**** REDMAN, “Muddy Waters,” Def Jam

If maverick basketball star Dennis Rodman were a rapper, he’d probably sound a lot like Redman.

They both thrive on creative chaos, Rodman in the middle of the paint clawing for rebounds, and Redman in the recording booth, delivering abstract exhortations on everything from the state of the world to why he’s the sickest rapper on the planet. Both use their wild, flamboyant, sometimes schizophrenic personalities to set themselves apart from the pack, loving the fact that their peers consider them off-kilter. But when the smoke and the hype clear, the two are among the best there is at what they do.

Beneath the New Jersey rapper’s intoxicated ravings is the complex mind of a metaphorical genius who uses language as a playground. “Muddy Waters,” his third album, is filled with moments where he completely flips the script of his rhymes, sometimes abandoning structure altogether to express himself by rolling around in the dirt with his rhymes.

Instead of watering down Redman’s erratic brilliance, producer Erick Sermon creates masterful rhythm structures that allow the rapper to exercise his offbeat phonetic techniques without injuring himself. Redman rips through the brooding “Rollin’,” the eclectic “Soopaman Luva 3” and the laid-back “Do What You Feel.” On the last, Redman and Method Man trade verses, the former thrashing raw and the latter floating on top of the track, the epitome of mellow flow.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good), four stars (excellent).