The Breakfast Club - Method Man Talks Hip Hop Authenticity, Greatest Rap Crew Of All Time + More

Episode Date: June 12, 2023

Method Man Talks Hip Hop Authenticity, Greatest Rap Crew Of All Time + MoreSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you ever say that? Andre Harrell really did that. No, he didn't. Andre never had an original idea in his fucking life. No, I'm playing. Let's go. Here we go. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha Guy. We are The Breakfast Club. We got a legend and icon in the building. I gotta spell it out.

M-E-T-H-O-D. When do they stand in interviews? It's all love. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? When do they be here in interviews? Oh, you ain't got no shame? She said she ain't got no shame. Sis.

So, Charlamagne, we were having a conversation before you walked in. Yes, sir. We were talking about our annuals and going to the doctor and this, that, and the other. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I was telling, we were talking about colonoscopy. Got one. And the ladies in the room was like, yeah, they put you out. And I'm like, yeah, it was one of the best

sleeps ever, right? It's the same stuff they give Michael Jackson. They tell you that before they do it. That's exactly what they said. I didn't want to say their names,

but shout out to Trey Watt. But, Matthew said, they put you to sleep. They never put me to sleep. Right. Impossible. Right.

Because I didn't know what the subject matter was. He never got a colonoscopy. He got a prostate exam. I got you, got you, got you. I don't think I've had a prostate exam. You had a prostate exam. No, I had the colonoscopy. He got a prostate exam. I got you, got you, got you. I don't think I've had a prostate exam.

You had a prostate exam. No, I had the colonoscopy. The two fingers. You had a prostate. As a black man, we're most acceptable to prostate cancer. I mean, I got mines checked the first time at 44. You're supposed to wait until you're 50, 45, 50. No, it's 45 now to get a colonoscopy.

You got to go get a colonoscopy. No, it was 50, it was 50. They just changed it to 45. It's 45. You got to get a colonoscopy. That's when they stick. It was 50. They just changed it to 45. 45. You got to get a colonoscopy. That's where they stick the tube up your butt. All right. And they look around for any polyps.

Ah. So for the uninformed, it's basically to make sure you don't have cancerous tumors. That's right. Correct. Because if they catch it early, it can save you. You don't have to go for another 10 years. So they know that you're free of cancer for 10 years. So let's say if you don't, what are the symptoms of?

You might not have a symptom. Yeah, I mean, the people that I've known that have lost their lives to it, rest in peace, my man Combat Jack, he, by the time he went, he was stage four. But he did say he thought that his stomach was getting bigger, but he said he thought it was because he was drinking and he wasn't eating. He's bloated. It could be blood in your stool. It could be a bunch of different things.

Sorry to talk about it today, but we got to make sure you go to the doctor. Absolutely. Absolutely. But you can get blood in your stool from straining too hard, right? Correct? I never got blood in my stool. To be honest. I haven't personally.

I don't know. I can't believe we're having a conversation with Mef about health when he is absolutely positively probably one of, if not the most healthiest person in hip-hop. But now I'm informed about getting a colonoscopy. I'm not going to look into it. I have to get it done. Absolutely. That's something I have to do.

When did you get so happy in the workout game? I've been watching you for years on Instagram, but what made you do it and win? It's been about 10, 11 years now. 10, 13, 100 years now. I don't know. It started with insomnia for me, and I now. 10, 13, 100 years now. I don't know. It was more or less, it started with insomnia for me

and I had a membership, but I never really used it. I would go sporadically, you know, here and there, on and off, like a lot of people do. But something just clicked in me and said, you know what,

let's go see what's up with the gym. It was about four in the morning. I was having all this insomnia and it was open. So I started going. I had already had like my own program that I was following that my trainer had gave me previously. So, you know, one, three days started turning into four days,

and four days turned into a month, and months turned into, you know, years. And my journey's been pretty good, man. I had some good people around me helping me along the way as well. The fact that it's four in the morning, you don't have to worry about people in the gym bothering you. You're kind of quiet and alone. You know, it was a little community in there, about five or six people that showed up every morning. And they kind of welcomed me with open arms after they saw me.

About the first month. You got to at least show up for the first month. Then they're like, okay, this guy's serious. And, you know, I was getting tips and things. And, matter of fact, later on, when I found a workout partner, which is great for anybody. You should always find a workout partner because they keep you honest and you keep them honest as well. From there, that's when the journey really happened

because up to that point, I wasn't even, like, following a strict diet regimen or anything of that sort, you know, because I was that uninformed. But over the years, having a workout partner and being around these people that were dedicated to it, picking up tips and things of that nature, yeah, definitely turned me into a gym rat. Did you slow down smoking at all?

No. I wonder about that because you were always the OG weed guy. Like you, Snoop, Brad. Yeah. I mean, that's a nice little lane to be in and stuff. But I always said I had so much more to offer and I would hate to be just identified as just that. The weed guy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I mean, I think I've done a pretty decent job of that. No, that's an understanding. Absolutely. It's interesting because they got the BET's greatest rap crews of all time. Right, right. They got Wu-Tang versus Death Row. I'm not disrespecting Death Row in a way to perform.

I love Death Row and everything that they represented. I just don't know how it came down to Wu and Death Row. Death Row is not a rap crew to me. For me, it's Wu and OutKast. That's the greatest rap groups of all time. But Death Row is not a a rap group to me they're not around their crew they're labeled yeah they're late and i think that's what they judged a lot of it based on as well i mean you got to really think about it those are groups you know death row but it was groups within groups especially with a wu-tang clan especially with the way we came in the game as a group with the option to sign a solo artist.

So, yeah, it kind of makes sense. And I'm just humbled and honored in the same breath because, you know, Death Row, they were out, what, three years before we even dropped? About three years before we even dropped, and we had heard nothing like that before from the West Coast. I mean, I was a big NWA fan, you know, but other than that, everything else kind of slipped through the cracks. Even MC Hammer, you know, that, everything else kind of slipped through the cracks. Even MC Hammer, you know, for a minute,

he even slipped through the cracks because we didn't really gravitate to Hammer like that. He even knew it, you know. It was more or less like, you ain't hitting in New York, Hammer. I'm going to turn this mother out, and he turned his mother out. He did exactly that.

But, I mean, to be up against those guys, it's honor because, like I said, they put it down like i had never heard anything like snoop or corrupt dad's rage any of them you know that um what was it uh stranded on death row was the record that was the first thing that i heard from them and i was like who in the this dr gray from nwa wow now you guys are ready how do you develop a relationship with them well hold on i'm gonna tell people they already defeated. How'd you develop a relationship with them? Well, hold on. I want to tell people they already defeated, you know, because we were talking about Cruz. They defeated Good Music, Rough Riders, Juice Crew, G-Unit, and Death Row has defeated YMCMB,

TDE, and NWA. So now the last battle is Wu and Death Row. And the Posse and Hydroglyphics. Yeah. They were in there too. Yeah, absolutely. I love Tyro. The last battle is Wu versus Death Row And the voting

Can start right now So how can they vote Let me ask the people In the back How can they vote Go to BET.com That's Kim Osorio's voice BET.com slash vote

If you want to vote And today is the deadline Correct Yeah Today is the deadline Slash go vote Slash go vote BET.com slash go vote

I mean vote Wu-Tang Vote Death Row vote with your heart you know what i mean like i said it's just happy to be in the same space with that greatness right there come on man why y'all wu-tang man i get it i get it but you know like i said humility is is always gonna be my go-to in situations like this you never want to make things bigger than what they actually are. You let other people do that for you. How did you develop that relationship?

Because you had that relationship with them because you was on Mind Made Up with Pop. Yeah. That was weird because it was because I had a relationship with Snoop and Dog Pound. I mean, I had Snoop in my forerunner, Uptown. Wow. You know what I mean?

We went to the gate, and I swear on everything I love, each time I ever went there to drag, I put my money through the slot, and he give me the weed, and I bring Snoop. He opened the door. I'm dead serious. Ask Snoop. Snoop can vouch for this.

Let us in. Yeah, babies running around. I'd never been in this gate before. Like, oh, shit. So this is what it's like. Well, yeah, was this doggy style Snoop? Yeah, doggy style Snoop. Wow.

So $800,000 one week, $800,000 another week. Wow. And Snoop was in the hood in Harlem. Yeah, no security. Dog pound was with us, too. Before the beef, though, what the so-called East Coast West Coast. Yeah, yeah. Well, it wasn't really no, we know.

Those who are informed know it wasn't. But the funny shit was when we get back in the car, corrupt look at the shit was like, yo, cuz, this shit got sticks and seeds in the car, corrupt look at the shit, was like, yo, cuz, this shit got sticks and seeds in the car. They ain't know about that choco. They ain't know about that chocolate and shit. It probably was some whack weed now that I think about it and shit, man. Shout out to Benny Ratt, B-Ratt. He the one that put me on to that spot.

Remember Benny? Yes, I know, I know. So how did the record come about? Well, hanging out with the, you know, each time. God bless the dead. So how did the record come about? Well, hanging out with the, you know, each time they came to the East Coast, I'd hang out with them. When I came to the West Coast, vice versa. You know, Daz came and scooped us up.

We went to Daz crib, smoking, he had some records, he was just playing some shit, and we just spit on it. The original song had myself, that's corrupt of course red man specter yeah I think that verse just got released but I don't know if it's a yeah I can't tell from the story that I heard through the interviews um Pac was like the record too long anyway take that shit off there no disrespect to debt but it was more or less like he's thinking I got red man at Bedford bed or this record fuck that let's chop it right there the shit too long took rage

off the record but I'd never actually recorded with Park the same way I did with big when I recorded with big Tracy wait was in the background she came and scooped me Tracy came to school me and I wasn't supposed to be doing the record so I kind of snuck and went and did it. Why was he supposed to do it? Because you were sorry? Well, you know, no, no, it was more or less because Wu-Tang, RZA, the plan was, if we get hot, we keep the money in the family first,

then we'll build what everybody else wants to wear. Right, you know what I mean? And you got, like, your hottest artist in your group at that point in time going to do all the records. You know? I did it twice, too, by the way. I did the What with Biggie, and then I went and snuck and did How High with Redman.

Two of the greatest hip-hop rappers of all time. I'm just saying. So wait, to break it down, so Tracy picked you up? Tracy picked me up to take me to the studio to do the What with Biggie Smalls that day. And me and Puffy played Torch. Y'all remember that, right? Yeah, we definitely played Torch.

I got his ass good, too. I think I did that. What was Puff Torch? What the hell was he doing? I can't even remember. definitely played torture I got his ass good too I think I did what was puff torture what the hell I can't even remember he was just saying I don't know it was

I don't know it was a lot of I don't know I can't remember it was an actual game that wasn't just a skit it was just a skit on the album

but we used to play you know we used to do it around the way and shit instead of snapping on each other we used to play

torture and shit and I guess puff heard the skit and he wanted to play torture so he got tortured in that motherfucker and big wasn't there during that time big was there oh he was there yeah and he wrote his rhyme contrary to what people say he didn't need pen or paper he wrote his rhyme there and i wrote my rhyme there oh he so he had a pen in the pack yes yes he did absolutely are those first are those the

first draft verses like did y'all go back and change things? There wasn't no going back and changing things. It wasn't even, I mean, we talking analog. So it was like when you went in there and spit, if you fucked up, you had to start over. Start from the top and spit it again. And right or wrong. He don't know. Damn.

He too young. He don't know. You're asking one of the youngest people in here. He don't know. He don't know damn analog. Damn. So I got a question about that then, because Big people in here. He don't know no damn analog. Damn. So listen, I got a question about that then

because Biggie ends his verse, don't tempt me, and then you go T-H-O, so y'all had to have some type of... He said don't mess... Actually, it was M-E. Yeah, he said M-E, so don't tempt me.

He wanted me to come in right after that with T-H-O-D, man, right behind M-E, but it didn't fall in the pocket because I had already written my verse. Like, I'm writing my shit.E. but it didn't fall in the pocket because I was I had already written my verse like I'm writing my shit

like I'm already four bars in but you want me to start it with some other shit it's like okay I'll try but it overlapped

they're wanting to rap it over each other rap it over each other but it still works you ask me oh so his his lyric was gonna be M.E.

instead of saying me oh shit man I always like when I talk to y'all, it's, like, unbelievable. Because I don't even know. Y'all shit is like Greek mythology, bro. Like, to us on the outside looking in, it's like, that shit don't even seem real. Y'all like real superheroes. Damn.

No. Yes, for real. Actually, yeah, it is. Wow. Because we don't never hear these stories. No, man. So the fact that we had two greats and how they broke it down and how they- I tell Angie Martinez that all the time.

When I talk to people from that era, it's like, yo, that is literally like reading Greek mythology. Well, it's a lot of- Well, of course. Because I'm not going to say- Let's say hip hop was in its early 20s at that point in time. It's still young. You know what I'm saying? But it liked to fuck a lot young you know what I'm saying but it's

it like to fuck a lot you know what I'm saying it's like I'm out in these streets I'm 20 years old I'm finding out what life is about so it was a lot of more

authentic a lot more authenticity when you heard records from the west coast you knew it was from the west coast you heard that that sound

when we heard UGK we knew that was down south you know it was a difference not I'm not taking anything away from the music nowadays because whatever works, works. And I like some of the shit they be doing now, some of that turn up shit. But back then, we had

identities and everybody was fighting for their own identity, whereas it seems like now everyone's fighting for the same identity. Yeah. You think that hurts music, especially with this being our 50th anniversary? Because New York doesn't have a sound now. No, that's going to spark the mind that changes everything.

You know what I mean? That goes against the grain. Because, I mean, when Wu-Tang came out, where were we at in hip-hop, if you really think about it? It wasn't shiny suits, but we were in suits. And a lot of that attributed to wanting to see it at the table, where the R&B singers, in the R&B section, where the R&B singers in the R&B section where the R&B singers were to basically

put hip hop on radar on the radar and shit plus it was hot R&B mixed with hip hop was hot I mean Puffy been using that

for years he took Mary J. Blige and said well maybe Andre but I wasn't in the office whatever but they took

Mary J. Blige and said you know what I hear these Kid Capri mixed tapes and shit and they're doing fucking R&B songs,

but he's mixing hip-hop beats up underneath it. Let's do that. Mary blows up. Okay, we got Biggie. Let's flip it the other way. We're going to take the R&B track and let him rhyme on those. The formula works.

Either way, it's shit, but do. But are we to say fuck that hip hop fuck because we were like fuck that R&B shit fuck all that but it worked if it wasn't for that

R&B shit it wouldn't be all I need that's right there wouldn't be a one more chance shit like that you know what I'm saying

yeah Big Papa even Montel Jordan fucking this is how we do it which is a direct bite of Slick Rick if you ask me Come on

Right Children's Story Same tempo Bottom line It's the bottom line Was it just We were biting the sampling It's not biting

I mean Shit Dembiz Mark He was biting All the old people With all the samples He had on his shit I think it's homage

In more ways than one Cause a lot of these records We grew up listening to As children So they resonate with us As well as the these records we grew up listening to as children, so they resonate with us, as well as the audience that we came up with. So it makes sense at the end of the day. I don't think it's biting at all.

But if you're directly saying, you know, you're coming straight out saying people rhymes, you know, and claiming them as your own. I think something recently happened like that. A record that was done by Ludacris and somebody else. Oh, no, no, the young lady. Her name is Callie. Yeah, no, no, the young lady, her name is Callie. She did a similar record. Okay, no disrespect to her, but she's saying,

I believe she said she never even heard Eric Coles. She never heard Eric Coles from Luda. That is totally fair. But when you get into the content of the record, it sounds like Luda's Eric Coles, similar. She's loaded down the hook. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But there's similarities in that.

But, I mean, if you never heard the record, by all means, somebody heard that record. Somebody did. Did you know All I Need was going to turn into the big wedding song it was? I was scared of it. That was my first. That's what I danced to at my wedding. Nice.

All I Need remix. Word up. Nice. I didn't even want to put the record out. Why? Because I knew what it would do. Would it be successful? Yeah, yeah.

It'd be great. Not in that sense. Not in that sense. I just didn't want to be putting that R&B like... Remember, we had a problem with that. We had a real problem with that. You said you never liked the sex symbol. Well, that's something else.

That comes with like... That's when people don't see the substance within. They only see the flesh. And I have a big problem. I get it. I can understand that. I can understand that. For real, for real. But it was a hood love song. It wasn't like a polished...

I mean, you went and got your woman's tampons. Absolutely, but you can paint it any way you want to paint it. It's still I Need Love, but for another generation. Paint it in any light you want to paint it in. So how did they finally get you to put it out? I think they gave me 50K. Was it 50? I don't know. I think it was like 25 or 50K. I was supposed to buy a car. Yeah, 50K. I was supposed to buy a car put it out? I think they gave me 50K. Was it 50?

I don't know. I think it was like 25 or 50K. I was supposed to buy a car. Yeah, 50K. I was supposed to buy a car with it, but I didn't. I put that shit right in the bank. It's crazy to think of. I saw, I think he was on Mav Hopper.

I think it was when you was talking about you can't believe the money that these artists are getting. Oh, getting out of your head. So when you hear 50K now. No, it wasn't. See, they took that out of context as well. It was more or less me trying to delve into the hustle of private jet flying, being so frustrated with commercial airlines so much that how are they doing this? And me doing that, it was misconstrued as me pocket checking or fucking up the scam or whatever the fuck they're doing. I don't know.

But it was just me being curious, and it definitely got taken out of context. But there are some artists that you look at and you wonder, like, they came in rich? Like, you wonder and shit, you know what I mean? Not to delve too deep in whatever their backgrounds are, but it's like, those fine asses come, you know what I mean? Like,

you came in as bitch rich? You know? I'm not even talking about dudes that had their drug dealing lifestyle and they known in the street for that, but somebody, they got the clear blue. Private jet one way,

$30,000, coming back, it's $30,000, $60,000. You know they not getting $60,000 for a show. Well, somebody kind of broke it down to me.

Okay, what'd they say? A lot of times, the people that own these planes are maybe they're staying in California. Plane drops them in California and shit, but it has to go back to New York. It has to go back to New York. These people are basically taking those planes that are owned by these other people, so their flight that they have to take back to New York they're getting on that flight buying a seat basically yeah yeah which is smart as fuck you know what I mean

pays for fuel all kind of shit but yeah yeah that's what it is it is what it is what was $50,000 back then what would that be the equivalent to now you think at least $125,000 okay you put yours in the bank yeah put in the bank like did somebody put you up on financial literacy back then? No, not at all. And another thing that really grinded my gears that I even thought of back then was fucking health insurance, some type of health plan for, because, you know, SAG takes care of a lot of things. Yes, big time, big time.

They're a blessing. But there's nothing in place for a music artist or even like, you know, they leave it up to you to have someone to advise you on things of that nature. But you young, dumb, and full of, you know what I mean, 22 years old, coming to a lot of money. First thing you're thinking is how I'm going to spend it. Right. You know, I mean, you're thinking like, yo, CPAs and things like that.

But you really, you're thinking how I'm going to spend this. It's like a bottomless, you ain't even thinking about where the next one's coming from because it's coming in so quick. There's been times where I've gone on the road two weeks, come back home, and forget what I do for a living. Not really forget, I know what I'm doing, but it's so much fun. You get lost in it so much that you forget you get paid for it. And then you look at your account like, oh, shit, oh a lot of o's where did that come from then it hits you

you know it's it's a very it's a very lucrative business i get why a lot of people want to you know just jump into it and get their feet wet in it and try and hit big and it's like a lotto it's like a lottery so and it's it's a quick way to uh uh long problems especially if you hit big it's like your mama good your family good everybody good and now y'all living y'all got generational wealth for however long it lasts you know in that same breath though we're not paying attention to our own mental health our own physical health as well as financial gains or financial literacy so to speak and people in the midst of that as well as being taken advantage of and and deals and things of that nature by the time you realize that you're in trouble, the people around you already knew it

and they're already gone. That's right. I was going to ask you, did you ever get to that, I call it the uh-oh phase, like everything is good and then it's like, uh-oh.

Yeah, yeah, a lot of times. Really? Yeah, yeah. I feel like you would have saved more money than most because you've never presented that lifestyle,

never was flashy, never the jewelry, never the cars. Or he had a catalog that could always put him back where he needed to be. I could always get a show. Right. You know what I mean? It's just a fact of wanting to get up and go do it. And motivation is a motherfucker.

When you feel unmotivated and depression, things of that nature, plus you're not feeling as worthy as you were, as you felt back in the past, it wears on you, takes a toll on you. Then you become recluse and you don't want to be bothered with anybody. But the bills still come. You still got to go out. So you do just enough to get by. Certain things catch up. I had a tax thing going on as well.

IRS don't play? Yeah, they don't. Crazy number? No, not even. Not like some of these people, no. Like I said, I always lived a modest lifestyle. Still to this day, I live, when it comes, I can't, it's hard for me to describe because I'm still in that space where it's, why do I got to get these motherfuckers my money? No, I feel you.

I get it. You know? I'm the same way. But I know. So much of it. Yeah. And I don't know man I was gonna ask when you got into that what made you have that love back again because like you said you were depressed you didn't want to go out what what gave you that love what gave you that inspiration few What gave you that inspiration? A few things. People that I grew up with, they were in the studio making music, was asking me to come through. Battle rap.

Loved those guys, man. Because you can tell, like, of course they get paid for those battles and stuff, but you can tell that they do it because they love that shit. You know what I mean? And that's why I even started. And just wanting to, knowing that I had more to contribute than what I had, knowing that in hindsight that if I would have did better or paid attention a little bit more, it would have turned out better for me.

But knowing that and saying to myself that there's always time to improve and what can i improve on helped a lot um i started uh being more grounded um taking better care of myself as well as my surroundings and the people around me and listening more that's one major thing right there that a lot of people don't do a lot a good listener is gonna learn so yeah one thing I loved I saw you do you when you apologized to the Destiny's Child yeah and I just thought that was dope that's something that you know we don't do we grow up we evolve and you we do constantly think about people we may have done wrong but

nobody ever just publicly said hey man that was something that bothered me from the day it happened like it really stuck with me for a very long time and i meant everything i said man it was genuine in that moment you know um they didn't deserve that shit and i was just miserable that's all nobody wants to admit that no nobody wants Nobody wants to admit it's us. I was miserable. Pretty much. Did you ever speak to them after the apology? I haven't seen them.

Haven't seen them. But, you know, I've run into Kelly. I've run into Michelle. I haven't run into, nobody runs into me. Like, you don't run into Beyonce. That shit. But, yeah, I've run into Kelly. Matter of fact, I've run into Kelly Rowland in Flight Club in L.A.

You know what I mean? Let her know I was very proud of what she was doing and everything. You know what I mean? And that was before the apology. It was years ago. And Michelle, I seen her at a basketball game. I think she was fighting Jesus at the time. Good for her, though.

No, she still is. She still is, right? Make her a self-advocate. Oh, yeah. Love her. When did you realize, when did you say to yourself, yo, it's me, I'm miserable? I knew that back then. Really?

Yeah, I knew it. I just didn't want to accept it, you know? People would say, well, what made you miserable? You had, it seemed like you had everything. You had success. You had the money. You had the life. It seems like you had everything.

I didn't respect. I didn't respect anything. And with that being said, I didn't think anybody respected me. So I just wanted to go away and and work on some things and it like i said it worked out for me man i'm not suggesting everybody do what i did or everybody can do what i did because honestly i can fall back on a group that's iconic at any point in time so there's always going to be a there for me, but the point is, is it satisfying enough for me to wanna go back? What can I do to advance myself?

And I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it, man. I'm happy, and I think it's resonating, and people see it, you know? Fucking calling me Zaddy at 52 years old. What is that shit? What the fuck is that? That's a good thing, man. That's a good thing.

Well, she can say, she can say, they can say, yo, yeah, they calling me Fine AF. I'm girls, Fine AF? What's Fine AF? Air Force, nigga. Air Force. So what got you into the movie and the acting? I've been doing that. When you do have to get into it.

I've been doing that shit. Do you feel a way when you have to audition because you are such a celebrity and star people know who you are? No, there's never ego. That's one thing I never had. It was the ego and shit. I do. I don't like auditions.

I don't know anybody that really does and shit, but I appreciate them. it's this. Hey, I mean, I, I, I would suggest that anybody that's cause I get people in the music game all

day. I ain't getting the acting shit. I would tell them all the same thing. Do the work. Take the classes. Read the books. Because when you step on that set, your next look got to be your best look

or they will not call your ass back. And when those people break bread in Hollywood, they break bread. Please believe it. Yes, sir. Me, man, like I said, one day at a time, and I'm just going to ride it till the wheels fall off. What's been your favorite role?

Right now, the Davis role. The Davis role. Because nobody's seen it coming. Nobody expected that, you know? And sometimes I look at the dialogue, we get the scripts, and I'll look, and I'll go right to my part, and I'll look, and it's like, a lot of it's like a lot of jargon but I

credit the writers for you know giving us something that fits the palette enough that we can digest it and then make sense of it every time so my favorite my favorite maybe when they do your how high character and they'd be like yeah that was pretty, yeah, yeah. Got you as Davis. That was fairly new right there. I like the one, I never miss. I like that one because I never miss.

Why the hell did they replace Redman with, like, as a brother? Yes. He wouldn't get the jab. Oh, wow, wow. Okay. At least that's what I heard. Yeah, yeah. You know?

Did I talk to Redman about it? No. We ain't, we ain't, we, we, close, wow. At least that's what I heard. Yeah, yeah. You know? Did I talk to Redman about it? No. We close, close. Shit like that don't even need to be said. You know what I'm saying? But it happens. He's not the first or the last person that it probably happened to. I remember, what's the guy's name?

Ball guy. Actor. Very good at what he does. Rock good no no no his name is actually rock very good I think he smacked the fire he smacked fire out of Sanaa Lathan in that Tyler Perry movie rock you mean old sitcom right they said is the sitcom rock? No, his name is Rock, I believe. I don't know. Or maybe I'm wrong. That's not his name. But he smacked fire out of Sanaa Lathan in that movie. The Tyler Perry joint.

Because she was sleeping with the white dude. It's like, he ain't your baby. Oh, I know exactly what you're talking about. What's he talking about? Fire! People, the beat! It's in my head. I can't think of his name.

I know exactly what you're talking about. Light skin, brown. I know exactly what you're talking about. Yeah. He was let go on the show because he wouldn't get the jab. And he was one of their leads, I believe. I could be wrong. But, you know, just to say that, you know, Redman, he made a decision.

And I stick by whatever his decision was. If he feels that was best for him, I agree with him. Got you. You know what I love, man? And I don't know how you feel about this. I feel like there's no group in hip-hop documenting their story and history better than Wu-Tang. And what I mean by that is y'all got the television series. Yeah.

Y'all got books. Yeah. Y'all had the documentary on Showtime. That's RZA. Do you feel like the story's being told properly? That's RZA. I mean, it's from his perspective. So it's being properly told through his lens.

You know, of course we all have our own interpretation of how shit should be or how shit should go. But what you have is what you got. And I'm going to stick by him. That's my dog. All of it is RZA? No. I love the doc on Showtime.

The documentary is all genuine. Okay. Of course. It's a documentary. But the show, I mean, I don't know. I've never watched this episode. Is that true? No, I haven't. I've only seen clips on YouTube and stuff like that.

And it's usually Dave's clips. People will send them to me. Why not? He did a great job. I don't know. I just couldn't get a grasp on it. And I was watching Snowfall at the time. You were EP on the whole thing. I know. I know. But I've been there. at the time, so. You an EP on the Wu-Tang. I know, I know, but I've been there.

I lived that already. He said, I did that. I've been there. I didn't. I was going to ask. Is it accurate? No, of course not. No.

None of them are. Actually, even the BMF joint isn't accurate at all. Loosely based. Yeah, loosely. That's what they say. Back to music. You getting back to music? You got that inspiration yet?

I've always been into music. Doing an album, I should say. Well, yeah, I've done three since. But the thing is, I do it because I want to, not because I have to. So that's pretty much why you guys probably haven't heard anything or seen anything. But I'm still there. I'm still there.

Ask some of your favorite rappers' favorite rappers. They'll tell you for real. Now, you got to be on that Conway joint. Yeah, that's my guy right there. But those dudes, that was an honor to do that because I love what they're doing. It was still a place for lyricism and just hardcore boom-bap beats.

To go back to documenting the Wu-Tang story, are you going to write a book? Because I loved Ray Kwan and you guys. And his name is Rockman Dunbar, just to get his name right. Rockman Dunbar. Rockman Dunbar. Nice. Say again?

Are you going to write a book? I think every member of Wu-Tang should write a book. I love Ray Kwan's book, Staircase the Stage. I love U-Gar's Raw. I don't know if you've read them. They all speak highly of you in there. U-Gar sounds crackhead. No, I'm playing.

I'm joking. I'm joking. I'm joking. I know I'm joking. I'm joking. Yeah, yeah. I mean, honestly, no. If I did decide to do something like that, I like how Mike did his thing.

Oh, the one man play? Oh, yeah. You know, because I'm pretty good at telling stories. I think Ice-T should do something like that. You guys get Ice up here? Ice got the best stories. Ice hasn't been up here yet, right? Nah.

Ice got the best stories, bro. Like, you know, Ice-T's been in the game for decades. Like, we're talking 30 plus. You know what I'm saying? That dude, he has a lot. But yeah, I would love to do it like that kind of thing, like on a stage and just go through it from the time that I, because I can remember all the way back to when I was two,

two and a half years old. Really? Yeah. I can go back to kindergarten. How the hell do you remember two years old? My mom told me that I was two because I described our house we lived in when I was two years old.

Wow. And we never stayed in any place for too long, so for me to be able to describe this house, you know, as soon as you come in the door, the living room, then you had the kitchen here, was opening here, opening here. We had three cereals. We had Frankenberry, Boo-Berry,

and we had the werewolf one. Anybody remember that one? I don't remember the werewolf one. Fruit Brew. Fruit Brew. All right? Two years old. Then you go down this long hall.

There was a doorway here. That was me and my sister's room. Doorway at the end of the hall, Mom and Dad's room. The reason why I knew that was because each night one of us would fall out to bed, start crying, and one of them would come get us, bring them in the room with them. Directly at the end of the hall, bathroom. Two years old. Jesus.

It's a genius job when you're two years old. Word up. I feel like you have to tell your story, though. You got to start from there. Because if you don't, somebody else... I definitely start from there. I remember being pushed out the window in my diaper. What?

Well, it was a pair of drawers, but, you know. Who pushed you out the window? I think my sister did. She didn't like you? It was snow outside. It was only one. By the way, the house was only one level, okay? Okay, all right.

One level. Still, though, you're a baby if you're in a pamper. You know, it might have been drawers. I was two, two and a half. Shit, it might have been my drawers, but I just know I didn't have anything on except that. It was white. I remember that much.

And freaking, um, And freaking Fat Albert coming on television. Mm-hmm. Yeah. The Wu-Tang series ends with y'all having an issue with Devon, and that seems to be a common theme. Everybody had an issue with Devon. Yeah. Everybody had an issue with Devon.

It comes with the territory. If you're Wu-Tang, you have an issue with Devon. Period. Everybody had an issue with Devon. It comes with the territory. If you're Wu-Tang, you have an issue with Devon. Period. I wonder how he feels about that. Mitchell? Von is cool as hell. Von cool as the other side of the pillow. I think that dude did an excellent job playing Von.

Mm-hmm. You know, but the guy that really resonated to me the most, especially when I see the clips, is the guy that plays power. Mm-hmm. He's got his mannerisms, the laugh, everything. That, that's power. All fucking day. I think he killed that shit.

So you didn't help with your role at all? I went and spoke to Dave, and I told Dave, Dave, the reason Dave really got the part, Dave is an emcee from New York. It's a given. The mannerisms and all that shit gonna be, I was like, do you.

You know what I mean? Don't be method man. I wasn't method man then. Be that MC, that fly MC from New York and Dave did a good job, man.

I just wanted him to be comfortable. Was he? You think he was? Because it's hard, right? I could tell when he was uncomfortable

because you have an eye for stuff like that. But once he hit his stride, he was off to the races. He was killing it. Especially when you put the mic in his hand. Some of them dudes was rhyming way off beat. You know what I mean? But you know, when you have a couple of swords

and you put them together and it makes... I mean, it's the Wu-Tang. It's the slang. It's the sword style of rhyming God Jesus I always wonder

what the conversations are like between you and Mary on set man me and Mary be laughing Mary's funny as hell y'all wouldn't know it though do y'all reminisce

or do y'all live in the now like cause y'all gotta both both okay okay okay both Mary cool as hell and you know um i don't want to say too much because you know it's regular for me and whatever it's like

that's that's a little sis right there a little big sis because she born before me in january but mary cool as hell i mean what can i say that i haven't said already in the interview she's a queen she demands respect and she gonna get it. And she deserves it. Yeah. I do wonder about the bond that people have when they make a hit record though. What you mean? I get it, cause y'all are like, y'all like kind of married for life.

Mary made me feel comfortable first when I first met her. I met at Puffy's birthday party. I think it was Rose Lane. When that shit, remember Rose Lane? Mm-hmm. Rose Lane Ballroom. Yeah. She came up to me and was like,

bring the paint with my shit. And I was like, wow, Mary J. Block. And I had to tell her that Love No Limit was my shit, and I started singing it to her a little bit. But yeah, it was dope. It was dope. Next thing I know, he was in the studio recording. Who set that up?

Did Puff set that up? Puffy. Shout out to Puff Daddy. Fucking Diddy, man. Diddy. Love that dude, man. Like, people don't... Well, they do.

They do. They give him his props. They have to to it's like puff that nigga though puff been around a long time man and I respect the shit out that dude

it all goes back to tonight too hold on one more thing I gotta ask this other fan what's that I saw you on on Mav 5

and you were talking about how you didn't really like Takao per se what do you mean the first album? Yeah. Yeah, because when we

originally recorded it, there was a flood. I heard about the flood. A lot of the music got 100. I think you're being too hard on yourself with Takao. I mean, those rhymes, a lot of those rhymes

was written between 15 and 17 years old. So, you know, I had been doing that, some of those for a while. But the music side of it it was like making shit on the flies at some point um even it was just hard it was rough it was rough because we were on we were basically touring promoting the first album and they had us

way on the west coast then we'll be in north carolina somewhere and i'm going in all these different some of the studios were so nasty like like had rats and shit, the popper stopper with the stocking over it, you know what I mean? You know, shit like that. But we got through it and the best part about it was that the album did well because it set the standard for the rest of the album, solo albums that came after that. It was like, okay, we really going to be waiting for this Ray Kwan joint or we really going to be waiting for this old Dirty joint you know what I mean so on and so forth

you a comic book guy so what if the flood never happens where does Wu-Tang go my shit probably would have been five mics I got four and a half in the source or four it was four in the source but a lot but you know what though and I'm glad y'all brought that first album up

because that first album man a lot of that shit had to do with these women on this couch back here Rhonda well Kim not so much Rhonda and Tracy okay like but Kim was at the source but she wasn't no more when I first started because that was Maddie and you know Maddie and them and shit not taking nothing away from Kim that's my homie right there love Kim looking like I know I love. I ain't trying to shade her or nothing, but the truth is the truth. Got you. Very instrumental in molding me into the artist that I am today or was at that point in time.

Got that album done. Gave me all the promo and everything that I needed, and it went crazier after All I Need dropped. Because once All I Need dropped, it was like I was in the office every day meeting people that I hadn't even freaking met before. How does it feel to still work with these ladies? Because, I mean, these are ladies that...

When I came in the lobby, it was like I didn't even recognize Tracy at first. I'm from here. Give me a hug. I'm not working. I just sit there and see. Yeah. I wanted to see.

You know what I'm saying? And then I come in and I see Rhonda and Kim, and I'm like, this is a fucking reunion right now. So now I'm comfortable because I was coming in here on my bullshit. Now I'm playing. Now I'm like, this is a fucking reunion right now. So now I'm comfortable because I was coming in here on my bullshit. Now I'm playing. Now I'm playing. Well, let's talk about it.

The championship matchup is tonight. The BET's greatest rap crew of all time. Yes. Is that performing at the White House too, man? Oh, no, no. I'm not performing. Oh, you're not? No, no, no.

I'll be there, though. I'll definitely be there. Oh, okay, okay, okay. The Juneteenth event. You're not performing at the Juneteenth? Yeah. It's going to be hot. Now, how can they vote, Kim?

What's the website? That ain't going to happen. BET.com slash go vote. Did I say that right, Kim? BET.com go vote with your stinking ass.

Add that part. And Mef, I just want to tell you I love you, bro. Y'all my fan. Life long fan. You really are a superhero to me.

I get around Mef and Wu-Tang and feel like a kid. Hell yeah. God damn. Y'all going to get a third seat Wu-Tang and feel like a kid. Like, God damn. Y'all gonna get a third seat in this motherfucker? My son need a job. I'm just asking this shit.

He funny as fuck, too. That's right. He funny? Yeah, he funny. Why you bring him with you? Why you put him in a movie? He gotta watch his son. He gotta watch my grandbaby.

Oh, okay. All right. Well, there you have it. It's The Breakfast Club. It's Method Man. Good morning. We just need to do two things for BET. All right. We'll be back with more Method Man. So don't move. It's The Breakfast Club. It's Method Man. Good morning. We just need to do two things for BET.

All right. All right. We'll be back with more Method Man. So don't move. It's The Breakfast Club on BET. How is that Devin Franklin shit, though? He's funny. Keep it locked.

We got more with Method Man when we come back. It's The Breakfast Club on BET. I met him before. Cool. Welcome back. We're still kicking it with Method Man. Charlamagne. Cool.