New Jersey emcee Redman is one of the East Coast greats. Beginning his career as a DJ for Lords Of The Underground, Redman (real name Reginald Nole) was discovered by Erick Sermon of EPMD and debuted on the duo’s third album, Business As Usual.
The musician made a name for himself quickly and, following the level of notoriety and success he managed to attain during the 1990s with projects such as Dare Iz a Darkside and Muddy Waters, Redman shifted his position at the turn of the millennium.
In the late-90s, as one-half of the duo Method Man and Redman, the emcee also became known for his incredible acting following his role in the legendary stoner-comedy film How High. However, he still continued to make music under the radar.
In 2009, Noble and his partner in crime, Method Man (real name Clifford Smith), released a sequel to their 1999 Blackout! entitled, Blackout 2. The two wrote and recorded the album on their tour, and in an interview with MTV, Smith explained, “A lot of it was written during the tour and the Canada tour. We came home and went right in. Within a month, month and a half, we had some solid joints.”
Noble added, “We’re more advanced now than the first one. We went in, had fun. I have my own studio now, so it’s more relaxed. I engineer now. It ain’t no rush for time, paying the studio and engineer. It’s fun. We treated [the album] like a mixtape, really. If we really got in there and sat, it’ll be a beast. But it’s a beast now, and we treated it like a mixtape.”
The first track released by the two was ‘A-yo’ featuring Saukrates, which contains a sample of the Phyllis Hyman song ‘Magic Mona’. The pair revealed this track was also written on tour.
During his conversation with MTV about their single ‘Mrs International’ Redman, strangely revealed, “It’s a record we’re dedicating to the women, whether you’re fat, ugly, skinny…it don’t matter. You’re all beautiful inside. ‘Miss International’ is a state of mind.”
