Even in the early days of Wu Tang’s glory, Method
Man stood out to the masses as an emcee of distinction. His deep, raspy voice
complimented his lyrical artillery, and he continuously brought a rugged intensity
to the mic that fans hungered for. He earned the respect of his Hip-Hop peers,
while still effortlessly managing to win over all the ladies with his charm.
After several projects with Wu Tang, a collaboration
with his partner in rhyme Redman, and a trilogy of solo joints, Meth is as hungry
as ever – and he’s not about to let anyone step on his head with regard to his
current wave of commercial success.
Having survived Loud Records’ closing shop and
Def Jam’s changing of the guards, Method Man stands tall in the aftermath of
industry woes. His latest album, Tical 0: The Prequel, has been selling exceptionally
well since its release in May, giving Meth good reason to thumb his nose at
the critics who came out swinging in their reviews of the project.
He has been reaching beyond his music into acting,
both on television and the big screen, and doesn’t show any signs of slowing
down. He took some time at Hot 97’s Summer Jam last week to speak with members
of the press about anything and everything we wanted to know.
[Note: Thank you to the press associates at Summer
Jam ’04 who participated in this interview. Questions asked specifically by
AllHipHop.com have AllHipHop.com.]
Q: What kind of differences have you experienced
at Def Jam since the changeover?
Method Man: I was feeling that before the change.
It’s just different. It’s always with Hip Hop artists that the more you promote
yourself the more they pay attention to you. That’s basically what it is. Def
Jam has always given me exactly what I needed. If I asked for it, I got it if
it wasn’t too outrageous. It’s cool over there – I’m glad to be playing for
the Yankees, but it also has its quirks. You gotta go out there and promote
yourself, or else you’re not on the radar because there’s a lot of other artists
over there.
Q: Is there going to be another Red & Meth
album soon?
Method Man: Absolutely, this fall. Be sure to
go out and get it in August – s**t is off the chain, it’s crazy.
Q: In between the taping of your TV shows, have
you made arrangements to make new music in the studio?
Method Man: Not yet – I’m gonna let this album
ride first, then go back and work on my next joint. Honestly, I was filming
all week on the show and going back and forth to Baltimore on the weekends to
do The Wire. Y’all should look out for me on that too. There’s got to be some
balance to it too. I ain’t mad at comedy, but I don’t like doing comedy, because
people get it twisted.
AllHipHop.com: How many episodes do you have
on The Wire?
Q: Method Man: I’m on two episodes – not much
in the first, a lot in the second. It’s a recurring role.
Q: Are they gonna kill you off like they did
on Oz?
Method Man: I don’t think so. I did an excellent
job I believe, at least that’s what they told me. I got to work with dude that
plays McNulty and the Black dude that works with him. They had me in the interrogation
room, I had to fake tears and all that.
Q: Lil Rodney Cee from the Funky Four said that
when Hip Hop became an industry, that’s when we lost it. What do you feel about
Hip Hop becoming an industry?
Method Man: Well, I think first of all, dude
from the Funky Four is a little soft if he can’t get his foot back in the door
– and I love the Funky Four Plus One More. They should be glad that it’s industrialized
now, because when the right dudes get up in there, they make such a f**kin’
impact that we don’t need the Grammy’s to televise the rap category – because
now the ‘rap’ category is an ‘album of the year’, so it gets televised. It’s
a double-edged sword, because there’s a lot of dudes out there that are underground
or ‘backpack rap’ or whatever you want to call it that ain’t bein’ heard. It’s
for them to step up their s**t and come up out the underground and bring it
to the surface.
AllHipHop.com: As far as the underground right
now, who do you like that really hasn’t got a lot of attention?
Method Man: M.O.P. don’t get a lot of attention
and they should, UGK don’t get a lot of attention and they should. There’s a
lot of dudes out there – you got those street corner dudes that’s just nice
with theirs – they be on those smack mixtape magazine joints – that s**t be
out there. But what they have to do is… those dudes is good for battling
but they can’t make songs.
AllHipHop.com: Are there any of the mixtape guys
that you like right now?
Method Man: I don’t really listen to mixtapes.
I been watching a lot of movies, perfecting my craft.
Q: What about the situation with the movie Soul
Plane? Anything on the rise with that?
Method Man: I’m not salty with Jessy Terrero,
who was the director, but I am salty at the people at MGM for the simple fact
that if that was a movie by David Cronenberg or the big name directors, it never
would have got [bootlegged] like that, and if it did they would have put a stop
to it and cracked down on it. That movie was out two months before it even f**king
dropped, and that’s a shame, and they did nothing to stop it and they knew.
Jesse got the word and he went to them, and they didn’t do anything about it.
The same audience that they’re trying to go after, they’re not paying attention
to them. That’s why a lot of time when you get shows and movies, they don’t
identify with our people all the damn time. That’s when you get those right
wingers – I’m not gonna name their names, but those right wing Black people
that say it’s ‘bafoonery’ and all this other crazy… Let me tell you something
man, we all don’t live like the Cosby’s. For real – all of us don’t live like
Bill Cosby, and the family members that I had that lived like the Cosby’s, didn’t
associate with us cuz we was ghetto. We’re speakin’ for the ghetto man, we gotta
be heard too. The same muthaf**kas that wanna beat us in the head about showing
all this s**t and laughing about certain stereotypes, come around the way for
a minute and see exactly why [we act that way]… cuz it hurts so much when
we’re coming up that you gotta laugh when you get older. They can’t identify
with that. Everbody in the hood ain’t got their mother and father there – they
need to see both sides of the story and stop f**kin’ pointing fingers and judging
us, and start judging all them other muthaf**kas that’s holding them back from
getting their s**t put out there. I understand where they’re coming from, that
there should be a balance. Honestly, the way Hollywood is, you can go at them
with a love drama that has an all-Black cast – they’ll shelf that s**t. You
go to them with a comedy that’s got some rap stars in there, they wanna throw
that out there real freakin’ fast. It’s what it is.
AllHipHop.com: How do you feel about your album
doing so well the first week, and still continuing to do well? Some people thought
you were going for a little more mainstream appeal, if you want to call it that.
Q: Method Man: I don’t know why they call it
mainstream, because if they listen to them rhymes, them rhymes ain’t talking
about jewels and cars – they’re talking about a lot of women, a lot of smoking
– the same s**t I was talking about ten years ago. It’s just that now I feel
my style of emceeing has evolved so much now that I’m a metaphoric freak right
now. Put me up against any of these [guys] in the muthaf**kin game that they
praisin’ right now. I ain’t even gonna say no names, but y’all know who the
f**k it is. Why do people like that s**t? Put me up against any of them, whether
it’s stage, on the mic, whatever man – I’ll show my whole entire ass.