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Redman Still Lives In His 'MTV CRIBS' House On Staten Island
By
Scott Heins
Published Oct 21, 2017
Modified Apr 8, 2018
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By
Scott Heins
Published Oct 21, 2017
Modified Apr 8, 2018
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The dollar box lives on! In an interview Friday with Hot 97's Ebro in the Morning, legendary New Jersey MC Redman confirmed the hopes of so many nostalgic hip-hop heads: he still lives in the modest Staten Island house he flaunted on MTV Cribs back in the day.
“That’s what the hell I live in,” Redman told Ebro Darden. “I like staying in the hood. I tried moving to the more white area, but I found that every night I was getting harassed by police. I feel comfortable in my environment.” That environment is an unassuming two bedroom two bathroom featuring a home studio, an extensive VHS collection, and, of course, the "dollar box," a shoebox full of singles that Redman goes back to when he needs cash for bread and juice. Here, let's review:
http://atv.aazah.com/sites/atv.aazah.com/files/videos/original/fef%20%28Low%29.mp4
The episode's guided tour through Redman's crib has become arguably the most-beloved installment of the entire series, and was brilliantly examined in a 2015 Thrillist piece that features input from the show's producers, camera operators, and Redman himself. "This is what an apartment look like when a brother doing his album, or he ain't run off to the hills and buy a big crib away from the hood," Redman said during the episode, just before praising his favorite brand of boxed frozen fish fillets. "This apartment is right in the hood, and it's nice!"
“I wanted to at least clean up a bit, since I ain’t have any real furniture in there and shit,” Redman told Darden of the segment. “I thought I had a little bit of time and I didn’t. When they knocked on the door I was still sleepy-eyed and they were like, ‘You know what, this is good, let’s just roll with it. You just get back into bed and we’ll make it like we just disturbed you,’ and we played it right on out from there. Not too much setup, not too much dialogue to go over. We just winged it.”
"I wouldn't know what to do with a big house," Redman said Friday morning. Neither would we, pal. And now, for your weekend listening pleasure, is "Da Goodness":
[h/t Mass Appeal]
Tagged
de la casa studio
dollar box
mtv
MTV Cribs
Redman
staten island
wu-tang clan
Scott Heins
Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.
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