Positive K Says Def Jam President Lyor Cohen Nearly Passed On Signing Redman

BYCole Blake2.4K Views
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Positive K, Redman
Positive K says he helped influence Def Jam President Lyor Cohen into signing Redman.

Positive K says that he's the reason Lyor Cohen signed Redman to Def Jam back in the 1990s. Speaking with HipHopDX for a recent interview, Positive K recalled how the rapper ended up on the label.

“I’m the one who got Redman signed and you can talk to Redman about that,” Positive K told the outlet. “Lyor wasn’t going to sign Redman. Erick Sermon got me on the phone with Lyor Cohen and said, ‘Yo, tell him about Redman.’ I said, ‘Lyor, if you have any brains in your head, you’re signing this guy.’ I rolled a blunt, played the demo and I was riding it around and I was the one who was messing with Lyor Cohen and Erick Sermon with that."

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He continued: “I spoke to Redman. He was at MC Lyte’s house. They were going over some scripts and I spoke to him. He said, ‘I remember. I remember.’ Redman knows what time it is. I’m the muscle man.”

Positive K went on to say he played a role in the signing of Method Man as well.

Cohen has previously credited Redman with saving the now-iconic record label.

Positive K is best known for his 1989 collaboration with MC Lyte “I’m Not Havin’ It” and the 1992 hit “I Got A Man,” as well as having toured with Jay-Z. He recently shared a new single out titled “Nobody" and is touring the U.S. for his comedy routine.

[Via]


About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.
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