Redman On Def Jam’s Lack Of Respect, “A N*gga That Helped Build This B*tch [Has] A Visitor’s Pass!” [Video]

Written By S. Samuel

Rap veteran Redman has discussed his frustrations with Def Jam Records and questioned, specifically, why he must be issued a visitor's pass in order to enter the building.

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Despite his publicized issues with Def Jam buzzing via the Internet over the past month, Red said he does not dislike the label as a whole.

“I never had a beef with Def Jam,” Red said in an interview. “When I came in the game under Def Jam, I was brought [in] under an umbrella. That umbrella was building an artist. That umbrella was servicing the underground culture as well as pop. It wasn’t just, ‘Okay you have to be this kind of artist just to get serviced or to get any kind of help.’ Any kind of help from Def Jam back in the day, it was appreciated…They’re not servicing to the pop culture and also the underground culture as well. There’s not a staff in the building that says, ‘Okay, we got our new artists but who’s handling the main artists?’ It shouldn’t be just ‘new artists, new artists, new artists’… I feel that’s what’s going on right now — I know we more viral now as far as Internet…I love them and I don’t have no beef, you just have to take it back to your old plans and that’s the only thing I say.” (Vlad TV)

Red further explained his aggravation with his position as being an influential asset to the label’s current success, yet treated as a “visitor” upon entering their New York City office building.

“I got a f*cking visitor’s pass, okay,” Red added showing his Def Jam building visitor’s pass. “A n*gga that helped build this b*tch, I got a visitor’s pass. Visitor. It ain’t no, ‘Redman’s in the building, one of the main motherf*ckers that helped us surface the whole label,’ I got a visitor’s pass. And that’s the kind of attitude I want stopped. I should be able to catch my own f*cking elevator up here if I want to. It ain’t about who’s hot and who’s not. It’s about who helped you build to get the people who’s hot. I can actually say I wasn’t ‘just’ an artist at Def Jam. I was an asset. You don’t want to just be an artist no more, you want to be an asset for the company…I wouldn’t never say Def Jam is a bad company. It’s the greatest company in the world but when I see slack on they part that’s gonna help this company forward, I’m not just thinking about me. I’m thinking about the rest of the dudes up here, the artists that are coming in.” (Vlad TV)

Earlier this week, Red said he would accept an executive position at Def Jam to help solve the company’s internal problems.

“I wish next term I could become vice-president of Def Jam,” Red revealed in an interview. “I would try to conduct business in a business manner, but I would also try to find that niche that Def Jam has been missing to control the whole artists and make all the artists happy. You can’t have unhappy artists over here and happy artists over here. It’s just not working. So I would definitely sit down and try to plan, ‘OK, what can we do? We have our pop artists over here, we have our new artists here, but then we have artists here that been keeping this b*tch going. What do we do for them?’ I’ll try to find that niche.” (Rap-Up)

Last month, Red discussed the legendary label’s inability to maintain its industry dominance.

“Well [now], Def Jam are not leaders. They’re not leaders plain and simple, because it’s changed. They’re not leaders like they used to be. In the ’90’s they were leaders. They were the label that you considered the mechanics of hip-hop; they’re under the car. They were the ones under the car getting greasy, getting dirty, fixing that muffler that drags when everybody loved that sh*t and was following it. Now they’re playing the follower. They’re followers, they’re not building artists no more like they should. And that’s just the game. It’s not they fault. We got into the Internet world and sh*t is moving fast and came so fast and came so quick that labels couldn’t exist, but still they got the money and they’re a company. They’re supposed to adjust. I think they need to get that going. Being a label, being on top.” (XXL Mag)

Check out Redman speaking on Def Jam below:

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Written by S. Samuel

Steven Samuel is the co-founder of SOHH.com.

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