Fresh Pair is back with another customized set of kicks for a guest who confirms one of hip-hop’s longest-held urban myths. In this week’s episode, Just Blaze and Katty Customs ask Redman about the rumored longer version of his and Method Man‘s 1999 hit “Da Rockwilder.” Notoriously, the song ends with the “La-la-la-la” ad-lib after just two verses clocking in at two minutes and twenty seconds, but in what has long felt like the ultimate case of Mandela Effect, many hip-hop heads are convinced they’ve heard a longer version with extra verses.
Just decides to get to the bottom of this, asking Redman straight-up, “Why did y’all not release the full version ever? Because I know it exists. I heard a longer version at the office — once.” Obviously, he’s referring to the Def Jam office in New York City, where Red and Meth were signed at the time and where Just, then just starting out as a producer, would show up to drop off beats for Def Jam artists (namely, the ones on Roc-A-Fella Records like Jay-Z).
“First off, I wanna thank you for clearing up 20-25 years of history of debating, ‘Was there a longer version of ‘Rockwilder?’” Red laughs. “I told them it was. I’m a big fan of editing. It was dope, but it didn’t resonate the way it did if I hadn’t cut it.” They go on to discuss how well the song works in a live environment as a result of the edit but Just laments not ever having the longer version — and producer Rockwilder’s insistence that no longer version exists. However, when Katty asks whether Redman has the full version on his phone, his answer is definitive.
You can watch the clip of Redman and Just Blaze discussing “Da Rockwilder” above.