Redman doesn't plan to count on Def Jam Records

By: Yves Erwin Salomon

Redman is planning to release his new album, Red Gone Wild, in late March or early April. The first single from the project is "Put It Down" but according to the rapper that can change. He told MTV.com, "I don't know how everybody else does it, but Def Jam is working like whatever gets played on the radio is your single. It's just like, if I got a record that I ain't even want to be the single, but if the bi***es gets a certain amount of spins, that's my single (and) video. Another thing is they don't shoot videos off the bat no more. They wait till you get spins, then shoot. ... I know everybody is waiting to see, 'Let's see what Def Jam is going to do with Redman,'because other artists were complaining that the promotion was bulls**t. You know the routine."

The rapper added, "I'm not gonna be the last man standing. I'd look like a fool saying, 'Def Jam didn't do this for me, that for me.'I'm self-sufficient, self-owned. These last four years, I've been going on the road my damn self, shaking hands. Letting people know this is coming out."

Redman recently released a new mixtape, Live From The Bricks.

Redman's first three albums -- 1992's Whut? Thee Album, 1994's Dare Iz A Darkside, and 1996's Muddy Waters -- were all certified gold for sales of 500,000 copies each. The rapper's 1998 set, Doc's Da Name 2000, was certified platinum, and its follow-up, 2001's Malpractice, was certified gold.