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Red Café is in the midst of an industry “Shakedown,” the title of his forthcoming album to be released around Valentine’s Day 2012. The Guyanese born, New York bred rapper is signed to Bad Boy/Interscope now, after short-lived recording stints under Arista, Capitol, and RCA over the years. Still, in person, he possesses the swagger of a man with a long, successful trail of solo and collaborative hits.

His forthcoming project – which he says has something for both the ladies and the fellas – finds Red Café hoping to bring respect and fan support back heavily to The Big Apple’s scene, where rap began some 30 years ago but had languished until recently. In this video clip, flanked by paintings of the late, great Notorious B.I.G., he discusses having no hesitation with signing to Bad Boy under the sometimes-controversial Diddy, along with what he thinks is essential for putting NYC back on the map:

If you’ve listened to any Urban/Hip-Hop radio station in the past month, there’s a good chance you’ve been hypnotized by Red Café’s ballerific anthem, “Fly Together,” with Rick Ross and the track’s producer, singer/rapper Ryan Leslie. The current single off “Shakedown” is steadily climbing the charts, and it may signify how powerful collaborations are almost always necessary to score a hit these days. Here, Red Café discusses the guest stars on his album, why collabos are killing the game, and what else he’s been up:

Red Café’s “Shakedown” is set for release in February 2012 on Bad Boy Records. Follow him on Twitter at @RedCafe.