Thursday, February 22, 2007

Redman to release "Thee Album"

After a six year break that has won him success and worldwide recognition in major feature films, network and cable television in the U.S. and U.K., video games, cartoons, and of course mix tapes - chronic Def Jam Recordings core artist Redman gets right back in the game where he belongs.

RED GONE WILD - THEE ALBUM, with productions by Erick Sermon, Scott Storch, Timbaland, Rockwilder, and special appearances by Red's cousin Method Man (of the Wu-Tang Clan), Erick Sermon and Keith Murray (with whom Redman performs in the group Def Squad), Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, and Biz Markie, will arrive in stores March 27th. The release follows Redman’s two-day visit to the legendary South By Southwest Music Conference & Festival in Austin, Texas, March 16 & 17th.

The album launches with its first single pick, "Put It Down" produced by Timbaland, which ships to radio on Monday (Feb. 19th) and impacts at Urban radio formats on Feb. 26th. Production details of the "Put It Down" video and its premiere date will be announced in the weeks ahead. Early buzz on the album began weeks ago when the album's cutting-edge, anime-inspired artwork leaked to the internet.

RED GONE WILD - THEE ALBUM is the long-awaited follow-up to Redman's last album, the RIAA gold Malpractice (released May 2001), featuring the singles "Let's Get Dirty (I Can't Get in Da Club)," "Smash Sumthin'," and "Diggy Doc." That same year, Redman joined Method Man for one of the all-time great stoner comedy movies How High (which led to his co-hosting the High Times Stony Awards last year), and writer-director Lawrence Page's "Statistic: The Movie." In 2002, Christina Aguilera enlisted Redman to join her on one of his biggest career moves, the worldwide #1 single "Dirrty," subsequently nominated for a Grammy and three MTV VMAs.

Over the next few years, Redman kept busy on a number of high-profile projects, starting on tv with "Stung," which he co-hosted with Method Man, which evolved into their FOX sitcom together, "Method & Red." Redman was a character in video game ("True Crime: New York City"), appeared in an episode of the British version of MTV's "Cribs," and was a rapping voice-over in two episodes of Nickelodeon's animated series "The Fairly OddParents" (entitled "School's Out: The Musical").

Last year, Redman jumped into the mixtape ring with Volume 2 of the Ill At Will series, entitled BC4: Straight Outta Lo-Cash, presented by his Gilla House crew and featuring Red’s collaborators Govmattic, Saukrates, Icarus, and Melanie. One track, "Da Banger," featured Jay-Z and R Kelly in the mix.

The pride of Newark, Redman (Reggie Noble) broke into the pro ranks when EPMD's Erick Sermon discovered him in a New York club, and premiered Red's witty freestyle and hard, P-funk-influenced beats on EPMD's third Def Jam album, 1990's Business As Usual. Redman was quickly signed to the label and his debut was released in 1992. Whut? Thee Album made #1 on the R&B chart and was certified gold after a string of hit single tracks: "Blow Your Mind," "How To Roll a Blunt," "Time 4 Sum Aksion," "Tonight's Da Night," "Rated R," and "I'm a Bad." This early success led hip hop magazine The Source to name Redman the Rap Artist of the Year for 1993.

1994 brought Dare Iz A Darkside, the first of four more Def Jam albums over the next seven years. It was another gold #1 R&B seller (#13 on the pop side). The enigmatically-titled Doc's Da Name 2000 was released in 1998 and became Redman's first platinum album (#1 R&B, #11 pop). He went public with Def Squad on 1998's RIAA gold El NiƱo (#1 R&B, #2 pop), and then collaborat­ed with Method Man on 1999's RIAA platinum Blackout! (#1 R&B, #4 pop). Malpractice arrived in 2001.

Over the past decade and a half, in addition to all the above mentioned artists, Redman has also worked across the spectrum with such names as 2Pac, Canibus, Cypress Hill, De La Soul, D'Angelo, Gorillaz, Dru Hill, Jodeci, Beverley Knight, KRS-One, LL Cool J, Me'shell Ndegeocello, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Offspring, Scarface, A Tribe Called Quest, Conway Twitty, and Wyclef Jean. To name a few!

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