Method Man was a surprise guest during a recent 38 Spesh show at Sounds of Brazil (SOBs) in New York City. But the Wu-Tang Clan legend got a little surprise of his own when he spotted Hip-Hop’s favorite anchor, MSNBC’s Ari Melber, in the crowd.
Melber shared a video of the shout-out to his Instagram account on Friday (September 27). In the clip, Method Man says, “Ari Melber in the muthafuckin’ house. How are you brother? That’s what I’m talking about. Hip-Hop in the muthafuckin’ house.” Speaking to AllHipHop, Melber gave a quick synopses of how it all went down.
“It was completely organic and random,” Melber begins. “I was at a spot in the West Village and my friend was visiting Oh do you wanna do more Hip-Hop? What would be fun in New York? I was like, ‘We can go to SOBs. that’s not like my every week type thing. He’s like, ‘I’d love that!’ He’s visiting from Seattle.
“We pull up to SOBs and it’s the suual local acts, like 38 Spesh and random acts. But then Method Man pops out for one song. That’s New York, and then I guess he saw me in the audience. It was really the most organic way it could have happened [laughs].”
Of course, situations like that have become regular occurrences for Melber. In January, Benny The Butcher and Jadakiss teamed up for “Pillow Talk & Slander” featuring Babyface Ray. Taken from Benny’s Def Jam debut, Everybody Can’t Go, the track included a shoutout for Melber.
MSNBC producers highlighted the line in a video—”They know my body/I’m on MSNBC talking politics with Ari”—and include a clip of Benny’s appearance on The Beat with Ari Melber.
“Benny and Jadakiss are as real, independent and dope as MCs get, so this shoutout means a ton,” Melber told AllHipHop at the time. “Benny has said it don’t always feel as good as it looks — but this did! Bananas. And real Hip-Hop has always been about truth. Same for real journalism, so there can be a mutual respect there.”
Dave East also mentioned Melber in November 2022 on the track “Eyes Can See.”