METHOD MAN – TICAL
(DEF JAM)
It always seemed that
Method Man was the first personality to burst out of the Wu-Tang Clan explosion and lead the
way. With his unique bark and rasp he
turned out to be the member the audience most associated with and the look/persona
easiest to adopt. In other words, he was
the coolest. “The God of Staten Island ”.
Signing to Def Jam was
signing to a real hip hop legacy. As the
various signed solo deals seemingly all with different labels he got the deal
holding bankable credibility.
In case you do not
know a Tical is a blunt laced with sweetness, a joint taken to the next level
of expertise and decadence. And it
probably goes a long way to accounting for the pace of this record. Whereas the indulgence of ODB resulted in a
wild man in a wild state, Meth’s found an unnerving balance of menacing and
tranquil.
Tical is a murky
album. The mix is weird as the clean
beats and soggy atmospherics wheel high in proceedings as a rough collision
occurs that does not necessarily benefit all elements. Also there is a distinct lack of chorus in
many of the songs. It is actually quite
a basic hip hop record. And I wish it
were better but Method Man is one of the best.
“Wu Pa Feng (Casanova
Wong) kills one of his former gang members (Lung Fei) in a duel. Before the duel Lung Fei gives his son Shao
Lung (Peter Chen) a golden plate that the gang is looking for. Shao Lung joins his uncles’ travelling kung fu
show to improve his fighting skills and escape the gang of killers”.
The original Method
Man was a character in the seventies martial arts movie The Fearless Young
Boxer and there is definitely a sparring vibe attached to his being, one of
ducking, pacing and packing a punch. He
was always had a knockout blow in his pocket, just perhaps not necessarily
always the desire to use it.
It begins powerfully
with an appropriate opening sample before the droning “Tical” drops with big
drums and a heavy Hammond hum as weird call backs accompany his laidback and
frightening introduction. It’s a song
that remains in my extended playlist to the day.
Then with that “Bring
The Pain” soon follows as a pulsing and driven declaration of intent serving as
the lead single. It is assured and
confident, explicit in the message it wants to convey.
The big single from
the album isn’t actually on the album.
Hip-hop fans will always know that “Method Man” is his most famous track
but pop fans and MTV viewers had “All I Need”, his collaboration with Mary J.
Blige that came about when Puff Daddy grabbed the track and watered it
down. And that version is the horrific
stump that remains sat on this album.
When a song finds itself reworked so well, there is never anyway back for
the original as Blige’s sentiments are revealed as being some kind of weird gang
thug chant. Whoops.
There is a story how
during the recording of Enter
The Wu-Tang Method Man and Raekwon were encouraged/forced to rap battle by
RZA for the right and privilege to spot over his beats. And from such competition came this track
after it was left off the album. So this
is an off cut.
And while that track
is not necessarily a dud, examples such as “Release Yo’ Self” with its cheesy
take on Gloria Gaynor, do feel a distinct step in the wrong direction. Later things go equally square on “Mr
Sandman” which arrives dead on arrival in spite the best efforts of his friends
(including Inspectah Deck) to shout the shit out of proceedings.
In the end I think it
is “Stimulation” that perfectly displays what is wrong with the record: there
is just too much going on, too much being crowbarred in. Sure it accomplishes the job of being a
rhythmic grind with much motion but then the track becomes muddled by another
layer of samples and an unnecessary female hook that appears in place of a
proper chorus and thus essentially all you have is Meth ranting away like an
angry black version of the Duracell bunny.
Taped onto the end is
a remix of “Method Man” with hollers more thump than the version on Enter
The Wu-Tang, stripped back in a strangely stifling manner. It really should work.
This is one
frustrating fucking record.
Thesaurus moment:
budding.
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