The day after Redman performed as part of the Roots Picnic Experience: Class of ’95 at the Hollywood Bowl, he visited another iconic L.A. location, the last-standing Licorice Pizza Records store, where he chatted with LPTV after signing vinyl copies of his long-delayed new album, Muddy Waters Too. The fans that lined up and waited to meet the rap legend had waited a decade and a half for his Muddy Waters sequel, which evokes the nostalgia of hip-hop’s golden ‘90s age but also sounds incredibly fresh, even though some of its tracks were recorded years ago.

And Redman also seemed reinvigorated. During the almost 20 years between Muddy Waters and Muddy Waters Too, he’s done a lot of serious work on himself when it comes to his mental, spiritual, and physical health, and at times his Licorice Pizza interview almost seemed like a Ted Talk as he preached about the importance of “accountability, vulnerability, and transparency” — the three words he now lives by.

But along with what Redman called his “journey with self-healing,” our fascinating conversation also covered how ‘90s rappers changed the game; why he waited so long to drop Muddy Waters Too (on Christmas Eve 2024); ageism in hip-hop; his future career aspirations, like finally winning a Grammy, dabbling in electronic music and movie-making, and appearing on his favorite reality TV show, Is It Cake?; and of course, one of the greatest reality TV moments of all time, his legendary Cribs episode.

Licorice Pizza Records was definitely where the all magic happened when Reggie Noble, true hip-hop nobility, graced us with his presence that day.

LPTV: You played the Hollywood Bowl last night. How was that?

REDMAN: Performing at the Roots Picnic was lit. … It actually felt like Cali in the ‘90s and early 2000s. Remember how California was in the ‘90s and 2000s? It was fun. Now it’s more little political, a little bit, but it had that early-‘90s vibe last night.

Would you consider the ‘90s the golden age of hip-hop? A lot of people do. And one of the songs on Muddy Waters Too, “Don’t U Miss,” is all about that.

Yes, I would definitely compare it to that, the nostalgia of it, the fabric of that song. Matter of fact, the whole album is ‘90s feel, as far as the beats, the rhymes, and the sequence as well. I can compare it to last night because the Roots is from the ‘90s. Lil’ Kim, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, my brother Raekwon. You could tell that the ‘90s was one of the most — and I say this onstage too — pivotal eras for hip-hop. The ‘80s was dope, and the end of the ‘70s was dope with Grandmaster Flash, bringing in Run-D.M.C. at the top of the ‘80s. But the ‘90s kind of elevated it and made it a more universal language.

A lot of people thought rapping and hip-hop was a fad, that it wasn’t “real music,” but the ‘90s was when people realized that wasn’t true.

Absolutely, absolutely. It actually started where they didn’t think rap was a fad with Rakim and Big Daddy Kane and Biz Markie and Salt N Pepa and EPMD — they came out and they was like, “OK, this is serious. This is a culture, this is a real genre of music, and now a cornerstone of music.” So, when we came out, it was we more elevated it and made it more universal for people to understand each other, culture-wise. For example, if you went to Asia, they didn’t know the words, they just knew certain words, but they understood the body language and the motion and the feeling of it. So yeah, I’m glad to be a part of the ‘90 era.

The origin of your album Muddy Waters Too doesn’t quite date back to the ‘90s, but you were promising this record around 2013, I think? People have been waiting 15 years for this record.

Actually, earlier than that! I’ve been talking about Muddy Waters Too since 2008, 2007. And believe me, I had the record done, but I was just going through so much personal things with myself that I wasn’t ready. If I would’ve released this album back at the time I pronounced I was dropping the album, it wouldn’t have had this much effect of me dropping it. Now some of the songs on that album is 10 years old.

Yeah, on “Whuts Hot” you say you’re almost 50, and now you’re 54!

Exactly, exactly. I actually turned 55 in April. Aries in the house. But yeah, I actually did that song right before I turned 50, like 48 years old, and songs like “Pop Da Trunk,” that song I did in 2005, something like that. But I’m the kind of guy that it’s a process to my madness, if you will. And that goes from how I do the record, how I put lyrics on the beat, how I cue the record. Also, how I sequence the record, which is very important for artists to know. Young or old, you can have a gang of dope songs, but if you don’t know how to sequence them right for an album, they’ll just get lost and people will say, “Ah, that album was all right.” So, I know how to sequence. And the madness to that is actually having songs that you can pull up like, “Yo, I’m using this song that I did seven years ago, and it still stands the test of time.” So, that’s what this album is about.

It’s an ambitious album. It’s 88 minutes long, it’s 32 tracks, and it’s a double LP. In this streaming era, lot of people don’t listen to whole albums, especially long albums like that. What are your thoughts about that?

I thought about it, believe me. I wanted to make the album no more than 19 songs. but speaking to my boy Rockwilder and… what’s the pop chick name? I forgot her name, sorry. But Chris Brown as well — he had 40 songs on one of his albums [Heartbreak on a Full Moon]. And I was like, damn.

Do you mean Taylor Swift? With The Tortured Poets Department?

Yes, Taylor Swift. She works. She would make an album and then make another album of the same songs, remixed. She works. I admire her team. I admire Chris Brown and his team for doing all these songs. And I was like, “Can I do that in hip-hop?” And my boy Rockwilder, who is one of the main producers of the album, said, “Yo, bro, we in the streaming age. You could put how many songs you want! Don’t be afraid.” So, he pushed me to that. And after watching Taylor Swift work and Chris Brown work, them two right there gave me that confidence to put that many songs on there. And it was able to work because of how I sequenced it. A lot on the comments I got on Muddy Waters Too, a lot of people said, “Yo, I can’t believe that the album is an hour and some. I can’t believe it’s that long. When you play it, it don’t feel like it.” That’s because of the sequence. That’s how important sequencing is.

So, going back to the ‘90s, the first Muddy Waters came out around 1996. Was it always a plan to do a sequel? Maybe this much time wouldn’t elapse between the two, but were there always two parts in your mind?

That’s a good question. Actually no, it wasn’t a plan to do it. After I did Doc’s the Name, I was like, “I’m doing a Muddy Waters Too,” because the fabric of the music started changing. … And then when the music completely switched around far as the sound and the style of it, I was like, “I got to do a Muddy Waters Too to bring that ‘90s feel back.” And what better time to drop the album than before Christmas? … Like, why not drop it when people are at their homes with the family and holidays and stuff?

But you probably messed up a lot of critics’ year-end lists by releasing an album on Dec. 24! Or they’d already turned their lists in and were like, “Damn it, it’s too late to change it.”

You know what? I never thought about that. Only thing I was thinking about was I want that independent Grammy. I’ve been praying for it, and I’m going to get it. I’m saying it here at Licorice Pizza: I’m going to get an independent Grammy. I’ve been praying on it, and I got faith more than the mustard seed, about big as a mustard seed. They say that in the Bible: If you got faith big as a mustard seed, you can make things happen.

Have you ever won a Grammy before?

Absolutely not!

No?

No. I’ve been nominated.

Was it for the Christina Aguilera song, “Dirrty”?

I don’t think it was nominated. [Editor’s note: It actually was, in 2003, for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. It lost to Santana and Michelle Branch’s “The Game of Love.”] Even though that song still brings me money. It still brings me checks like a motherfucker.

It was iconic!

Oh, yeah. Christina’s the best. We just performed in Vegas too. [My other Grammy nomination] was for De La Soul’s “Oooh” [which was up for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 2001, but lost to “Forgot About Dre” by Dr. Dre and Eminem]. That got nominated for a Grammy. But I’m going to win that independent Grammy.

I could see that happening.

Me too. Why not? What the fuck? Hell yeah.

So, you mentioned that Muddy Waters Too took a while to come out because you were going through some personal stuff. It seems like you’ve made a lot of positive changes in your life.

OK, the changes in my life, there are three words I abide by. I say this a lot to people and in the interviews too, because I want people to really get the picture and start learning about self-love, self-awareness, and self-healing. It is the best thing that we can do as an individual. I always say if you want to help change the world, you have to change yourself first. And during that time when I first mentioned I was dropping the album Muddy Waters Too, back in the day, I wasn’t ready. I was loose. I was running all over the place. I was in shit relationships. I was giving energy to things I shouldn’t have done. And it wasn’t until I went celibate for a couple of years and a half and stopped smoking for a couple of years and a half — I call it cutting out the distraction for a better reception — it wasn’t until then when I started to notice, “Hey, I have to be accountable. I have to be transparent, and I have to be vulnerable.” I say these three words in every interview, because I want everyone to get the picture, learn these words, abide by it, add it in your arsenal of life: walking with accountability, vulnerability, and transparency. Now the way I move, I’m not even going back to smoking; it’s been like two years and a half. I went back smoking like last year, and I was smoking little pin joints, but even then I was just like, “I don’t even need it if I’m only doing two quarters.” So, I stopped in January again, and I’m not going back. That played a major role of who I am now: strong mind, strong body,

The biggest thing that we are missing today with people of all cultures, no matter if you white, Black, brown, green, alien, green, there’s a lot of accountability missing with people actually saying, “You know what? That was my fault.” Or even saying, “I don’t know how.” And you can’t blame a lot of people, because of the social media and what it teaches you. The social media is teaching you self-love the wrong way. And it’s not until I realized that and said, “I have to see someone. I have to see a shadow worker.” Anybody might know what that is, do your knowledge, go do your research on what a shadow worker is. But it wasn’t until I started seeing my shadow worker, Rose, and actually working with myself, that I stopped doing this and I started doing this. … I see the world different now, and it plays a part in your music. It plays a part of how you’re living. It plays a part in how you’re communicating with your spouse, with your loved ones, with your kids, with your friends. It really does justice to those areas. I could go on all day about it and rules and regulations and shit I’ve learned, but just learn those three words: vulnerability, transparency, and accountability. And then when you do, add them to your arsenal.

How did that affect the lyrics on Muddy Waters Too and anything that you’ve written relatively recently?

Put it this way. I’m 55 years old, right? I can’t talk about shit I did in ‘97, young dumb shit. Back then you was feeding the people, but you was feeding at a level of, “ young, I’m fragrant, I’m vibrant, I’m having fun, I’m smoking, I got bitches, I got the hot cars.” It’s levels to this shit. Once you get older, you find out that you have more responsibility. And my responsibility is to not just feed myself, but I have to feed my people and I have to feed their soul and their spirit. And I had to share my journey, because there’s no testimony without a test. You got to have a test to have a testimony. … There’s healing in conversation. We are put on this Earth to conversate with each other, to help heal each other from our journeys and what we go through and what we went through. So yeah, I just couldn’t talk shit on this album. I had to share my journey with self-healing, but in a cool way where it’s not preachy: “You should do this and you should do that.” I’ll be the first one to say, yeah, I was a big fuckup. I was fucking everything. I was wilding. I was drinking. But look at me now. And sometimes we need to go through that storm to see the better person than us.

Are there specific tracks on Muddy Waters Too you want to mention that are especially deep into what you’re saying?

One of my favorite songs off the Muddy Waters Too album is “Gheddo Motivation.” And I start off [begins to rap]:

Ayy, haters hoping I flop, losing all of my guap

Understand that I’m a lion, I’m supposed to take what you got

And then you say to your opps

I’m a big dog, n***a, watch

You talk dirty, then a janitor start sliding in with the mop

Pedestrians looking like wow

Like The Rock, I raise my eyebrow

Chicks ain’t fuck with me when I was broke

So oh no, don’t look now

Warrior the way I riff

I feel like everybody hate Chris

Surgical with my freedom of speech

You listening you might get a facelift

Look, I’m an example of what trapping earn

Under table money, tax returns

Cut the cake and split it with the wolves

Jealous n***as, they collapse and burn

Selfish with it, you become the fool

Vulnerable, now women love the dude

One of the greatest writers, like I’m Ye

You feelin’ different?

Who the fuck are you?

Carbon fiber on the whip

It’s a movie, baby, get a clip

This New World Order ain’t shit

And I’m not implanted with a chip

See, I’m talking in a cool mode where I’m rapping, but I don’t sound like I’m preaching. I’m just giving off the knowledge that I know.

That was awesome!

Thank you, thank you.

This is kind of relatively uncharted territory for the rappers that came up in the ‘80s and ‘90s and the fans that came up with them. Are you feeling any ageism, or is ageism in hip-hop less of a thing now? It used to seem if a rapper was over 30,  even, that people thought that was “old.”

Well, here’s the thing. Rock ‘n’ roll don’t have an age limit. Rock ‘n’ rollers are still on tour, rocking. They’re not considered “old-school”; they considered legends. Why can’t we? … New music that came out between 2015 and now, after seven or eight years, they’re calling you an “OG.” I heard a song that just came out two years ago on the radio, and [the DJ] said, “We’re going to take it back old school!” And it was a new song that just came out a year and a half ago! And I was like, “Are you serious?” They’re labeling y’all that quick as old-school?

But do you think it’s changing, now that you and your peers are making music that’s still valid and holds up with the classic discography? I feel like it’s changed. I bet there was a huge turnout at the Hollywood Bowl last night, and I bet it wasn’t just Gen X people.

Here’s the thing. When we came out in the ‘90s, people were complaining about ‘90s artists…like, “Who are these guys smoking blunts with their hair all wild and their sagging pants and this and that?” But what we did for the culture of hip hop, we elevated that shit till we gained fans. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of young guys of the new era that is doing great music, like Kendrick, J. Cole. They’re doing great music that’s staying the test of time. … But I got a lot of younger cats that come up to me that say, “Yo, Redman. I’m 22 years old. You [‘90s] guys are the only ones we listen to. … We don’t listen to all that young, murderous shit. We fuck with y’all.”

So, to refer back to the question about our era, we elevated it. … It left us jobs. It left a whole lane open. In the earlier 2000s shit slowed down for us, but now we’re running shit. We’re back to running. We know the new era got their lane, but we opened up our lane again. We opened up the floodgates again. We’re packing shows. We’re packing stadiums. We’re back on our job.

BET actually said that 2025 was “The Year of Redman.” The year is about half-over now. What else do you have planned for 2025?

I appreciate BET for saying that. I think it’s just more growth with me. I want to do different things. I want to direct. I’m working on a new album as well, and after that I’m going into another genre of music. I want to do electronic music — club-ish, electronic music. I want to take a break from rap and just do some other things. But I guess what I could say besides the business of Redman, trying to grow it as well, I think more growth of myself is what going to stamp this as the Year of Redman. My growth of myself. I’m trying to get myself in the more presence of peace.

I pray. I ask God for what I want. Most of the time when we ask a higher power, whoever you believe in, what we want, we don’t get it. But God puts us in a place where we at peace about it not getting it. Feel me? I used to worry about, yo, I want to make sure I got generational wealth. I want to make a hundred million dollars. Now I’m like, you know what? I’m right where I’m supposed to be — financially, mentally, physically. I don’t need this to stamp me as generational wealth. I want to help break the generational ignorance of the world. I think that’s going to be more of my job, breaking that generational ignorance of some things that I’m still thinking, because I’m still working on myself. Because your reward for overcoming adversity and an obstacle is another obstacle and adversity. It don’t stop. You’re never going to get to a place where you’re just fully healed and like, “All right, I did it. We’re going to have a party.” I think the year of Redman will be more growth and me doing more speaking engagements and sharing my testimony.

You absolutely should be a motivational speaker! But would love I ask you two completely random cheesy questions about reality TV. So, Method Man was on The Masked Singer as Stud Muffin. Did you know that he was going to be on the show?

Oh, absolutely not.

Would you ever go on The Masked Singer? I’m obsessed with that show. They’ve had a few other hip-hop icons compete: Busta Rhymes, Flavor Flav, Wiz Khalifa, Lil’ Wayne.

I would go on there because I’m definitely a character. A lot of people even tell me, “Bro, why don’t you get back into acting?” A lot of people say I should act because I bring a fabric of realness and actually being funny without trying to be funny, if you will. And I want to be behind the camera more, but I will act. … But I’ll tell you what show I do want to go on: Is it Cake? Y’all hear me right now. I love that show. I got to go on Is it Cake? They be having stars on there. I’ll go on that show. That’s my type of flavor.

The last cheesy TV question I have is, I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask about your Cribs episode. I literally don’t remember any other episode of Cribs besides yours. The most iconic Cribs episode ever. It’s the best Cribs episode of all time.

Right? As it should be. Because here’s the thing: At the time they were renting out houses for everyone. I used to wonder how in the fuck everyone’s house was the same: clean, refrigerated, no anything. It wasn’t in character. And when they asked me, first thing they said was, “OK, you’re going to do the show? Yeah, we got a house for you.” I said, “No, that’s not going to be believable. I want y’all to come to my house.” And they was like, “OK, he’s seen the fabric of the show, so he must have a house that’s big.” They got to my house and I know when they rolled up in the neighborhood, it was like, “This don’t look like a house that we want to shoot.” Then they knocked on my door and seen that I lived in a two-bedroom condo. And they came in, and they was like, “Holy shit. OK, guys, let’s have a meeting.” It was like a little meeting because they’d brought equipment to set up and they’re like, “Actually, we ain’t going to need everyone on this set today. We just need maybe two or three people to help.”

And I said, “No, I don’t need to tidy up.” “Shit. Well, your cousin is sleeping on the floor…” “He’s going to stay sleeping on the floor. All you got to do is get the camera, and let’s roll.” I guess they had to make some calls, like, “Well, his house is a little shitty.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that it went like that, but it kind of went like that! I took them around, showed them the house, and it was the most talked-about Cribs episode ever, to this day. And they still thank me to this day.

You kept it real, as you always do.

Abso-fucking-lutely.

Do you still live there?

Abso-fucking-lutely! … A lot of people still ask, “Yo, is your doorbell’s still fucked-up?” I’m like, “I got a Ring doorbell now, you assholes! And yes, that is still fucked-up as well.” My camera doorbell is fucked-up, still. Yeah, I got jokes about it. They appreciate it, though.

You’re obviously great on camera. We are so honored that you came here today. We will get you on Is It Cake? somehow, and we’ll see you on the Grammys next year.

That’s the energy I need. Thank you.