Quiet as kept, Redman’s been working with Drum & Bass producers for over a decade now. Sure that first Roni Size collabo could have been cooked up by a greasy A&R pushing “the next big thing in Electronica” on a perpetually stoned Reggie Noble, but what about those Adam F tracks on the guy’s last two albums? Don’t lemme find out the guy’s a closet Junglist. Maybe it’s just an excuse to hit up Amsterdam.
Said Adam F tracks haven’t been very good which is probably why their latest collabo “Turn the Lights off” flew under the blog rap radar. Thankfully, Dub Police CEO Caspa and the fantastically named Trolley Snatcha rescue the track from its grim fate as a yet another “Let’s get Dirty” knockoff, looping Redman’s rah-rah delivery over brutal synth stabs and bass drops that sound like 2005 era Lil Jon on steroids and amphetamines. It’s a lot easier to enjoy this kind of production when it’s aimed at getting people moshing instead of spending cash on strippers and while Redman isn’t firing on all cylinders here lyrically, it’s nice to hear the guy bruk-out on a track and take some risks instead of spitting on the same funk that’s been his M.O since Doc’s Da Name. A pleasant surprise that has me wondering how we can coax Redman away from old-man rap production and into the modern world. Probably with weed.
Download:
MP3: Adam F & Horx ft. Redman – Turn the Lights off (Caspa & Trolley Snatcha Remix)
