Fifth studio album, fourth solo, for M.E.T.H.O.D. Man. Production should be done almost entirely by RZA, but due to the limited time available, Bobby Digital only provides six beats, less than a third of the entire project and the rest of the production is signed by a dozen different guys: the affiliates Mathematics and Beretta 9, Scott Storch, Erick Sermon, Havoc, The Chairman of the Boards, Mr. Porter, Versatile and Kwamé. Among the guests, Meth finally decides to give space to the Wu-Tang Clan: Ol' Dirty Bastard, Raekwon, U-God, Inspectah Deck and RZA, together with the affiliates Street Life, Carlton Fisk and La the Darkman, and the external guests Redman, Fat Joe, Styles P, Ginuwine and Megan Rochell.
From the first moment, you can guess that this record is not one of Clifford Smith's best works: intro, there's a skit in the middle of the brothel over a very dark and tight beat created by RZA, then Method Man delivers a few bars. Scott Storch has, coincidentally, one of the best beats on cut number two, an alternate, gloomy, dreary, dystopian boom bap based on a piano loop on which the MC from Brooklyn spits well. Track three has a production made by Erick Sermon, second in rhythm behind The Abbot, with four: alternative music carpet, light-hearted and mediocre, looks like it comes from Meth's previous album, honest delivery but doesn't save a bad rhythm. Havoc of Mobb Deep does no better than Sermon in the next track, delivering a bouncy, mediocre, weak, dirty and ugly beat: they're all productions that sound alternatives to both the mainstream and the underground and none of them seem to work fit with Johnny Blaze's delivery style.
The first skit arrives, then Kwamé's rhythm sounds better than the previous ones, but it's still not good: it's not even enough, its dystopian and dirty boom bap is too bouncy, mediocre and still bad, and from this moment it becomes evident that Meth can't find a decent hook in the middle of some acceptable bar. "Dirty Mef" is supposed to mark a turning point, a highlight, a banger or a hit on this LP: there are Meth and ODB, two of the most talented MCs ever to come out of New York who almost being a duo in the early nineties under Elektra, before RZA convinced the label executives to sign only Boy Jones and bring Method Man to Def Jam. The boom bap made by Sermon and Mathematics is bouncy, mediocre and annoying, it sounds very faintly and heavily cheap and poor, rappers can't work miracles here. There's RZA along with Killarmy's Beretta 9 behind the keyboards for "4:20": raw and annoying production, dark, gloomy, but difficult to digest, Meth pulls out bars together with friends Street Life and Carlton Fisk, but he doesn't create the classic track that the title promises to be.
"Let's Ride" is a West Coast g-funk ballad conceived by Mr. Porter that is the best cut of the edition, surprisingly: it's curious that to have a decent rhythm, Method Man has found himself on a typical beat of the other Coast, there's a functional rnb hook by Ginuwine and a good rap by Ticallion. "The Glide" is a Wu-Tang posse: cheap, weak, poor, avoidable and bouncy rhythm of RZA, which also places a bold jazzy bridge in the middle of the track, Meth finds himself fit and incredibly manages to make this track work. The Chef, La the Darkman and Golden Arms are good too, but none of them make this a banger or anything even remotely essential to a Wu-stan. Second skit, then Erick Sermon returns to battle with RZA over which of the two has gotten worse as a producer: bleak and melancholy beat, the rapper sounds worthily, but not well and the track never seems to want to take off. Sermon again in "Say": this time his choice is better than anything he has provided so far, funky-soulful boom bap finally good, Wu-Tang's MC spits hardcore and builds an acceptable track, musically.
The final part is full of guests and should be the one that flows easiest, instead, it looks cumbersome, out of place and unnecessary. Starting with "Ya'Meen", posse with Fat Joe and Styles P to the beat of The Charmain of the Boards: simplistic and cheap production, random delivery of the trio, weak functional hook, poor cut. On track number 15, RZA places a few guitar licks, a tight loop, and creates an annoying rhythm, totally unfit with Blaze delivery. The record doesn't improve on "Everything", on the dark and dystopian beat of Mathematics, Method Man and Streetlife don't find the formula to bring home a decent cut. Redman shows up in "Walk On" on Versatile's annoying rhythm, on other guitar licks, the song sounds better than usual but is just decent. Last skit, then again RZA, which finds the sixth bad production out of six, one of the worst performances by a producer on a mainstream album. Few guys could have done worse with such a top MC: boom bap with distorted guitar licks, bleak and annoying rhythm, poor hook, mediocre delivery of Meth, Rae and Bobby Digital. It closes what was probably destined to be one of the singles on the album, "4 Ever", where Kwamé draws a very pop soundscape on which Meth delivers with his patented commercial flow, supported by Megan Rochell's soul hook.
Released by Def Jam on a blatantly limited budget, the album garnered positive reviews from most critics and reached the top ten of pop and rap albums. The disc is excessively long, 62 minutes of listening divided into 20 tracks (4 skits): lyrically, Method Man isn't at his best with the main theme of weed, despite the fact that he retains a decent-good flow, and the many Wu guests leave no traces or memorable moments. Musically, it has little quality due to so many simplistic, cheap and weak mainstream beats, it never sounds good, and the hooks pretty much suck at all. Not recommended.
Highlights: "Is It Me", "Let's Ride", "The Glide", "4 Ever".
Rating: 4.7/10.
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