Published on URB

“Now, you know you don’t own a Benz / Yes, I do and chrome’s the trim,” says Redman to himself on ‘Redman Meets Reggie Noble’ a track off his 1992 debut, Whut? Thee Album. Even then, he drew a line between himself and Redman, a boastful blunt smoking, gun-toting rap character who’s nothing like Reggie (besides the blunt smoking part). That was 17 years ago, and now, his new album Reggie Noble 9 ½ caps a career that’s made him known in both rap and entertainment.

Known for his solo records (Dare Iz A Darkside and Muddy Waters) and work with Methodman (Blackout! 1 & 2), Reggie’s been in films and TV, runs his own label, Gilla House Records, and is an admitted workhorse. “I multi-task ‘cause I’m after that paycheck,” he says, which was apparent during our interview as he repeatedly placed me on hold, talked to his agent about the new album and upcoming mixtape, while taking his daughter to soccer practice.

I caught him on a busy off-day to talk about his pre-Redman days, upcoming film work, and other projects in the pipeline. Here’s to Reggie Noble, a rapper who’s never taken himself seriously and who’s built a name through hard rhymes–and an even harder work ethic. “So fuck all you fools out there with a large vocabulary in your sentence / I don’t need that shit to pay my rent with!”

You debuted on EPMD’s Business As Usual? Talk about that history for people who don’t know?
I met the legendary EPMD at a club in Jersey called “Sensations.” I was actually a DJ at the time and was with this other dude. We went to Sensations to see MC Lyte, but once we got there, we saw EPMD backstage and decided to just kick it. My friend told Eric Sermon [that] I could rap, mind you, I was a DJ at the time and only knew, like, two raps [laughs]! But they kept fucking with me, telling me to kick some raps for them. After a few hours of drinking and smoking, I kicked some raps and Eric threw me on stage that very same night! That’s how I got down with those dudes. That’s how everything started basically.

That’s how you linked up with Def Squad?
After that night, EPMD was just a phone call away. We became homies and I ended up living with Eric [Sermon] for some months. When they’d go on tour, I’d come along to carry their bags and shit. Eventually I worked my mic skills up and got to be featured along with Def Squad. Continue reading “Blunt Talk: Reggie Noble Interview” →