Coming from a crew large enough to start their own baseball team,
Method Man, aka Meth, aka Tical, (nee Clifford Smith) has somehow managed to stand out within the
Wu-Tang Clan as one of the most iconic MCs in the game. He's never been recognized for his profoundly deep lyrics, but rather for his street-bound soul and mischievous wit. It's been a couple of years since Staten Island's Iron Lung set out on another solo quest, but Tical's new brainchild, '4:21: The Day After,' isn't just another drop in the bucket.
With the
RZA's unparalleled touch, and production help from heavy hitter
Scott Storch, Meth is clearly ready to write a new chapter in his recording career. "The national weed smoking day is 4/20, so I named my album 4/21 the day after. Because after that day, you have this moment of clarity when you're not high and you see things clearly," he says of the album title.
This transition is most visible on the album's single 'Say,' which interweaves a clip of the soulful acoustics and vocals from
Lauryn Hill's 'Unplugged' session. "I just felt like I was at the point in time where I needed a song like that. I felt like I was being short changed as far as reviews. I decided to let the people decide," said Tical in a recent Black Voices interview.
BV: It didn't quite work out the first time around, so Flavor Flav is taking another stab on 'Flavor of Love 2.' Last season Brigitte Nielsen made the contestants take lie detector tests, but if you could give a lie detector test to anyone, who would it be, and what would you ask?MM: I ain't seen this season, but I saw last season. Last season was pretty hot. Actually [the girls are] in it to win some type of television time to further their careers, but ok. Who would I give a lie detector test to and what would I ask? I'd like to give a lie detector to George Bush. The question I would ask him is if he really likes Black people. Straight up. I'd get Kanye's question right out the box.
BV: MTV is under fire for the animated series, 'Where My Dogs At.' A recent episode depicted two Black women walking on all fours with leashes, being led around by Snoop Dogg - purportedly a parody of his VMA appearance a few years back. Is MTV promoting negativity or is this just the backlash that comes with satire?MM: It depends on what you view as negativity. Nobody broke those girls' arms to put those dog collars on. And by MTV making a parody of it, that's exactly what it was - a #&*!@$ parody. People act like they can't laugh anymore, you know what I mean? If we can't laugh - we wouldn't even have a George Carlin. People need to lighten up.
BV: Along those same lines; is there a larger problem around how women are depicted in Hip Hop culture, and the larger culture it's reflecting?MM: Everybody act like they hold all these high moral standards. I'm not havin' that. Nobody's perfect. If you can't laugh at your imperfections, you can walk around being a tight ass, but you're the minority. A lot of [people] out there want to see funny #&*!@$ like that. Like with
Dave Chappelle's show, it's all jokes. For anybody to act like they're getting offended by it, it must pertain to them. Straight up. [People are] so concerned with MTV doing a parody, what about Africa where [people are] slaughtering women and children. But they want to know why Katie and Tom ain't showed their baby yet?
BV: What topics would you like to see garner a little more coverage then?MM: [The media is] focusing on the artists so much, why don't they focus on the bloodsuckers behind the artists? See how these fat cats is livin'. After five-year periods these artists are dead broke after being milked for everything they're worth, while these fat cats is still livin' on their high horse, lookin' for the next horse to run that track. They get dental, health insurance, all that. We might as well get the same if we gotta call them our bosses. If we're employees of the company, how come we don't get dental, health and a retirement plan? And we make millions of dollars for [them].
BV: On a lighter note, if you could play any icon in a biopic film, who would it be?MM: Reggie Jackson! Mr. October out this mutha. That's a stand up dude right there. I got a lot of love for Reggie Jackson.
BV: What's coming up for you?MM: More weed... more albums. I laid off the acting thing for a minute. Me and [
Redman] gonna go back in and do
'Blackout 2' after he drops his LP, that's coming in October.
