Method Man's second studio album, four years after his debut. As with the first wave of Wu-releases, after the supergroup album, RZA publishes his album with Gravediggaz and then it's up to Johnny Blaze to inaugurate the second wave, coming to release his sophomore in the last months of the year. In the spring, it was anticipated by the release of Cappadonna's debut album, still an affiliate at the time. The production is mainly made by the Wu-Elements: RZA decides to step aside and produces four tracks, leaving the field to other beatmakers, including True Master, the major producer of the edition, 4th Disciple and Mathematics. Among the external beatmakers, Prince Paul, Erick Sermon, Havoc, Qu'ran Goodman and the Trackmasters also provide some rhythms. The Wu-Tang Clan collaborates on the disc: Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, Raekwon participate, in addition to the affiliates Cappadonna, Streetlife, Killer Sin of Killarmy, Polite of American Cream Team and Star of Shaolin Soldiers. External guests include Left Eye of TLC, Mobb Deep, Redman and D'Angelo.
A skit heralds the end of the world at the beginning of the new century: Method Man follows people's fear around the year 2000 and makes an album out of it. On track number two, RZA, still able to make rhythms: loaded guns, very dark beat, dystopian, gloomy, skeletal, good. Boom bap with syncopated and poor drum, disturbing and dark samples, pseudo-noir rhythm, Meth follows the beat and delivers one of his best solo works. Final interlude of Cho-Flo, unknown and uncredited guy. Left Eye delivers hook and outro in "Cradle Rock" on a tight and tense boom bap produced by LB da Life Bringa, with hard and pounding drums and decent cheap samples. Calm smooth delivery of Meth on his second battle rap track. There's an interlude of the unknown Booster, uncredited, before Left Eye's outro, in spoken-word. "Dangerous Grounds" features the first rhythm of True Master: gloomy and dark soundscape, dirty drum, decent sample, two verses of Meth, then also Street Life well, before the last stanza of Johnny Blaze.
Useless Skit that anticipates "Sweet Love": perhaps the first really appreciable rhythm of this edition. RZA with his first production went well, but he did nothing excellent. True Master in this track brings out something that's in the vein of RZA 93-96: bouncy and skeletal midtempo drum, chipmunk soul sample without being chipmunk soul, taken from "What the World Needs Now" by Carla Thomas, then starts a vicious cut with Streetlife, Cappadonna and Method Man. Streetlife delivery is calm, relaxed, good, then Cappadonna arrives with his annoying voice: he has a verse but half of his verse seems to be a hook, then he starts, suddenly, without warning anyone. There would be a rhythm under his voice, but he doesn't care: metrically, he's your usual Cappadonna, lyrically, he believes he's in an "Ice Cream" sequel and returns with some of his most inspired "metaphysical lines" ever, giving one pearl after another. He provides so many quotables that even just bringing one back would seem like an offense to all his other lines, it's wonderful. He delivers effortlessly, relaxed, crisp, light-hearted, the fact that he was just an affiliate at the time is still out of this world for me. Compared to them, Method Man seemed at least two-three years ahead, he delivers light-hearted, slow and confident, despite his lyrics leave something to be desired: personally, I prefer Don Cappachino's raw ignorant bluntness. Finally, I notice now that Method Man repeats a line of "Ice Cream" so, this is probably really some sort of sequel.
"Shaolin What" is labeled as a skit but it's a track like any other: dark intro-skit, compelling minimal production of 4th Disciple, dark and tense boom bap, raw midtempo drum, dark piano sample, good flow of Method Man in his unique verse. True Master produces the eighth choice: jazzy boom bap, lively syncopated drum, light and accessible samples, confident smooth delivery, dope, good piece. Skit by Ed Lover, then comes the second rhythm of RZA: boom bap, metallic skeletal vibrating drum machine, alternative samples, experimental frenetic beat. Method Man and Streetlife exchange several short stanzas over the course of the track, with swift and confident, energetic flows, restoring some freshness to a record that's born old. There's still Bobby Digital in the next track: the founder of the Wu-Tang Clan invents another high-level beat, very tight, dark, jazzy boom bap, with string samples and extravagant drum. Method Man releases an anthology delivery, smooth as always and more than ever, dope. It's one of the best cuts on the album, succeeded by a skit.
Track number thirteen is "Spazzola", a highlight not only of this record, but of Method Man's entire career: it has never happened so far, and probably never will again, that Johnny Blaze has more than two official Wu-Tang Clan members in one of his solo tracks on his album. Over twenty years later, it never happened again. In addition to Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa and Raekwon, the cut also features the affiliates Streetlife and Killarmy's Killer Sin. Minimal and skeletal boom bap made by Inspectah Deck, with a cheap drum machine and a decent sample, not very good. Masta Killa offers uninspired, slow, cumbersome, it follows Streetlife with more energy, syncopated, decent. Good calm and smooth delivery of Method Man, offering a long hook at least that's his stanza. The fourth verse is reserved for Inspectah Deck, who hits the beat with a slow, syncopated, decent hardcore style. On verse number five comes Killer Sin to bless the whole project, delivering with an energetic, hardcore, inspired, flowing, dope rapping style. He lights up the whole project, leaving his mark after a few moments. It closes Raekwon, hardcore, smoothness, energetic, with his excellent flow. It's one of the best tracks despite a sluggish first half and a weak beat, overall.
Lyor Cohen's skit, then another skit: with 9 skits on 28 tracks, it was practically impossible not to place at least two consecutive ones, and here it happens. Luckily, the second is one of the best moments of the tape: on a... rhythm? Ok. I don't think there's anything like a beat here, but Prince Paul is credited with producing, then. Whatever it is, here's Chris Rock introducing Johnny Blaze to the next track with at least twenty different names, while he's shot, attacked by dogs and dolphins, and set on fire. RZA and True Master produce "Party Crasher", a simplistic boom bap with decent samples and slow syncopated drum machine, in which Method Man proves he can pull off battle raps like a machine gun. The following song gives Streetlife space again, in a choice that represents Staten Island and Park Hill: Interesting boom bap by True Master, skeletal and quick drum, loops of a few dark and dark piano keys. On this almost noir soundscape, Method Man and Streetlife deliver bars with a hardcore and quick style that's close to being back and forth, burying this runaway boom bap and making one of the best cuts of the edition, if not the best. This track is a real event: it's probably one of the best back n forth songs ever pulled out of the Wu-Tang Clan, the two MCs are practically perfect and the True Master rhythm is fantastic.
"Step by Step" gives me mixed feelings: Method Man delivers slow, graceless, always dope, but chooses to perform too long a hook and Erick Sermon's production is imperfect, boom bap with decent sample coupled with a hard, pounding drum. It's not a track that fully convinces me. "Play IV Keep" is an illegal choice, Wu-Tang Clan & Mobb Deep joint. Havoc's simple boom bap which is as minimal and simplistic as possible: a drum beats relentlessly and sharply from start to finish and there doesn't seem to be a sample or anything else. Johnny Blaze offers bars with a smooth and hardcore style, Streetlife and Inspectah Deck continue with the same verve, eight dope bars each. Then Havoc on his beat, he's at home, sounding much smoother and more comfortable than anyone who has before him. It closes Prodigy, also sharp, smooth, effortless, dope. It follows a Donald Trump skit on Method Man's album, useless as much as the other skits.
Cut number 21 is produced by Mathematics: the beatmaker realizes a hypnotic and magnetizing boom bap, midtempo drum pounding, chopped and looped female soul sample, Streetlife solo with a sensational flow, smoothness, raw, dope, even if his generic lyrics leaves something to be desired: it's a shame, because with a few less bars and better thought out, it could have easily been among the best moments of the edition, instead, it ends up not standing out. "Elements" is a track produced by Inspectah Deck: skeletal and essential boom bap, slow pounding economic drum, decent sample, gloomy, but a little too extravagant, cautious and decent delivery of Meth, who wants to attack the beat from a distance. There's no denying that the boy is generous: he offers two verses each for the guests Star, of Shaolin Soldiers, and Polite, rapper of the Raekwon groups American Cream Team and Ice Water. Both are on their rap game debuts and their respective stanzas sound quite generic with a simply decent and bland flow, adding nothing to this track. Method Man went effortless and light-hearted until the last verse, where he decides to rip the beat with great flow.
A somber, dark boom bap characterizes the following track: supported by a bouncy, dirty, dusty and sturdy drum machine, and good quality samples, Meth spits three stanzas with confident dope flow on a good True Master beat, with a hook from Cho-Flo, uncredited. "Big Dogs" is Method Man & Redman's second collaborative record, or at least one of the first: deeply bouncy boom bap conceived by Erick Sermon, simple skeletal drum, discrete samples, delivery in back n forth between Meth & Red at the first verse, dope, following the Ghost & Rae template. Poor functional hook on a rhythm that I marked as "dysfunctional", then personal verses of Method Man and Redman, with incredible flows, Red is unstoppable on the third, dope, great job. D'Angelo is the guest on track 25, over a Trackmasters ballad rhythm created with Qu'ran Goodman. Slow boom bap, slow pounding drum machine, samples from Marvin Gaye, rnb vibes, D'Angelo's flawless soulful rnb hook, three stanzas by the emcee that delivers with a calm style appropriate to the track, clearly intended for clubs and radios. There's Janet Jackson in the next skit. The passage number 27 is also the last true song of the edition: very tense and frantic boom bap of 4th Disciple and Method Man, messy and essential drum, confused samples, it all seems very random here. The Wu-Tang rapper pulls out two verses, but doesn't sound too good on this beat, before the last skit, in which Russell Simmons closes the album.
Final Thoughts
In production, RZA leaves the keyboards to his students, True Master, 4th Disciple and Mathematics: Bobby Digital isn't the major producer of the edition, replaced by True Master, with six rhythms. It's not the first time this has happened on a Wu-Tang album, the same True Master has already been the beatmaker with more rhythms both in the Gravediggaz sophomore, and in the debut of the affiliate Cappadonna. But somehow, this fact is an event, because it's the first time this has happened on an album by an official solo member of the supergroup: not only is The Abbot leaving the keyboards, here it's also at his swan song. He achieves four rhythms and none are bad. Maybe just "Retro Godfather" sounds excellent, but it's still a long way from the best works that Robert Diggs got used to his listeners in the immediately preceding years.
4th Disciple and Mathematics have two rhythms each, the same as Erick Sermon and Inspectah Deck, while contributing with a production of Havoc, LB Da Life Bringa, Prince Paul, Qu'ran Goodman and the Trackmasters. Method Man is also credited on "Judgment Day", but due to the quality of the track, I don't want to know exactly what his role was there. As Wu-stan, the production is poor, very disappointing indeed: the beats aren't powerful and are more confused than minimal, sure, they maintain a certain level of rawness and roughness, but they're decent at best, sometimes good. They rarely excel: the choice of True Master in "Grid Iron Rap" is sadly the exception, when it should be the rule. The drums are messy, scarce and pounding, while the samples are almost all forgettable: I don't think I've ever heard a sample of a kung-fu movie and this is probably another event that never happened on a Wu-Tang record.
Method Man focuses mainly on braggadocio and battle raps. Almost all the tracks are in battle rap, there are a couple of tracks dedicated to women, some tracks for radio and clubs, but the rest is more or less hardcore braggadocio with very generic thug-gangsta excerpts. Lyrically, the record says nothing for almost 75 minutes: the title refers to the fear of facing the new millennium, but the topic seems to be practically never addressed even by mistake in the first 68 minutes, being approached only in a confused and almost random way in "Judgment Day", which is track number 27, the last one, practically a filler. In spite of the serious lack of originality, ideas and arguments, the MC is at his best in career: it seems like a joke on such a lacking record, but that's it. Method Man doesn't say anything all the time, but he does it in an extraordinary way: his flow is flawless, dynamic, perennially fresh and memorable, nevertheless, he's rarely helped by the music chosen by the producers, and few cuts worthy of his name come out. The choice to put so many tracks and such an exorbitant number of skits is out of any logic: there are 9 skits on 28 tracks and they're all useless, the only one worth mentioning is that of Chris Rock and goes to the memory more for the dolphins than for its references to popular culture and it's also not something you want to listen to every time.
In any case, removed the skits, 19 true tracks emerge from these 28 ones, and there are still too many. On a Wu-Tang Clan album, you expect as many members of the group as possible to arrive: the rappers come from the supergroup, but there are only three, Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa and Raekwon. Three. Three MCs from the Wu-Tang Clan. In two songs. Yes. 28 tracks and there are only 2 where there's another Wu-Tang Clan rapper with Method Man. Funny, right? No? I understand. It's the same number of guests from the Clan that was featured in "Tical", but with less than half of the tracks. And on Method Man's next record, "Blackout!" there will be even fewer guests from the supergroup. The boy has always been independent, but here I think it's quite clear that he wants independence from the group itself and not as a musical artist: dozens of MCs arrive to replace seats in these 75 minutes, among others, friend Streetlife, who's the main guest of the disc with six appearances, makes his way. Inspectah Deck is featured on both the "Spazzola" and "Play IV Keep" posse tracks, while the other guys appear on one track each. There are Wu-affiliates Cappadonna, Killer Sin, Polite and Star, and external guests as Left Eye, Mobb Deep, Redman and D'Angelo. Streetlife proves to be a competent rapper and is a good Method Man sparring partner, while all the others offer solid performance: the only one that disappoints, from my point of view, is Masta Killa, with a subdued performance, although his lyrics seemed to be competent.
Released by Def Jam, the album achieves a great commercial success, reaching second place on the Billboard 200 and the top among rap records: in a month, it's certified platinum by the RIAA. Critics praise the project, fans are more cautious. Overall, the product isn't bad, but it's not great: born as one of the most ambitious records of the hip-hop season, it stops in the middle, may have attracted new listeners, but it certainly disappointed with its commercial and overly pop-oriented nature, as well as its exaggerated abundance. It's not up to the debut, but it remains one of the best projects made in career by M-E-T-H-O-D Man.
Highlights: "Perfect World", "Dangerous Grounds", "Shaolin What (Skit)", "Torture", "Suspect Chin Music", "Retro Godfather", "Spazzola", "Grid Iron Rap", "Play IV Keep", "Big Dogs", "Break Ups 2 Make Ups".
Rating: 7.3/10.
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