Artist: Redman
Album: Rockafella” 12 inch
Label: Def Jam
Producer: Erick Sermon

Erick Sermon: “Method Man had came, and Method Man had took off! And people put Reggie under him. Even Biggie Smalls dissed Reggie. In one interview, he was like, 'Yeah, I don't like how the new Redman sounds.' He didn't like that album. It was real psychedelic funk. And that threw people back. To me, I didn't see a big change. But people thought it was a big change.

Even Biggie Smalls dissed Reggie. In one interview, he was like, 'Yeah, I don't like how the new Redman sounds.'

“People didn't fuck with 'Rockafella.' He was almost over, until I came back with the remix. The Chronic had messed everybody up. And he started doing 'Rockafella' with the 'G Thang' sample. And people were like, 'What are you doing?'

“The 'Rockafella (Remix)' is what got him back on track. They didn't like the 'G Thang' thing. The 'Rockafella (Remix)' sounded like a Redman funk record. And that's the one that started getting played on the radio, when the remix hit. People had put Redman under when Method Man took off. “The Month of the Man” Def Jam promotion was being pushed, but Method Man had a lot of records.

“But then they came out with 'How High.' And that was it after that. Redman was through the roof. And then came Muddy Waters.

“The original 'Rockafella' version didn't work because it wasn't Reggie. It was the idea of the funk, and I see where he was at, but subconsciously The Chronic was in his head. The Chronic was the biggest album to ever hit in the world, and he came right afterwards.”

http://www.complex.com/music/2012/03/erick-sermon-tells-all-the-stories-behind-his-classic-records-part-1/rockafella-remix#gallery

How did NYC respond to this album when it dropped?