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PLAY BEn"ER GOLF with JACK NICKLAU
REDMAN
continued from 81
esteemed ranks of hip-hop col
leagues like Cypress Hill and
N ice and Smooth, all avowed
weed fiends -a fact which hasn't
kept them from remaining at the
. top of their art form.
Born and raised in Newark,
Redman was surrounded by hip
hop from an early age. Many of
his childhood friends, including
Naughty By Nature have gone to
notable careers. He describes his
life as "regular ghetto type. "
"My moms was working, pops
was out," Redman tells. "My
older brother and sister were out
on their own." Redman began
OJing at age ten. "I was an artist
first, and I got into rap because I
was interested in what I saw on tv
- stuff like Grand Master Flash,
and records I bought, and then I
got Into rap by watching my
uncle. He used to OJ for a club, it
was just minor stuff. My moms
bought me my first turntables, and
I learned how to use them."
AT AGE 16, Redman began
making the transition from OJ to
rapper. "I' was down with two
partners," he recalls. "We had a
group called 1 2 + 3, which lasted
for about a year and a half. We
admired Run DMC a lot, we used
. to practice in a mirror, pretending
we were them.
"Then I was rapping with this
, guy named Darryl Victor, who we
called Craig. We were doing little
shows her e and there, we used to
get busy. One night I met BPMD
at this club in Newark called Sen
sations. I was DJing for this guy
named Du, and I went into the
dressing room to talk to EPMD
about Du, to try to get him a deal,
and somebody told them, 'Yo, the
OJ can rap, too.' And so EPMD
asked me to rap, and I said, 'No,
only have one rhyme, because,I'm
a DJ. But they kept saying,
'Naah, go aheed.' .So I kicked it.
And they brought me onstage that
nigbt, and I did the rhyme, and I
got paid on it.
"Brick gave me his number,"
the story goes on, "and after about
a month I called him. Then I went
to his house in Hempstead to visit
and we hung out. But at that time
I was getting into trouble, and had
'gotten locked up. My moms
couldn't put up with it so she kick
ed me out. Then I went to live
with my pops for about six
months, and after six months he
kicked me out. So I called Erick
and.l said, 'Yo man, I ain't got no
place to live.' So I went to live
with him for about two years."
Living with Erick Sermon,
Redman slowly learned the ropes
of the hip-hop industry, from the
ground up. It provided a useful,
behind-the-scenes education into
every aspect from production to
rapping. "Erick would take me
into the studio," says Redman;
"and all this sh-- was brand new
to me. 'I was sitting around writ-
SADE-
ing rhymes. I went out on tour
with him, and I would go out
onstage in the middle of their
show and get paid. I would do a
freestyle. "
Redman made his recording
debut as a rapper on "Brothers on
My J ook, " and also made a cameo
on EPMD's Business Never Per
sonal, their newest album, on
"Headbanger." At the same time,
Redman was busy at work record
ing his own material, and trying to
shop a deal. Eventually, he
hooked up with Def Jam.
"I put in mad work," Redman
says of his career so far. "I mean,
I did the time, you know what I'm
saying? Some brothers come out,
make a tune, and get large, and
don't really put in the time, or the
work in hip-hop, because it just
happens like that. But as for me,
I PQt in the time, I put up with the
bullsh-- and everything, so I hope
I do well for all the work I put ln.
continued from 81
another crisis. "
Listening to new songs like
"No Ordinary Love," "Cherish
The Day" and, "Pearls," one is
struck by the visual aspects of
Sade's lyrics, of the wealth of im
ages that a single track can con
jure. "It's been said that my songs
are like movie soundtracks, ex
cept everybody has a different
film running through their mind."
Collecting ideas in a small
notebook she has carried for ix
years, Sade, often refers to this
journal when composing. "The
song 'like A Tattoo' was formed
from ideas I had' in the book.
Many years ago, I met a drunken '
Viet Nam vet in an Irish bar in
New York. So when 1 became
interested in writing a song about
war, his torie were what I
remembered. "
In the studio, Sade considers
herself omething of a perfec
tionist. "I'm harder on my If
than on anyone else. Sometimes
the music comes easily, other
times it's more difficult. One of
the reasons I take a long time cut
ting tracks i fear. Because one
can't change anything once the
record has been released."
Her favorite track on Love
Deluxe? "I would have to say
'Cherish The Day.' It's often dif
ficult to judge your own material
on that level, but if I were driving
in my car with the radio on and
'Cherish The Day' came on, I
would want to know: 'Who's
th,t?'"
Her languorous ballads bring
our sadness to the surface as her
new urban bl ue cleanse our
ouls, With Love Deluxe, Sade
once again brings tears to our eyes
and smiles to our faces.
"
"
•
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