Redman Drowns Competition on Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters album cover (1996, from Albumism.com)

By Nick M.W.

A true wordsmith and rhyme twister, Redman, the god MC, is a rapper’s rapper. His brand of funky street raps come soaked in Cannabis oil, sprinkled with kief, and are ready to get busy. He carved a niche for himself with hip-hop heads and stoners (often the same person) in the early 90s, so when Muddy Waters dropped 25 years ago in 1996, Redman was primed to blow up. This, his third album, proved to be that springboard that helped make Redman more of a household name a decade later, in the early 2000s, and it remains to be the best of his discography up to this point in time. While his follow up, Doc’s da Name 2000, was a bigger commercial success (it’s Redman’s best-selling album), the album ran long, stretched thin by the high volume of skits and a couple of tracks that should have been left off the final cut.

Redman is one of the most consistent rappers from the Golden Age of hip-hop, and yeah, I’m referring to the 1990s as the “Golden Age of hip-hop” with great confidence knowing that there aren’t any other eras in hip-hop that can fuck with the 90s. Biased? Sure. That was my youth, and I have a great fondness for yesteryear, but it’s hard to argue that hip-hop didn’t come out of the 90s in a better place at a time during which so many figureheads and legends of the genre emerged. We know that it started in the 70s and found a foothold in culture in the 80s, but it blew up in the 90s, the Renaissance, when different voices from around the country came together to elevate the culture into the upper echelon. Reggie Noble played a critical role during the latter half of the decade in cementing hip-hop as a viable commercial product. It’s a blessing and a curse when big money gets involved because it usually comes at the expense of the quality of the art. Commercialism might be the death of creativity, but getting the bag has always been part of the game. Muddy Waters is the best representation of Redman’s creativity with language, his energetic persona on record, and his raunchy sense of humor.

“Slammin em in the rope like Shawn Mike.” Redman, Muddy Waters (1996)

That Muddy Waters stood out in a banner year that saw so many classic hip-hop albums drop (check the FFP archives) is quite impressive, but lets give Redman and executive producer Erick Sermon their flowers. Muddy Waters was a unique listening experience. They created something that could only be described as exclusively Redman: intricate and witty wordplay, sophomoric skits that complimented the humor Redman infused in his rhymes, and a lot of references to getting high and fucking. Redman is the funky, nasty party guy who rips bongs and mics, and Muddy Waters is his pure essence. It’s not as accessible to a broader audience in the same way some of his future albums were, especially his all-time classic collab with Buddha-smoking partner Method Man, but it’s easy listening for rap afficionados. Redman’s music isn’t meant to seek out answers to existential questions or even ponder the blight of surviving the projects. He isn’t trying to do anything more than have a good time and spit ill rhymes, and he strikes a divine balance between both on Muddy Waters. This album was the cherry on top of a banner year for hip-hop, and it’s the definitive album of one of the culture’s best MC’s, filling up your brain with supreme octane.

Standout Tracks

“Rock Da Spot”

He’s the Moby Dick of dopeness, and he comes correct on this track, flexing full Reggie Noble Brick City rhyme skills. The opening bars on this track set the tone for the type of ill shit you’re about to hear on this album.

“Pick It Up”

If you find a catchy hook in your rhyme notebook, what the fuck you gonna do? Flip it into the hallmark track off your best album. It’s Redman on full tilt, displaying the zenith of his effervescence and virtuoso rhyming.

“Do What U Feel”

100% on this list because I love Method Man, too. The dueling stoner MC’s are a little subdued on this track compared to the songs they would end up recording in the couple of years following Muddy Waters, so it doesn’t give the listener a true gauge on the type of energy these two bring out of each other, but it does give us another taste of the undeniable chemistry on the mic between Meth and Red.