Method Man goes in on his acting, cartoons and smart dumb cats who read rumors. As for Wu-Tang; we tried.
As a founding member of the legendary Wu Tang Clan, Method Man was originally considered the stand out star of the nine man crew. His break out hit “M.E.T.H.O.D. Man” from their classic Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) debut instantly put him under the Hip-Hop spotlight. He would go on to be a credible solo artist in his own right; garnering a couple of plaques for the work he put in. Now fast-forward to the present and the landscape has changed for Meth.
Mr. Tical’s last two albums, Tical 0: The Prequel and 4:21…The Day After, went under the radar receiving little fanfare. Furthermore there is an apparent disruption in the Clan with some of the members crying foul about the group’s current creative direction. Still, Hot Nicks pushes on as his verses on 8 Diagrams and Ghostface’s The Big Doe Rehab suggest despite his Hollywood hustle, his rap darts still reach their mark. Ironically, in this game where your words are your livelihood, Method Man had very little to share with regards to the WTC n. But his choice words still weigh a ton.
AllHipHop.com: Tell us about your recent role in Law & Order.
Method Man: In the Law & Order episode I play a street thug and basically he beats someone to death in front of everybody in the neighborhood. He’s sitting back on the fact that you know snitches get stitches, and don’t snitch and all of that. Somebody actually steps up and says they witnessed it and they’re going to testify against them. So what they do is kill his wife. The cops go to investigate and find out he’s a polygamist and he has more than one wife and he gets arrested. So the neighborhood is like, S**t, if we do tell we go to jail and if we don’t…it’s basically about snitching and the people that snitch and s**t like that. It’s like you can’t trust the cops and you can’t trust the n***as you snitching on.
AllHipHop.com: Speaking of the snitching controversy, where do you stand on that?
Method Man: I’d rather leave that alone man. I got no comment on that.
AllHipHop.com: Okay, let’s bring things up to speed. What are your feelings on the new Wu-Tang Clan album 8 Diagrams?
Method Man: I don’t have anything to say about that either. No comment.
AllHipHop.com: From listening to 8 Diagrams and The Big Doe Rehab it seems like you have a newfound hunger. You really went in on those tracks.
Method Man: I’ve always been like that. People never took the time out to listen. Being an artist you go to do different things, you go to grow. I felt like my audience is basically trying to stagnate my growth. Because all of my new stuff that I was trying was just that, new stuff, I couldn’t stay in the same era that I was in. I was growing. There were so many different things that I wanted to try. Some people stuck with me, other people it is what it is. The people that stuck with me, it’s no surprise to them. People in the industry dramatize things like I’m hungry now, no I’ve been eating well for a while now.
AllHipHop.com: There are rumors that Raekwon is putting together a project called Shaolin vs. Wu Tang. In his displeasure of the production on 8 Diagrams, this will feature Wu-Tang but with no RZA production. Any comment on that?
Method Man: You won’t get me to talk about that either. That’s all Raekwon right there; you got to talk to him about that. No comment.
AllHipHop.com: Another thing that has come to light is that some of the members have had issues with the finances within the group. Have you ever experienced any of that?
Method Man: No comment. Let’s talk about something else dude.
AllHipHop.com: Sure. Let’s take it back to Hollywood. What else you got going on the big screen?
Method Man: I got a movie called The Wackness that just got picked up by the Sundance Movie Festival. It’s a movie starring Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, and Mary Kate Olson is in it too. She has a kissing scene with Ben Kingsley, so they making a big deal out of that. But the movie is basically a coming of age flick where dude is graduating from High School and he’s having all these problems at home. He’s seeing a psychiatrist who is also one of his customers because he sells weed. Ben Kingsley is his psychiatrist is a f***ing drug addict. I’m the dude’s supplier. So I play a Jamaican weed dealer. It’s pretty cool, I think I’m going to surprise a lot of people.
AllHipHop.com: Almost all your roles depict you as a street thug or as a pothead. Don’t you worry about being pigeonholed in those stereotypical roles?
Method Man: I don’t care about that s**t. I just don’t want to be pigeonholed into the comedy s**t because they tried to keep me in that for a while. Luckily I got a good agent who’s gotten me in The Wire, The Corner, OZ; looking out for me and trying to get me these drama roles. So now I got a chance to show my range and basically show people I go beyond rapping. I think I’m pretty good at it but I have a lot to learn. When I can walk on the set and rewrite a scene, then I’m on. That’s what dudes like Deniro do. They get scripts and can just demand rewrites. I also got a comedy called Meet The Spartans coming out in February I believe. It’s done by the same people who did Date Movie.
AllHipHop.com: So will you be leaning on doing more acting rather than rapping in 2008?
Method Man: I’m just going wherever the wind blows. If I need to be in the studio then I’m going to the studio, if I get these calls for movies then I’m going there. Like I didn’t audition for Law & Order, not that I don’t like the show, it’s a great show. It’s just that Ludacris is on that show and I’m not trying to follow behind any other Rap dudes like that. But these people called and requested me.
AllHipHop.com: In your opinion what’s the best show on TV?
Method Man: I would say the The Wire but that doesn’t come back on until next year. The best show on TV is Family Guy. That sh*t is funny as hell. They off the wall and they f**k with everybody; South Park still my s**t too, though. Butters is my favorite character on South Park. Butters – Doctor Chaos. I got to give ya’ll compliments on the site. AllHipHop.com stays on top of the grizzly man but ya’ll put a lot of hack s**t up there too.
AllHipHop.com: What do you mean?
Method Man: Ya’ll be on some bulls**t sometimes.
AllHipHop.com: Well this is your chance to speak your mind. Air it out.
Method Man: Like some people be putting up half truths and s**t like that. That’s hack s**t right there son.
AllHipHop.com: Are you referring to Illseed’s rumor section?
Method Man: Yeah, that’s hack s**t right there for real. That be f***ing with people’s lives. Ya’ll should put up a disclaimer on there. Because there are more dumb people than smart people in this world and they take that s**t as a gospel. But I’m giving ya’ll a compliment on your site, ya’ll do ya’ll thing and I like your site.
AllHipHop.com: Thank you. Anything else on your mind?
Method Man: Nah, I’m good son.