Redman has been spitting bars for decades now, having influenced no shortage of lyricists to follow his lead — including Eminem, who has often cited Reggie Noble as a formative influence. And even though the modern-day hip-hop landscape has altered significantly since Redman first exploded onto the scene, the legendary emcee has never deviated from the mission. In fact, he continues to emphasize the importance of sharp lyricism, as indicated by his upcoming single “80 Barz.”
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Earlier this week, Redman confirmed that his upcoming track would be arriving this Friday, April 16th, at midnight. He also shared a brief snippet of the onslaught to come, spitting a few of the introductory lines. “Whatup ya’ll, say hello to the champ / make you duck down, learned that out my boot camp,” he raps. “I was a big deal when MJ dated Brooke Shields / now I’m equipped to go Bushwick for the Bills / that boy, I’m the red button don’t press me / and I’m a fucked up dad the way I dead beats.”
This afternoon, Redman shared an additional glimpse at the “Barz” to come, this time drawing from a more intense part of the song. “I don’t lie fool, I shit like I ate an order of Thai food,” he raps, over distorted synthesizers produced by himself and Chris Pinset. “I can give you seventeen syllable haikus / no one seeing Doc, America should think like Erykah Badu / back and forth with the blunt get Aaliyah high / my block push the weight till it’s legalized.”
Given that the average one-hundred bar output tends in to clock in anywhere between five and six minutes, expect a reasonably lengthy track from Reggie’s “80 Barz.” Check back at midnight to catch Redman’s next lyrical onslaught, and keep an eye out for Muddy Waters 2, which currently remains on the horizon. In other Redman news, he’ll be partaking in a special 4/20 Verzuz battle against his longtime friend and collaborator Method Man.