Method Man
Clifford Smith Jr., known professionally as Method Man, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He is a member of the East Coast hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, and is half of the hip-hop duo Method Man & Redman. His debut solo album, Tical, peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and spawned the single "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By", which won Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards. The song also peaked within the top five of the Billboard Hot 100; he and Blige later starred in Power Book II: Ghost, a spin-off of Power.
Method Man has appeared in films such as 187, Belly, How High, Garden State, The Wackness, Venom, Red Tails, Keanu, The Cobbler, and Bad Shabbos. He and Redman co-starred on the short-lived Fox television sitcom Method & Red. He has also had recurring roles in three HBO series, as Tug Daniels in Oz, Melvin "Cheese" Wagstaff in The Wire, and Rodney in The Deuce. Method Man also appeared in the TBS comedy series The Last O.G..
His stage name is a tribute to the 1979 martial arts film Method Man.
Early life
Born on March 2, 1971 in Hempstead, Long Island, Smith divided his childhood between his father's Long Island residence and his mother's home in the Park Hill section of Clifton, Staten Island, locally known as Killa Hill. Growing up in Hempstead, Smith began playing lacrosse at a young age and continues to be a passionate supporter of the sport. He attended New Dorp High School, where he became friends with Remedy. He has two sisters.Music career
1992–1996: ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)'' and ''Tical''
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 and 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 Man chose to sign with rap label Def Jam Recordings, although Elektra Records A&R man Dante Ross initially wanted to sign him around the same time Ross signed fellow group member Ol' Dirty Bastard. Method Man's solo debut, Tical, was critically acclaimed and well received, entering the American charts at #4 and eventually selling in excess of one million copies. That album featured the hit single "All I Need", later remixed featuring Mary J. Blige, which won a Grammy. During this time Method Man also became close friends with fellow New York City-based rapper The Notorious B.I.G., and was the only guest rapper featured on his debut album Ready to Die, on the song "The What". He was also featured on Spice 1's album AmeriKKKa's Nightmare on the track "Hard 2 Kill". In 1995, he was also featured on "Got the Flava" off Showbiz and A.G.'s album Goodfellas. He also appeared on the Batman Forever soundtrack: his track, The Riddler, produced by RZA included a video with clips from the film. In 1996, Method Man appeared on Tupac Shakur's album All Eyez on Me, on the song "Got My Mind Made Up" alongside his rhyme partner Redman, Tha Dogg Pound and Inspectah Deck, whose verse did not make the released album version, although his nickname "Rebel INS" can be heard as the song fades. He was also featured on Redman's 1996 album Muddy Waters on the track "Do What Ya Feel".1997–1998: ''Wu-Tang Forever'' and ''Tical 2000: Judgement Day''
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 6 million copies to date worldwide.In 1996, the movie Space Jam was released. Method Man, alongside LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, B-Real and Coolio released a song from the Space Jam Soundtrack called, "Hit 'Em High". Method Man would go on to feature on LL Cool J's, "4,3, 2, 1" the following year.
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 featured myriad guest appearances from his fellow Wu-Tang MCs. 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. Fueled by the party track "Judgment Day" and the D'Angelo collaboration "Break Ups 2 Make Ups", the album sold better than his debut, earning Platinum certifications in both the U.S. and Canada. Reviews for the album were mixed and its long runtime and abundance of intermittent comedy skits were widely criticized. Producers on this album included True Master, 4th Disciple and the RZA.
In 1997, the Scottish rock band Texas, found some success with their single, "Say What You Want". In 1998, the band collaborated with Method Man and RZA on a remix of the song titled "Say What You Want ", with RZA producing. It was later included in the Greatest Hits album released by Texas.
1999–2001: ''Blackout!'' (with Redman) and WWF Aggression
Method Man was part of the very successful Hard Knock Life Tour with Jay-Z, Redman, Ja Rule, 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 were 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.
In 1999, Method Man featured on Limp Bizkit's song "N 2 Gether Now" from their album Significant Other.
In 2000, Method Man performed Know Your Role which was included on the album titled, WWF Aggression. The song is focused on the popularity of professional wrestler at the time Dwayne Johnson whose wrestling name was 'The Rock' and the main line in the song is The Rock's most famous caption "Do you smell what The Rock is cookin'?".
2001–2004: ''The W'', ''Iron Flag'', and ''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 same extent as its predecessor. The efforts earned two more platinum plaques for the Wu-Tang Clan.In 2003, Method Man criticized Oli "Power" Grant and Mitchell "Divine" Diggs, the managers of the Wu-Tang Clan business. "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."
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."
In 2004, Method Man released his third solo album Tical 0: The Prequel, which featured the hit party single "What's Happenin'" with Busta Rhymes and included guest appearances of pop-rap stars like Missy Elliott and P. Diddy. The album sold well and was certified gold record by the RIAA but did not see the platinum success of his previous solo releases.
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 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."
2006–2007: ''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 fellow Wu-Tang Clan member, 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. 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 toured strongly all over the world to promote the album, and appeared onstage with fellow Wu-Tang member Inspectah Deck, as well as New York up and comers Saigon, and Gat Murdah. Meth cited various reasons for the problems between him and his label, Def Jam. While he puts most of the blame on personal agendas in the Def Jam offices, Meth did take some blame, himself, for giving in to 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.
2007–2010: ''Blackout! 2''
On March 27, 2007, Redman confirmed on BET's Rap City: Tha Bassment that a sequel to How High was then being written.In an April 10, 2007, Onion A.V. Club interview, 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 Smooth da Hustler and Trigger tha Gambler classic Broken Language was released to the internet by the duo entitled Broken Language 2008, fueling rumors of an upcoming Blackout! sequel. This rumor was further fueled by the duo while performing in Gainesville, Florida, at the University of Florida. Blackout! 2 was scheduled for a December 9, 2008, release but was pushed back to the second quarter of 2009, with a new release date of May 19, 2009. Bun B confirmed that he guested on Blackout! 2. In April 2009, a single was released entitled "City Lights", produced by Nasty Kutt. Erick Sermon, Rockwilder and Pete Rock also confirmed their presence on Blackout! 2.
The duo finished their Still High tour with Termanology, The Alchemist, and Evidence of Dilated Peoples.