Dare Iz a Darkside is the second studio album by American rapper Redman. It was released on November 22, 1994, by Def Jam Recordings. The album debuted at No. 13 on the US Billboard 200. The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The album cover features Redman buried in the ground up to his neck, a reference to the cover of Funkadelic's 1971 album Maggot Brain. In addition, the song "Cosmic Slop" shares its name with a 1973 Funkadelic album. The album spawned the two singles "Rockafella" & "Can't Wait".
In 2010, Redman told Vibe Magazine that he never performed any songs from Dare Iz A Darkside in recent years - primarily due to the album being made during one of the dark times in his life. The positive reaction to the album stunned Redman, who said "I was doing a lot of drugs on Dare Iz A Darkside. I have chicks that come up to me and say, 'Yo, Dare Iz A Darkside is my favorite fuckin' album, ever.' I swear, I have not played Dare Iz A Darkside damn near since I did it. Seriously! I was so lost, I was so fucked up during that album". However, during his Verzuz battle with fellow rapper Method Man on April 20, 2021, Redman performed "Can't Wait" for the first time since its single release in 1995.
Dare Iz a Darkside has been regarded by critics as an anomaly in Redman's discography due to its darker, more muted sound in comparison to his other work. Steve Juon of RapReviews described the album as "the most obscure and unappreciated" of Redman's albums in a 2002 review. Writing in 2026, Jayson Greene of Pitchfork calls the album "the one time in his long career that Reggie Noble forgot to be ingratiating", and describes the characteristic features of its sound as "atmospheric" darkness and "clotted and muffled" bass. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic describes Dare Iz a Darkside as having polarized Redman's fanbase, saying that some "admire... its eccentricities" while others find it "too inaccessible"; Birchmeier himself gave the album a mixed review, saying that its production lacked the "trademark funk" of other albums Erick Sermon had worked on. A contemporary review from Music Week found that the production was "sometimes too dense", but was overall positive, offering praise for Redman's lyricism.
In 2025, Pitchfork placed Dare Iz a Darkside at number 78 on their list of the "100 Best Rap Albums of All Time". The website's writer Paul A. Thompson said that Redman "struck a delicate balance between outre zaniness and undeniable chops, ensuring that every joke landed, but that the method of delivery would elicit gasps."
Dare Iz a Darkside debuted at number 13 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and number one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums selling 83,000 copies, becoming his first number one on the chart. On January 27, 1995, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 copies. As of October 2009, the album has 587,000 copies in the United States.
The cassette version is tinted red.
Information taken from Allmusic.