Album: Method Man

Tical 0: The Prequel, Def Jam

Andy Gill
Friday 14 May 2004 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

He seems to have been around for ever, but Tical 0: The Prequel is only Method Man's third album, a remarkably relaxed schedule in hip hop. The years since 1998's Tical 2000: Judgement Day have been spent fulfilling Wu-Tang duties and pursuing other opportunities, notably the Method Man/Redman film comedy How High (a sitcom, Method & Red, is in the pipeline). But it's a long time to be out of the game, which has been changed completely by the rise of Eminem. Maybe that's why Tical 0 sounds a bit dated: compared with Eminem's razor-sharp psychodramas, Meth's routine boasts and lascivious sex-raps seem small potatoes. There are the usual isolated slick lines - "I think that marijuana is just nature's way of saying 'Hi!'"; "Rappers is fightin'/ Like Tyson/ When nothin' else work, I start bitin'"; "When I burn some/ Stick a fork in me, I'm done" - but the contributions of Missy, Puffy, Busta, Snoop and Ludacris are perfunctory, while Redman's chief addition to the se

He seems to have been around for ever, but Tical 0: The Prequel is only Method Man's third album, a remarkably relaxed schedule in hip hop. The years since 1998's Tical 2000: Judgement Day have been spent fulfilling Wu-Tang duties and pursuing other opportunities, notably the Method Man/Redman film comedy How High (a sitcom, Method & Red, is in the pipeline). But it's a long time to be out of the game, which has been changed completely by the rise of Eminem. Maybe that's why Tical 0 sounds a bit dated: compared with Eminem's razor-sharp psychodramas, Meth's routine boasts and lascivious sex-raps seem small potatoes. There are the usual isolated slick lines - "I think that marijuana is just nature's way of saying 'Hi!'"; "Rappers is fightin'/ Like Tyson/ When nothin' else work, I start bitin'"; "When I burn some/ Stick a fork in me, I'm done" - but the contributions of Missy, Puffy, Busta, Snoop and Ludacris are perfunctory, while Redman's chief addition to the sex-rap "We Some Dogs" is the charming promiscuity metaphor: "Take a piss on the tree and then I'm gone." Ultimately, the entire cast is put to shame by the minute-long contribution of Black Ice on "Ridin' For Outro", a stern critique of rap's gun culture, whose elegance stands in sharp contrast to the scatological sex-boasts dominating the album.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in