It has been almost five years since Redman released an album. However, that does not mean that the Funk Doc cannot steal the show on prime-time TV. Red’ lit up the 2015 BET Hip Hop Awards cyphers with a Def Squad appearance (flanked by his mentor Erick Sermon and longtime collaborator Keith Murray).

With EPMD turntablist/producer DJ Scratch behind them, the Def Squad finds themselves in “full cooperation” during the second cypher of the show. E-Double opens things up, kicking bars over an ageless Beanie Sigel beat about his longevity, a $1.7 million Def Jam Records contract in the ’90s, and hits in more than three decades. Keith Murray plays clean-up, with a versatile flow that aims to put naysayers from his recent Fredro Starr battle in a new place. However, it is Red’ who shuts it down in the middle of the lineup. Touting that he is now fully independent, Redman’s bars involve punchlines about keyboard acronyms, owning his status as a favorite rappers’ favorite rapper, and Def Jam reconsidering how they treated Funk Doc after his 2015 South By Southwest crowd reaction. He says he chose the beat too.

With Muddy Waters 2 still on the horizon line, is Redman sharp as ever?

Oh, and it should be noted that Keith said he wasn’t his sharpest in this month’s battle, for a good reason.

Related: 10 Things You May Not Know About Redman. This Quiz Will Stump Even His Biggest Fan.