Clifford Smith
(born April 1, 1971), better known by his stage name Method Man
or Meth
is an American hip hop artist, record producer, actor and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. Rapped in a single called Fuck The Police in 2009 with rapper M-Hor (Michael Hourihan). He took his stage name from the 1979 film The Fearless Young Boxer
, also known as Method Man
. He is one half of the rap duo Method Man & Redman. He won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" with Mary J. Blige.
He is also one of the few rappers to use their intake of breath as part of their flow, creating melodies while inhaling.
He appeared in the motion pictures Belly
and How High
, and had a recurring role on the HBO television drama series The Wire
as Melvin "Cheese" Wagstaff.
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METHOD MAN TICKETS
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Biography
Method Man was a founding member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, has worked solo, with current collaborator Redman, and as a guest rapper on several projects. He has starred on hit singles and albums.
Method Man grew up as Clifford Smith, a youth who was shuttled between a delinquent father in Long Island and a mother on Staten Island, New York. Staten Island — dubbed "
Shaolin" by the Clan — was where he met the men who would eventually become the Wu-Tang Clan. Smith grew up in the
Park Hill projects on the North Shore of Staten Island with his mother and two sisters, one younger, one older. At various times he has claimed to have dropped out of high school in the ninth and eleventh grades, and sold and experimented with drugs. "Reality smacked me in the face early. That's why I don't like to talk about my childhood".
Method Man currently lives on Staten Island. He has a son (born 1996) and a daughter (born 1997). He has another son (born around 2000) and a daughter (born around 2003).
Tical / Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
As Wu-Tang Clan ascended to hip hop stardom, Method Man was always one of the most visible members of the collective. He was one of only two members to get a solo song on the group's debut album
Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers
and he was the first to release a solo album under the Clan's unusual contract which allowed its members to release albums under any
record label (Method chose to sign with rap label
Def Jam). Method Man's solo debut,
Tical
(1994) was critically acclaimed and well received, entering the American charts at #4 and eventually selling in excess of one million copies. He soon collaborated with
Mary J. Blige and
Redman for a series of hit singles, one of which (the Blige duet "
I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need") won a Grammy. He appeared on
Tupac Shakur's album
All Eyez on Me
, on the song "Got My Mind Made Up". During this time Method Man also became close friends with the late
The Notorious B.I.G., and was the only guest rapper featured on his debut album
Ready to Die
. He was featured on a song on
Showbiz and A.G.'s album
Goodfellas
.
Tical 2000: Judgement Day / Wu-Tang Forever
On June 3, 1997 the Wu-Tang Clan released their Grammy-nominated multiplatinum double CD
Wu-Tang Forever
, the long-awaited follow up to
36 Chambers
. The album has sold over 8.3 million copies to date worldwide.
His second solo album was
Tical 2000: Judgement Day
, released in 1998, which was heavily influenced by the
apocalypse theories surrounding the forthcoming end of the millennium, and which featured myriad guest appearances, from his fellow Wu-Tang MCs. The album was certified double platinum. Other guest appearances include
Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes,
D'Angelo,
Chris Rock,
Mobb Deep,
Redman, and brief cameos from
Russell Simmons,
Bishop Don "Magic" Juan,
Janet Jackson, and
Donald Trump. The album sold better than his first fueled by the party track "Judgment Day" and the D'Angelo collaboration "Break Ups 2 Make Ups", earning Platinum and Gold certifications in the U.S. and Canada respectively. Reviews for the album were mixed and its long runtime and abundance of intermittent comedy skits were widely criticized. Producers on this album included Tru Master and the RZA.
Blackout!
Method Man was part of the very successful
Hard Knock Life Tour with
Jay-Z, Redman, and
DMX. During this tour,
Method Man & Redman recorded
Blackout!
, a light-hearted, bass-heavy, profanity-laced, party record with an
EPMD-evoking emphasis on funky beats and the mischievous wit and cool flows and good rhythm of the two MCs. The album reached platinum status quickly, both in the U.S. and Canada, fueled by "Da Rockwilder", "Cereal Killa", "1, 2, 1, 2", "Tear It Off" and "Y.O.U.". This album also featured three previously released tracks on which the two collaborated.
Their success would lead the duo on to star in movies and TV shows, become product spokespersons and household names, but also associated them with marijuana use in the media. The most immediate results of their success was their co-starring roles in the major motion picture film
How High
, their endorsement deal for
Right Guard
, Redman's starring role in
Seed of Chucky
and a short-lived sitcom on
Fox Television entitled
Method & Red
.
The W
/ Iron Flag
/ Tical 0: The Prequel
The Wu-Tang Clan released
The W
on November 21, 2000 and
Iron Flag on December 18, 2001.
The W
received both critical and commercial success for the group, while
Iron Flag
did receive some but not to the effect of
The W
. The efforts earned two more platinum plaques for the Wu-Tang Clan.
In 2004, Meth released his third solo album
Tical 0: The Prequel
, which featured the hit party single "
What's Happenin'" with
Busta Rhymes. Hip hop critics voiced their displeasure with the album, many agreeing that
Tical 0
felt like generic party rap and featured too many mainstream guests, detracting from his own performances. Regardless, this album sold reasonably well and was certified
gold record by the
RIAA relatively quickly, but would not see the platinum success of his previous solo releases. There was trouble even before the album's release when Method apparently complained to the press about excessive interference from Def Jam over the album's beats (Meth supposedly desired more input from Wu-Tang leader RZA). On its release, many fans and critics were taken aback by its strong "mainstream" or "commercial" sound, highlighted by the guest appearances of pop-rap stars like
Missy Elliott and
P. Diddy, two artists that are involved with much different facets of rap music.
P. Diddy was one of the executive producers for the album, although Meth later voiced his displeasure with the final product. "On the third LP, it was suggested (by Def Jam) to bring in Harve Pierre and P. Diddy. Who am I to argue? Puff knows how to sell some records. But that wasn't the direction to go in, and I know that."
[1]
4:21... The Day After
Method Man's fourth album, entitled
4:21: The Day After
was released in August 2006 with a star lineup of producers featuring
Havoc,
Erick Sermon,
Scott Storch,
Allah Mathematics,
Mr. Porter, and, most importantly to Meth,
RZA. This time around, a more focused Method Man went back to his hip hop roots and both hip hop fans and the media took notice. He did an interview on the ItsHipHop.Tv.
[2] Despite this being one of Meth's strongest solo efforts to date, the album failed to do well commercially due to it having no single or video, which Method Man has held discontent towards his own label for. However, he has been touring strongly all over the world to promote the album, and has appeared onstage with fellow Wu-Tang member
Inspectah Deck, as well as New York up and comers
Saigon, and
Gat Murdah. Meth contributed various reasons for the problems between him and his label, Def Jam. While puts most of the blame on personal agendas in the Def Jam offices, Meth did take some blame, himself, for giving into his record label.
In early May 2007 Method Man's camp leaked the street single "New York New York" which became a popular track on the internet.
[3] On August 17, Method Man told MTV he is working on a new album called
Crystal Method
. Confirmed producers for this upcoming album are RZA, Erick Sermon and
DJ Scratch.
Blackout! 2
On March 27,
2007 Redman confirmed on BET's Rap City: Tha Bassment that the sequel to How High
, How High 2
, is currently being written.
In an April 10, 2007
Onion AV Club interview
[4], Redman hinted that there would be a second collaborative album with Method Man, with work beginning in midsummer or early September.
In early 2008, a remake of the Smoothe da Hustler and Trigger tha Gambler classic
Broken Language
was released to the internet by the duo entitled
Broken Language 2008
, fueling rumors of a
Blackout!
sequel coming soon. This rumor was further fueled by the duo while performing in
Gainesville, Florida at the
University of Florida. A
Blackout! 2
LP was scheduled for a December 9, 2008 release but was recently pushed back to the first quarter of 2009. With a new release date on May 19, also a sequel to the very popular
How High
is in the process of being written and is to begin being filmed in the summer of 2009.
Bun B has confirmed that he will guest star on
Blackout! 2
- in April 2009, a single has been released named
City Lights
, produced by
Nasty Kutt [5] Also producers such as Erick Sermon,
Rockwilder and
Pete Rock have announced their presence on the album.
The duo is currently on their
Still High
tour with Termanalogy, the Alchemist, and Evidence of Dilated Peoples.
Controversies
Wu-Tang management
In 2003, Method Man criticized Oli "Power" Grant and Mitchell "Divine" Diggs, the managers of the Wu-Tang business.
[6] "Number 1 on my shit list right now is Divine from Wu-Tang management. He took something major from me that he had no intention of giving back."
[7] Divine is multiplatinum record producer RZA's brother who along with Oli "Power" Grant took over the business end of Wu-Tang around 1997.
Aside from the financial issues, Method Man was unhappy with the decision to bring Wu-Tang into the fashion world for a brief period of time with Wu-Wear, despite the brand being a major money-maker for the group. "When Wu-Wear started making shoes and sneakers and pants, it was shoddy material. I never rocked that shit."
Wendy Williams
In 2006 Method Man had a highly personal and highly publicized conflict with New York radio host
Wendy Williams on
, an internet show on . Williams talked on air about Method Man's wife having cancer, which was something he had wanted to keep private and even her own family members had not yet known about. He said that people who lived next door to him didn't even know, but Williams had dug it up and made it public over the radio.
[8]
Williams also reported rumors that Method Man had even been having an affair with his wife's doctor. Method Man first heard of this while in recording sessions in Los Angeles.
Sean Combs
During a concert in 2006 Method Man criticized
Diddy's decisions on the posthumous
The Notorious B.I.G. Duets: The Final Chapter
album, saying that Biggie never would have worked with some of the subpar rappers. "They got niggaz on that album Big would have never rocked with, for real," Meth said of the album. "Musically, I ain't fuckin' with Puff Daddy".
[10] He also brought up the fact that he was the only other rapper that Biggie chose to have on his debut album
Ready To Die
. He was featured on the track "The What".
Diddy was one of the executive producers for Method Man's 2004 album
Tical 0: The Prequel
, to which Meth later voiced his displeasure on the final product.
Fox Television
He starred in a Fox sitcom called
Method & Red
in late 2004, however after only a short time on the air the show was put on hiatus and never returned. Method Man later complained in the press about Fox's influence on the show's style, claiming that "there's been too much compromise on our side and not enough on their side" and bemoaning the network's decision to add a laugh track. Before the show even aired for the first time, he was telling fans not to bother watching it. He told the newspaper:
“
| This is frustrating for me. I'm trying to keep this show ghetto, and there's a way for it to be both ghetto and intelligent. But it's not going that way.
| ”
|
The law
On Thursday May 17, 2007 Method Man was arrested in New York City on marijuana charges. His
Cadillac Escalade was pulled over at the Battery Tunnel en route to Manhattan, and when he rolled his window down the officer noticed a strong smell of marijuana. "It was like something out of
Cheech & Chong
. He rolls down the window and the smoke would choke a horse," a source later said.
[11] The arresting officer said he noticed two
blunts and a
plastic bag with more marijuana in plain view. Upon further inspection more marijuana was found under the driver's seat. The arrest was made at about 10 P.M. Thursday night near the Battery Tunnel toll booths on Hamilton Ave. in Carroll Gardens.
He was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, criminal possession of marijuana, operating a motor vehicle under the influence and driving an uninspected motor vehicle. He later made many public service appearances to try to make up for it, most notably at
Abraham Lincoln High School in
Brooklyn.
[12]
Acting career
In the early 2000s Method Man began a career in acting. He has had recurring roles in critically acclaimed television shows such as HBO's
The Wire
in which he plays
Prop Joe's nephew
Cheese, HBO's
Oz
as
Tug Daniels,
The Twilight Zone
and
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
. He and
Redman hosted a
pilot on
MTV called
Stung
. He has made numerous appearances as himself on TV shows such as
Mind of Mencia
,
Chappelle's Show
and others.
He plays the recurring character
Drops on
CSI
, a wealthy Las Vegas party promoter who clashes with the CSI team, specifically investigator
Nick Stokes, in their investigations involving his clubs or entourage. His first appearance on CSI as
Drops
was in the 2006 episode "
Poppin' Tags". He resumed the role in the 2007 episode "
Big Shots" and again in the 2008 episode "
Drops Out".
His first prominent role came in 1998 with the film
Belly
along with fellow rappers
Nas and
DMX. He has since added many credits to his name, including roles in the films
Garden State
,
One Eight Seven
, and many others, with starring roles in the feature films such as
How High
and
Soul Plane
. On March 27, 2007 Redman confirmed on
BET's show
Rap City
that the sequel to
How High
was being written. The script for
How High 2
is being written by
Dustin Lee Abraham of
CSI
, who also wrote the first movie. In 2005 Method Man also had a cameo in the horror movie
Venom
, where he played a deputy who shortly into the movie is killed. He appears in the 2008 movies
The Wackness
and
Meet the Spartans
.
Method Man stars in the episode "Snitch" of
Law & Order SVU
as the main antagonist. The episode was first broadcast December 4, 2007.
Method Man has made an appearance in the
Def Jam
series of video games. In
Fight for NY
he voiced Blaze, one of the main characters. In
Icon
, he voiced Gooch, a major character in the storyline. He made a guest appearance in the music video for the 2003 "
If I Ain't Got You" by
Alicia Keys, where he played the role of her boyfriend. He also appeared in
Beanie Sigel's music video "Feel It in the Air", where Method Man played an undercover cop leading an operation against Sigel.
Method Man has fallen back from pursuing more acting roles after the situation with his sitcom on Fox left a bad taste in his mouth,
[13] and now mostly just acts if the project is being handled by a friend of his, as was the case with
CSI
and
The Wire
.
Method Man appears as a hip hop business mogul in an episode of
Burn Notice
.
Method man had a cameo appearance in the 1997 film
Cop Land
as a physically violent fleeing criminal that throws
Peter Berg's character off of a New York rooftop. Method Man has also appeared in the TV drama
Wonderland
, as a patient in a mental hospital and in Meet the Spartans 2008 in the Dance battle
Other work
Method Man appeared in the 1995 documentary entitled
Russell Simmons Presents: The Show
. There is a memorable scene in which Method Man, on a train in Japan, gets into an argument with U-God and Ghostface Killah, over camera time, radio interviews, and clothing mishaps.
In 2006, Method Man appeared on the
MTV reality game show
Yo Momma
in the first episode of Season 1.
He also appeared on
MTV Cribs
[when?].
Method Man is the first of the Wu-Tang Clan to produce a series of
eponymous
graphic novels for
Hachette Book Group USA's imprint Grand Central Publishing
[14] (to be followed by GZA and Ghostface Killah).
[15]
Discography
- 1994: Tical
- 1998: Tical 2000: Judgement Day
- 1999: Blackout!
(with Redman)
- 2004: Tical 0: The Prequel
- 2006: 4:21...The Day After
- 2009: Blackout! 2
(with Redman)
- 2010: Crystal Method
Videography
Filmography
Year
| Film
| Role
|
1995
| Cop Land
| Shondel
|
1996
| The Great White Hype
| As himself
|
1997
| One Eight Seven
| Dennis Broadway
|
1998
| Belly
| Shameek
|
1999
| Black and White
| As himself
|
1999
| Big Daddy
| Man #7
|
2000
| Backstage
|
|
2001
| How High
| Silas P. Silas
|
2003
| Volcano High
| Voice of Mr. Ha
|
2004
| My Baby's Daddy
| No Good
|
2004
| Garden State
| Diego
|
2004
| Soul Plane
| Muggsy
|
2005
| Venom
| Deputy Turner
|
2006
| Hood of Horror
| Himself
|
2008
| Meet the Spartans
| Persian Emissary
|
2008
| The Wackness
| Percy
|
2009
| Sinners & Saints
| Weddo
|
TBA
| Red Tails
| Sticks
|
References
- Method Man Seeks Clarity On New LP, MTV News
- The Breakdown Channel, Onloq
- New Method Man track gets high marks, ''Entertainment Weekly''
- Redman | The A.V. Club
- [1]
- Method Man Talks Beef With Wu & ODB, SOHH.com
- Dear Superstar: Method Man article, ''Blender''
- ''The Breakdown'', an internet show on www.Onloq.com
- http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=5956
- YouTube - Method Man Calls out Diddy
- Phew-Tang Clan! Posse guy in dope-filled car bust
- http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=7105
- Sohh Tv
- Method Man Sounds Off, ''Entertainment Weekly''
- More Comics Coming from Hachette, ''Publishers Weekly'', December 5, 2006