Simmons and the rest of the talking heads calling for hip-hop to refrain from certain derogatory language, but the kids on the street are going to be nodding their heads to it. Even some 30-somethings that were teens when Redman first debuted in 1992 with “What Thee Album” are going to be secretly bumping it in their cars as they make their daily commute.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 26, 2007. Read the original PDF.