This is for all my marijuana smokers, backwoods, swisher sweets, and dutch rollers!
Posted: May 21st, 2009 | Author: Choppa | Filed under: reviews | Tags: blackout! 2, method man, redman | No Comments »album review: method man & redman | blackout! 2
Def Jam, 2009
Rated: 3.5/5
In Hip Hop, as in life, time marches on. Generations of stylistic movements are measured in individual years, and next-big-things become has-beens in less time than it takes to release consecutive albums. Still, like alligators or sharks, some acts seem to defy time, living fossils of eras gone by that still manage to be relevant year after year. Meth & Red are certainly beloved by their audience, but their respective transitions to elder statesmen of rap haven’t been completely smooth. Method Man never quite recaptured his mid-90’s magic with subesquent releases in his Tical series, and while Redman has fared slightly better in the quality department, his output has been sporadic at best in the last few years. With that said, this album ambitiously attempts to pick up almost exactly where the first Blackout! left off. Could they, collectively, push on unchanged, and still make passionate, high quality hip hop in the same mold they used over a decade ago? Thankfully, yes.
On the mic, Mef & Red have changed almost exactly zero since they dropped, and that’s just fine. The pop culture references have been updated, and a few new tricks have entered the reportoire, but it is still the same instantly recognizable pass-the-mic dynamic, with all the standoffish boasting and flatly delivered punchlines. If you were expecting a lot of thematic diversity, you apparently haven’t ever heard a Method Man or Redman record. They do a few things exceptionally well, and stay more or less in their lane for the entire set. They have not lost a step in all this time, though, and still have snappy, energetic delivery as they smugly drop punchline after punchline, and continue to puff on weed. Guest appearances, from Bun B to Keith Murray, all add to the album, but the Raekwon/Ghostface feature, “Four Minutes To Lockdown,” is the best of the bunch. True, Iron Lung & Doc haven’t expanded their reportoire in all these years, but they still make it work, and that is commendable.
Production on the album bears similarities to the first Blackout!, but it is overall not quite as dark or low-fi. RZA’s hand is notably missing in this regard. Still, chunky underground bangers abound, and many of them are quite good. “Errybody Scream” and “Dangerous Mcee’s” fall into this category, rocking grimily along as Meth & Red growl over them. Funky offbeat soul, showing Red’s influence, makes a few appearances as well, the best example being the wah wah guitar, vibes, and flutes on “Father’s Day”. Pete Rock laces the first single, “Ayo,” with some soul as well, and it is one of the better cuts on the album for it. Something brand new for the pair was the southern-fried “City Lights,” a Bun B feature. Using a Pimp C vocal sample for the hook, they manage to pull it off perfectly, and give a slowed down swagger to the dark beat. They even flirt briefly with the most cringe-inducing stunt in current hip hop, autotune, and manage to make that an asset too, if only in a small dose. Still, there is no “Blackout” or “Rockwilder,” and that is the one way in which the original Blackout! is clearly superior to this album.
Meth & Red managed to dust off their old formula, and found that happily, it still works. They have successfully proven themselves living hip hop fossils from the 1990’s and seem very content to have done so. The album lacks a standout track (or tracks) to take it to classic status, but it is a very solid set, and any Method Man & Redman fans would be remiss not to add this to their collection.
Method Man & Redman | Dis Iz 4 All My Smokers
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