"Time 4 Sum Aksion" is a song written, co-produced and performed by American rapper Redman. It was released on January 12, 1993, through

Rush Associated Labels Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop music, hip hop, contemporary R&B, Soul m ...

as the second single from his debut studio album '' Whut? Thee Album''. The recording sessions took place at North Shore Soundworks in Commack and Ian London Studios in East Islip.

Erick Sermon Erick Sermon (born November 25, 1968) is an American rapper and producer. He is best known as one-third—alongside PMD & DJ Scratch—of 1980s/1990s hip hop group EPMD and for his production work. Early life Erick Sermon was born on November ...

produced the song utilising samples from

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in South Gate, California in 1988. One of the first Latin groups to gain mainstream recognition in hip hop, they have sold over 20 million albums worldwide, and have obtained multi ...

's "

How I Could Just Kill a Man "How I Could Just Kill a Man" is the debut single by Hip hop music, hip hop group Cypress Hill from their eponymous debut album, ''Cypress Hill (album), Cypress Hill'', and was their first major hit in 1991. It was released as a double A-side to " ...

" and

Zapp Zapp (also known as the Zapp Band, Zapp & Roger) is an American funk band that emerged from Dayton, Ohio, United States, in 1977. Particularly influential in the electro subgenre of funk, Zapp were known for their trademark use of the talk-b ...

's "Playin' Kinda Ruff". Upon its release, the song peaked at number 63 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

, number 62 on the

R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (previously known as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay) is a chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the top R&B and hip hop songs in the United States, based on audience impressions from a panel of radio stations monitored ...

, number 1 on the

Hot Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

and number 32 on the

Dance Singles Sales The Dance Singles Sales was a record chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine listing each week's best-selling dance singles in the United States. Its previous names include Hot Dance/Disco 12-inch Singles Sales (1985–1987), Hot Dance Mu ...

charts in the United States. In 2005, the song made it to number 19 on the UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart.

Song information

Reviewing ''Whut? Thee Album'' for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Steve Huey has referred to the songs "Time 4 Sum Aksion" and "Rated R" as "slamming party jams". Its chorus is a repetition of the phrase "time for some action", which is sampled from

's song "

", which itself sampled

Lowell Fulson Lowell Fulson (March 31, 1921March 7, 1999) was an American blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. He also recorded for contractual reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, he was the most i ...

's song "

Tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English '' ...

". Within hip hop it has been referenced by

Common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...

in his song "Sum Shit I Wrote" and

Masta Ace Duval Clear (born December 4, 1966), better known by his stage name Masta Ace, is an American rapper and record producer from New York City. A lead member of Mr. Magic's hip hop collective Juice Crew, he is best known for his guest appearance alo ...

in eMC's song "What It Stand For?". It can be found on the 1995

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

hits compilation, ''Old 2 New, New 2 Old''.

In popular culture

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1985 and 2024. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "the Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson i ...

chose the song as his introduction music for his first fight upon his prison release. *In ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' episode "

The Homer They Fall "The Homer They Fall" is the third episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 10, 1996. After Homer realizes he has a bizarre ...

", the Tyson-inspired boxer Drederick Tatum also uses the song as introduction music.

Track listing

;Sample credits *Tracks 1 to 3 contain samples from "

" written by Louis Freese,

Senen Reyes Senen Reyes (born November 20, 1965), also known by his stage name Sen Dog, is a Cuban-American rapper who is best known as a member of the hip hop group Cypress Hill and as the lead vocalist for the nu metal band Powerflo. He has nurtured a sol ...

, Lawrence Muggerud,

and

Jimmy McCracklin James David Walker Jr. (August 13, 1921 – December 20, 2012), better known by his stage name Jimmy McCracklin, was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. His style contained West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B. Over a career that ...

and performed by

and "Playin' Kinda Ruff" written by

Roger Troutman Roger Lynch Troutman Jr. (November 29, 1951 – April 25, 1999), also known simply as Roger, was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the founder of the band Zapp who helped spearhead the funk movement and infl ...

and Larry Troutman and performed by

. *Track 4 contains elements from "

Soul Power "Soul Power" is a song by James Brown. Brown recorded it with the original J.B.'s (plus Fred Wesley) and it was released as a three-part single in 1971. Like "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and other hits from this period it features ...

" written by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

and performed by Maceo and the Macks.

Personnel

*Reginald " Redman" Noble – vocals, co-producer *

– producer *Charlie Marotta – recording (tracks: 1, 4) *Ken Wallace – recording (tracks: 1, 4) *Ivan 'Doc' Rodriguez – mixing (tracks: 1, 4) *Dave Greenberg – engineering (tracks: 2, 3) *

Tony Dawsey Tony Dawsey is an American mastering engineer at Masterdisk in New York City. He has been active since 1980.1992 songs 1993 singles Redman (rapper) songs Def Jam Recordings singles Songs written by DJ Muggs Songs written by Roger Troutman Songs written by Redman (rapper) Song recordings produced by Erick Sermon Funk-rap songs Hardcore hip-hop songs