“I remember the first time I got my Tyco Nite-Glow racing track,” Redman tells Rap-Up.com. “I was very, very pleased and happy with Santa.” For a man who no longer believes in jolly ol’ Saint Nick, the “Def Jammable” rhymer grins from ear to ear when relishing over the memory of his once-prized possession.

These days, Red, who drops his seventh solo album Reggie today, doesn’t get too many presents during the holidays. Why? Because the New Jersey native would rather see his family indulge in tearing gift wrap and breaking open boxes than make a wish list for himself. With children spread out from New Jersey to Atlanta, he’ll be busy “doing the daddy thing” when December 25 arrives.

So what would the charismatic rapper ask for if he could have anything from Santa’s sleigh? Read on as Redman reveals five things he wants for Christmas—no illegal substances included.

1. Wave a Magic Wand
I want a magician set. I like magic. I want one of those pro-magician sets too; I don’t want the little ones at Kmart. I want some shit that will teach me how to disappear. I always loved magic [since I was a little kid]. My boy Meth, he love magic as well.

2. Cop New Wheels
I want a new car. I got a coupe and I got a truck. I don’t drive none of that shit though [because] I’m in the studio or I’m always on the road. If I had a chance to get another car, I [would] want an Audi R8.

3. Meet Nicer People
For Christmas, I wish the people overseas that work in the airport were nicer ’cause there are some bastards… If you’re from America and you go overseas… they are some mean motherfu**ers, boy. You could be lost and it’s like talking to a wall. They speak English when they want to. When we was just coming from Russia, my boy was just asking them, “Excuse me,” and they’re like, “No, no, no. I don’t talk English.” Real nasty.

4. Collaborate with a Funky Musician
You know what, I want to do an album with Jamiroquai as a Christmas present. I like his music, I like his vibe. I just think we could do something way different, to the left.

5. Score an Executive Gig
I wish next term I could become vice president of Def Jam. 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 bitch going. What do we do for them?” I’ll try to find that niche.

–Georgette Cline

Redman is up to his old comical tricks in the video for “Def Jammable,” the new single from his seventh solo album Reggie, arriving Tuesday. In the fast-cut clip, the Brick City rapper brings his rhymes to life by acting out his lyrics, misbehaving in the classroom, and trashing his bedroom. Unleash Red’s alter-ego below.

While Redman prepares to release his seventh solo album, Redman Presents… Reggie, on December 7, the New Jersey MC promises fans can expect to hear a slight departure from his earlier works. On the effort, it’s apparent he’s ditched the moniker legions of fans have referred to him by for years, but Red’s playful style is still ever-present on tracks like the fitting “Def Jammable,” where he rhymes choice lines like, “I’m tryna be set for life like a Jew kid, and me not runnin’ the block like a New Kid, that’s like Hov not doin’ Blueprint.”

So wherein lies the difference between the man, Reggie Noble, and the charismatic rapper, Redman?

“The difference [is not about] personality too much, it is just the music,” he tells Rap-Up.com while eating a plate of chicken and rice inside Def Jam’s New York offices. “I wanted to get out of that box of Redman. When you listen to a Redman album, you know what to expect. I just wanted to do something different.”

Previous works, including his 1992 solo debut Whut? Thee Album, bear production credits from the “How High” rhymer, yet, of Reggie‘s 13 tracks, not one features his beatmaking abilities. The decision to focus solely on lyrics was a conscious one.

“I don’t need to be keeping it real with beats no more,” Red explains. “I need some ballpark beats that’s gonna get me in this ballpark ’cause we in a new era now. I was never a sore artist like, ‘Who’s these new ni**as?’ It’s like, ‘Yeah, OK. I don’t have to agree with most of the shit ya’ll doing, but ya’ll are keeping it turning.’”

Rather than come ill-prepared at a time when producers like J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and Stargate are banging out hip-hop’s hottest hits, Red’s preparing himself more on the production tip.

“Instead of sitting back and going against it, I’d rather bring my knowledge into this new shit and do some up-to-date shit that’s gonna get looked at,” he says. “The heat that’s going on now, I need advanced heat.”

With Reggie ready to hit store shelves next week, Redman can turn his attention toward Blackout! 3, the follow-up LP to his 2009 joint effort with Method Man. Busy since October traveling the globe, the longtime collaborators have yet to discuss which producers and artists they’ll tap for the forthcoming project.

“You know what, we didn’t really get into all that,” Red reveals. “We just got home off tour like two days ago from Russia. We still talking about what kind of outlook we want on [Blackout! 3].”

–Georgette Cline

Brick City’s Redman is back on his solo grizzly with the release of the Illmind-produced “Fly,” the street single off his seventh studio album Reggie (Dec. 7). The Auto-Tuned track, boasting a blinding beat packed with Euro-synths, sees the 40-year-old MC justifying his veteran status: “I ain’t rich, but I’m rich off of respect/ You keep listening, ya never hit the eject.”

Take flight with Reggie Noble below.

Download: Redman – “Fly”

Redman introduces us to his alter-ego Reggie on the cover of his seventh solo album (previously titled Reggie Noble 9 1/2), in stores March 30.

The Funk Doc told Rap-Up.com that we can expect Auto-Tune and pop songs on the project. “Reggie Noble don’t give a fuck!” he said. “Reggie Noble is doing the album, not Redman. Let’s get that clear.”

Redman’s alter-ego Reggie Noble is preparing his new album Reggie Noble 9 1/2 for a December release and he’s making no excuses for his use of Auto-Tune.

“I got it on my new album—I don’t care,” the unapologetic rapper, born Reginald “Reggie” Noble, told Rap-Up.com about his use of the pitch correction software. “Reggie Noble is doing the album, not Redman. Let’s get that clear.”

Unlike Redman, Reggie doesn’t care what anyone thinks. “Reggie Noble don’t give a fuck! He wanna do Auto-Tune. He wants to do a pop record. He just wants to do music because he loves music.”

He explained the difference between Reggie and Redman backstage at his show with Method Man and Snoop Dogg last week. “What’s the difference between Reggie Noble and Redman is that this Reggie Noble album is more conceptual. It got concepts on it, it got Auto-Tune on it, it got a pop record on it. I had fun on it. I’m just throwing it out, giving it to Def Jam.”

He will return to rapping under his stage name with his next album, the sequel to 1996′s Muddy Waters, due next year. “I’m taking it back on Muddy Waters II with the hard lyrics, so I’m not losing nothing or missing anything. I’m gaining.”

–Reporting by Tanya Remekie

Is there a hip-hop show that can bring rap back from its sometimes comatose state? Enter Snoop Dogg, Method Man, and Redman, three rappers that took the stage at New York City’s NOKIA Theatre and crushed any critic thinking that hip-hop is dead.

A diverse crowd inhabited the Times Square venue on Thursday night for the “Wonderland High School” tour. Their energy lifted when humorous lyricist Devin the Dude grabbed hold of the mic. Fans experienced his comical rhymes as he revealed his prowess with women was along the lines of “wishful thinking.” To top it off, he even blessed a girl with a “birthday song,” which came off more as a booty call than a call to blow out the candles.

The Dude handed over the mic to HOT 97 jock Peter Rosenberg, who introduced tag team Red and Meth. The two spit out every hit imaginable. After “Lyrical .44,” they blasted “Errbody Scream” and “A-YO” from this year’s Blackout! 2. Then the duo brought it back, way back to 1992 with “Time for Sum Aksion,” which was more like time to get loose, as the audience ate every bar like they were being spoon fed. “Cheka” schooled them like a history lesson, as did “Bring the Pain.”

Then it was Red’s turn to hold it down. “I’ll Bee Dat” rotated (sans average-sized women on stage), while “Da Goodness” brought back old memories, but nothing was better than hearing “I’ll Be There for You/You’re All I Need to Get By,” and Method Man’s famous line, “Excuse me as I kiss the sky” from “How High.” After a tribute to the late ODB with “Shimmy Shimmy Ya,” and Redman giving a shout-out to Verne Troyer (“Hold up! I know that ain’t no Mini-Me in the building!”), the rappers bowed out to let the one and only D-O-Double-G take over.

Accompanied by back-up dancers, an electric guitar, and an turntable, Snoop’s energy spread over the room like smoke, with goodies “The Next Episode,” “P.I.M.P.,” and “Gangsta Luv,” a joint off his new album, Malice N Wonderland. “New York, New York” had the crowd high, but it was The Lady of Rage, with her puffy hair in tow, that really awakened the audience. She blasted off “Afro Puffs” spitting, “I rock rough and stuff with my afro puffs.” She elicited the encouraging chant, “Hey, rock on wit cha bad self!”

With Ice-T and Coco stage right, Snoop busted out “Candy (Drippin’ Like Water)” and “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang,” then paid homage to Tupac with “Hail Mary” and “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted.” The Doggfather treated the ladies to “Beautiful” and “Been Around the World” before bringing Kurupt on stage to rap. After covering House of Pain’s “Jump Around,” everybody got down to “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” The West Coast rap veteran owned the show with his version of Steam’s “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” with a call and response of “Hey, hey, hey, Snoop Dogg.”

–Tanya Remekie

Photos by Nakeya Brown