At the peak of their popularity, Def Jam signed rappers Clifford "Method Man" Smith & Reginald "Redman" Noble release their first collaborative studio album. It's Method Man's third LP, Redman's sixth. Mainly produced by Erick Sermon, it features rhythms from RZA, Mathematics, Reggie Noble, Rockwilder, DJ Scratch and Gov Mattic. Guests are Ghostface of the Wu-Tang Clan, the Wu-affiliated Street and Blue Raspberry, and the "external" guests LL Cool J, Ja Rule, Mally G and Young Zee.
Reggie Noble provides an essential funky boom bap intro, then comes the title track. Dull boom bap, decent, skinny drum machine, funky sample, good delivery of Red & Meth, effective functional hook, but the track doesn't excel due to the rhythm. Erick Sermon doesn't arrive in his best condition, bringing out another simplistic and essential production for "Mi Casa": his rapid rhythm is effective, but it doesn't raise the excellent flow of the two MCs. The EPMD member's third consecutive beat follows: his alternative boom bap is simplistic and mediocre, made for the club, and it's a shame, because Method Man & Redman are capable of making a good track for the club with a decent beat and this is not. "4 Season" is a posse with Ja Rule and LL Cool J on Sermon's fourth beat: his continuous attempt to create alternative beats is deleterious, the drum sounds rusty, drained, old, tired, the sample is almost worse than the drum. LL destroys the piece, Meth & Red not fully inspired, Ja Rule spits as if he weren't there, overshadowed by everyone and not helped by a difficult rhythm.
Praying for RZA's arrival on a 1999 album is a little weird, it means you're not doing a great job behind the keyboards: Bobby Digital's production for "Cereal Killer" is as simplistic as Sermon's, but somehow, it sounds better. Skeletal boom bap, simple, decent drum, decent sample, the beat flows worthily, Meth, more inspired than the first part of the tape, delivers well and turns the piece into a classic, Red completes one of the funniest and most successful cuts of the duo and of the LP. There's Blue Raspberry's melodic voice, sometimes uncredited, singing the hook in the background. Producer Rockwilder pulls out a masterpiece and oust Erick Sermon and RZA as best producer on this Wu-Tang album: his rhythm for "Da Rockwilder" is a masterpiece, alternative boom bap, destined for the club, deep, dark, random samples, skinny, hard, minimal drum. Johnny Blaze attacks with one of his best flows ever, smooth, technical, raw, commercial, fantastic; second verse to Red who completes the song with a sharp, technically clean flow in his crazy delivery. Noble himself decides to cut the other two verses that he and Meth had recorded and keeps the record at two minutes because he didn't like the rhythm. Phenomenal, classic cut.
After two good productions, Erick Sermon is back behind the keyboards at piece number eight: his boom bap is mediocre, simplistic and heavy, mediocre samples, Red & Meth are among the best rappers of the period, but they can't work miracles on every track (the one on the Rockwilder rhythm deserves to be appreciated again). In his choice of beats, Reggie Noble looks like a worse Sermon, and his boom bap for the skit is heavy and mediocre. DJ Scratch tries to pull out the banger in "1,2,1,2": I can't blame him for trying. Unfortunately, his production is bad: hopping, excessively heavy, eccentric, simplistic. On this rhythm, the two MCs spit for five minutes, it's an exhausting track on the worst rhythm of the edition. At attempt number six, Erick Sermon unveils his best musical carpet: fully accessible, light, jazzy-funky boom bap, great samples, mediocre but acceptable drum machine, Meth and Red pull out a naked and raw flow in back and forth, in one of the more accessible cuts of the LP.
RZA goes back behind the keyboards in "Run 4 Cover" and its contribution on this record is similar to a sacrosanct blessing: "36 Chambers", "Tical", "Dirty Version", "Purple Tape", "Liquid Swords", "Ironman", "Wu-Tang Forever", "The Pillage". The two rhythms that The Abbot put into this project wouldn't make it to any of these albums even as bonus tracks, yet here they sound like Bobby Steels is at his finest. There's a chopped and looped melodic sample, regular skinny drum distant in the background, chopped and looped strings that return a semi-noir, mafia-like boom bap, which looks well crafted and manages to hide its simplistic nature quite well, according to myself. This is the only Wu-Tang posse in the project: Street Life enters decently, but he's not memorable, it follows Redman with more energy and personality, then Method Man, unleashes a great quick flow, dope, finally comes Ghostface with a good performance to close the song.
The rhythm chosen by Reggie Noble on the song thirteen is just decent, alternative; good delivery of the duo on a background bordering to annoyance. Mathematics achieves a heavy and simplistic boom bap for "Dat's Dat Shit": soul sample too tight, Mally G and Young Zee don't stand out on a complicated, cheerful and annoying musical carpet. Reggie Noble and Gov Mattic are responsible for the beat of "Cheka": decent beat, poor drum, decent samples, good delivery of Meth and Red. "Fire ina Hole" boasts good boom bap from Mathematics, decent drum, honest sample, solid delivery from Method Man & Redman. The album features three bonus tracks produced by Erick Sermon, probably the best being the remix of "How High", where the two MCs spit hardcore on a midtempo drum and one of Sermon's rare good beats on this LP.
"Blackout!", whose original title was "Amerikaz Most Blunted", which was later changed for commercial reasons, is one of the most famous works of both artists. The production is largely done by EPMD's Erick Sermon, who provides six beats (+ three bonus tracks), and is aided in the construction of the soundscape by his protégé Reggie Noble with three rhythms, from RZA and Mathematics with two productions to head, and by Rockwilder, DJ Scratch and Gov Mattic with a beat each. Overall, the music is a bit of a mess: both the EPMD beatmaker and the Wu-Tang Clan producer are years away from their best projects, Bobby Digital is practically retired, and both don't seem to put too much effort into making these beats. The rhythms sound simplistic and cheap, overly minimal and skeletal, the use of samples I think is minimized here. I wasn't sure about this sentence as I wrote it, so going to check it, "whosampled" places a whole page of samples for this album: at this point, I'm not sure what I actually heard. There is something like twenty samples, and I didn't recognize any of them. In reality, they aren't samples: they are quotes and references to other songs that Meth & Red make over the course of their tracks. So, in the end, a soul song, a jazz song and James Brown's "The Payback" are sampled. End of the samples. The fact that there are so few samples on a nineties boom bap album is disarming.
Part of Wu's second wave of releases, the LP features a few artists from the supergroup: RZA in production, Ghostface Killah and the affiliated Streetlife and Blue Raspberry (uncredited) as guests. Their performance is good, but none do much to impress. Guests are also quite average, with LL Cool J alone bringing in a little more energy than usual. Lyrically, Method Man & Redman are playing, they're having fun, the themes revolve around weed and bravado: the album is made while the two rappers are on tour together and is a party album, a fun record that shows excellent chemistry between the two performers and good rapping, albeit to a large extent, both don't sound at their best.
Released by Def Jam, the album is well received by critics and audiences, reaching third place in the US and Canada and first among rap records, being certified platinum by the RIAA in three months. Solid, fresh, energetic, relaxed and effortless LP, it's considered to be one of Method Man's best albums and one of the few really good ones in his discography.
Highlights: "Blackout", "4 Seasons", "Cereal Killer", "Da Rockwilder", "Maaad Crew", "Run 4 Cover", "Cheka", "Fire ina Hole", "How High (Remix)".
Rating: 8/10.
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