No Frills Reviews

The veteran rapper returns with a 90’s throwback; for better and for worse

Almost a decade on from his previous album, the legendary New Jersey star returns with his long-touted sequel to 1996’s acclaimed, Muddy Waters. Don’t worry, you don’t need to hear the first one before you hear this. There’s not much that marks it as a sequel thematically, other than some vague callbacks. Although it perhaps succeeds as a sequel in spirit by re-capturing classic Redman vibes.

Those vibes are very much in the mid-late 90s. Vocally, Redman sounds as good as he did then; still seamlessly treading the line between street menace and class clown, and still brimming with the charisma that brought him to the fore in his heyday. But those vibes also mean falling victim to the same flaws of the original; most obviously, the excessive runtime and the many tedious skits.

Outside of the skits, the quality is consistently pretty strong, with no outright duds (albeit the low-tempo snooze of the Snoop Dogg-featuring Kush comes close). The album’s early run flows effortlessly, showcasing some excellent production from a wide cast, which includes long-time collaborator, Rockwilder, plus Redman himself. There’s heavy-hitters, with the opening punch of Da Fuck Goin On, and a Method Man appearance which brings one of the album’s standouts on Lalala. Producer, Theory Hazit, adds experimental touches with a glitchy, psychedelic flip of the old Wu-Tang/Wendy Rene sample on Ignant. From West-Coast G-Funk to booming Southern rap, there’s a variety of classic hip-hop sounds on display. And those old-school 90’s vibes are in full force with call and response choruses, and an R&B summer jam featuring Faith Evans.

The whole thing is quite admirably out of step with current trends; there’s no cynical attempts to court a younger crowd and the production is mostly unashamedly throwback. But the album can also feel very dated at times; in lyrical content more-so than sound. Don’t You Miss is a slice of empty 90’s nostalgia that slips into old-headed “things were better in my day” sentiment. However, it’s the references that belong in the 2010’s that are most jarring. There’s a “Solange in an elevator” line, a bad Obama impersonation, and a Taken parody (as in the “I have a very particular set of skills” bit from the Liam Neeson film). These perhaps reflect how long Redman has been sitting on some of this material, but it leaves him sounding out of touch.

There’s brief flashes of his thoughts on modern-day rap, with a mumble rap jibe and a call-out of tight clothes. Again, they sound like talking points from a decade ago, but they’re also too vague to register as anything meaningful or at least have the “oh, who’s he dissing” factor. While he occasionally sounds out of touch, it also feels like he just doesn’t really have that much new to say. Dont Wanna C Me Rich is perfectly serviceable as a middle-finger to the haters, but mainly left me wondering who exactly Redman’s haters are in 2025. It’s the kind of track he should have been making 30 years ago, not now.

The album’s runtime does him no favours; things are good when the energy is high and Redman is rapping about money, women, and weed, but there’s just not enough here to sustain 81 minutes. There’s a noticeable mid-album lull as solid tunes like Im On Dat Bullshit and Dynomite suffer from the momentum drifting, and begin to feel increasingly inessential. Although, the energy is recovered, with some of the best moments coming in the later stages. Most notably the banging, Looka Here, and the Rapper’s Delight-sampling posse cut of Lite It Up; packed with NJ stalwarts including Queen Latifah, Shaq, Naughty By Nature, and many more.

Muddy Waters Too is an often enjoyable album which would have been better being about 50% shorter. It’s a low-stakes album that’s been given the packaging of a high-stakes album; a fun 90’s throwback to classic hip-hop that gets slightly lost amidst an overlong 90’s throwback to CD-stuffing excess.

Best tunes: Lalala, Lite It Up, Looka Here

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