The 12 Days of Wu-Mas #6 - My Gut Reaction: Method Man - Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium (December 14, 2018)

Clifford “Method Man” Smith’s sixth solo album, Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium, dropped in December of 2018, just before my ridiculous Christmas Day Wu-Tang stunt posting session, which meant he had just missed my arbitrary cutoff date for inclusion. It is a direct sequel to his previous effort, The Meth Lab, and is most notable for not just the sheer number of guest features included within (which places it in the same category as its predecessor), but for the fact that it still isn’t the album Method Man had been promising fans since roughly 2007: a mostly RZA-produced effort entitled Crystal Meth, which, at this point, if you truly still feel like that project (a) even exists, and (b) will eventually see release, welp, you’re far more optimistic than I, an Interweb-based music critic known for cursing excessively and for writing “meh” whenever I can’t come up with anything remotely positive to say about a song.

Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium is another effort from our host to showcase lesser-known talent from the Staten Island area, but, as with his previous effort, Method Man doesn’t feel comfortable enough to simply shine the spotlight, instead forcing his way onto every track, hence this being categorized as a Method Man solo album. It is our host’s second project released through Hanz On Music, which is run by a rapper-slash-producer-slash-label head called Hanz On, also known as Hannibal the Great, also known as a former member of Raekwon’s Ice Water collective and the man who once punched Joe Budden in the face for daring to talk shit about the Wu-Tang Clan. So, yeah, he’s amassed a lot of goodwill from folks like myself for that Budden shit, even though violence isn’t usually the answer and even though Budden probably still has no idea who it was that actually punched him, but whatever.

Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium, which is an annoying-ass album title, follows a similar format as its predecessor, except this time around the project is framed as an ongoing television series broken up by commercial interludes intended to inject some comic relief into the proceedings. The guest list consists of a lot of unknown artists alongside folks you’ve heard of such as Raekwon, Snoop Dogg, Hanz On (obviously), Masta Killa, Streetlife, Noreaga, and, to the pleasure of every single goddamn person still reading a Method Man album review in 2019, Redman. Production comes primarily from Dame Grease, although some of the songs are outsourced to fellow lesser-known beatmakers and also Hanz On, whose fingerprints are all over this project.

This time around, Tommy Boy Records wasn’t around to help with marketing or distribution, so Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium most likely flew directly under your radar, carrying with it so little weight that it wouldn’t have even triggered the motion-sensor lights in front of your house. But it is an album that does exist, and as such, it’s worthy of inclusion in this year’s Wu-Tang holiday series. And also, there’s that whole “Method Man has killed every single goddamn feature he’s done over the past five years” thing – it’s clear the most successful (sales-wise) member of the Wu-Tang Clan still has a passion for this rap shit, even when, given his acting and hosting gigs, he absolutely doesn’t have to keep doing this.

A quasi-personal aside: this past year my wife took me to see the Wu-Tang Clan perform Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in its entirety for that project’s twenty-fifth anniversary (sure, I saw them during what would have been its twenty-sixth, but whatever, they were all there, I can’t be too picky). During the intro for “Method Man”, Meth took it upon himself to do what is normally GZA’s intro, where he runs down a list of Wu-Tang Clan’s proper members, except Meth’s version included Cappadonna (a relatively new addition to the group) along with both Redman and Streetlife, which is the most official thing I’ve heard regarding the membership status of the latter two. RZA was on stage nodding in agreement, and nobody else on stage seemed taken aback, so as far as I know, it’s canon.

I say that because all three “new” Wu-Tang Clan members appear on Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium, so at least there’s a reason behind this specific bit of rambling. Enjoy the review!

1. THE PILOT – INTRO

Wow, was this poorly edited together. Is this supposed to be a newscast or a proper “previously on…” segment? Maybe don’t let the audio tracks talk over one another in playback, fellas. This was crap, but it did bring out a character, however briefly, that reminded me of Ronnie Dobbs, a reference only, like, three of you will get, so there’s that. And that isn’t much.

2. EPISODE 1 – KILL DIFFERENT (FEAT. HANZ ON & RAEKWON)

Sure, the instrumental for “Kill Different” is provided by Dame Grease, but that doesn’t make it an event in and of itself: the music is fairly nondescript, and ineffective delivery system for the verses provided, which now bear the burden of having to carry the track. And half of those verses, specifically the one belonging to guest star Raekwon, sucks: he sounds boring and bored as hell reciting clichéd trash-talk and repurposed advice (“Don’t get caught caught-up on the corners” – ok boomer, thanks). The hook from Hanz On is also useless. The only admirable trait featured on “Kill Different” is Method Man himself, who exudes effortless cool while bending the English language to service his whims. This song wasn’t very good, but Meth says at one point, “Go slap you in the head like, ‘Go ‘head, rap,’” which made me laugh out loud, so.

3. EPISODE 2 – EASTSIDE (FEAT. INTELL & SNOOP DOGG)

Kind of a mess, really. The instrumental, credited to both Hanz On and Patrice Newbold, does manage to sound decent during the actual verses, but the hook is apparently on its own. Said hook is performed by U-God’s kid iNTeLL (who also contributed a verse), a holdover from The Meth Lab, and it’s fairly generic West Coast pandering, driving around while “bumping’ hard beats off the ‘G’ drive,” which probably isn’t what he actually says, but it reads much funnier this way. iNTeLL does alright, at least exhibiting the proper amount of confidence behind the mic in lieu of life experience. Meth and Snoop, both old pros (and fellow game show hosts on TBS and TNT) come up short with phoned-in bars, though: Meth repeats a concept from “Kill Different”: that was quite the reach the first time around, while Snoop’s lackadaisical flow delivers lines that are all about how he’s been so busy hosting TV shows such as The Joker’s Wild, which he explicitly shouts-out for some reason. Groan.

4. COMMERCIAL BREAK (THOTTI GOTTI)

Wait, why are the songs labeled as “episodes” when the interludes are “commercial breaks”? In what universe can one binge-watch several episodes of a show and then be confronted with a commercial? Anyway, this is just a skit that disrupts the flow of Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium, but even though I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment provided wherein, having Thotti Gotti’s newscaster say, “Donald Trump still ain’t shit” feels like Method Man half-assedly apologizing for featuring the orange small-dicked white supremacist Mayor McTrump on Tical 2000: Judgement Day. So.

5. EPISODE 3 – GRAND PRIX

The first single from Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium didn’t receive much love or even attention, especially from myself: I remember pressing ‘play’ and kind of half-listening while looking at other stuff, and I’m pretty certain I shut it off partway through just because it didn’t grab me. Being forced to actually listen to “Grand Prix” because the nature of these write-ups demands I do so, I’m happy to report that “Grand Prix” is a sleeper, but a terrific one. Dame Grease’s subtle instrumental suggests a New York City upgrade of trap philosophies coupled with a hypnotic melody looped throughout, while Clifford, who has always possessed a malleable flow when it comes to different instrumental vibes, kind of fucking destroys his two verses, his descriptive punchlines and shit-talking punching holes in the backdrop with a smirk (“With that money saved for college / You can go and pay me homage”; “Losing change up in your sofa / I brought change into the culture”). I could have done without the goofy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby references during the brief hook, but still, I liked this one a great goddamn deal. Huh.

6. COMMERCIAL BREAK (IMPRACTICAL JOKERS PRANKS)

I mean, I get it: not only are the comedians that make up the Impractical Jokers collective from Staten Island, they also share an employer (again, TBS/TNT) with Method Man. And sure, the very random way, “There’ll be [Wu] affiliates there!” and “Do not let U-God order drinks!” are thrown out are sort-of amusing (if not circumstantial evidence that they may have taken some inspiration from this very blog. Come on, prove me wrong). But didn’t we just have one of these commercial breaks, like, two tracks ago?

7. EPISODE 4 – DRUNK TUNES (FEAT. NOREAGA, JOE YOUNG, MALL G, & JESSICA LEE LAMBERTI)

The guest list is confusing: although there are four guests named, I only heard three of them, unless rapper Mall G (who, sadly, doesn’t appear to be Mally G from Illegal and Def Squad) is the guy shouting, “Hands up!” at the beginning of “Drunk Tunes”. This track was corny, but I still kind of liked it, no bullshit: Dame Grease’s instrumental is both accessible and dope, with much harder drums than anticipated clashing with a light melody, and Jessica Lee Lamberti’s vocals during the chorus are at least a little funny. For a song about getting drunk at the club, Method Man pulls no punches, recruiting the Drink Champ himself, Noreaga (of RandoMax Radio fame), to contribute a verse, which is pretty much what you’d expect from the man at this stage in his career. Quasi-Wu affiliate Joe Young pitches in a verse as well. Method Man, who is no stranger to commercial appeal, unleashes the middle verse, referring to himself as “a star / plus a rhyming alcoholic”, just in case you weren’t sure where he landed on the drinking debate. “Drunk Tales” is slight, yes, but entertainingly so.

8. EMERGENCY FORECAST (THOTTI GOTTI WEATHER REPORT)

The introductory music for this interlude (another one? What the fuck?) is twice as long as Thotti Gotti’s actual weather report, so this was dumb.

9. EPISODE 5 – WILD CATS (FEAT. REDMAN, STREETLIFE, & HANZ ON)

Even with that stacked guest list, I chose not to listen to this project’s second single “Wild Cats” until today, and, well, it’s not a bad song, but I feel vindicated nonetheless. My main problem is with the instrumental: credited to Lordz of Brooklyn, it’s a generic power chord-driven loop that never evolves into something listenable during the song’s run time. The artists involved seem to sound good despite the music rather than due to it. Hanz On makes it a point to reference our host’s role in Hype Williams’s Belly, while Reggie Noble (who is excellent here) drops a relatively tame Trump dis in between jokes. I appreciated how everyone involved stuck with the theme of rhyming each bar in their respective verses with the same syllable, but I hated how fucking messy the hook sounded, as Meth insisted that everyone contribute. Streetlife, Meth’s protégée and apparent official member of the Wu-Tang Clan if our host’s recent comments are canon (which would then make Hanz On the only dude on “Wild Cats” that isn’t in the group, funnily enough) sounds okay but bored, while Method Man himself gets his verse out of the way fairly quickly with no memorable bars to be found. Come for the Redman of it all, but ditch everything else.

10. EPISODE 6 – THE LAB (FEAT. SPANK)

There’s no reason “The Lab” should work, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Nate Gold Did-It’s instrumental is all pulsating synths, which approximate the kind of trap shit T.I. might have used before he rebranded himself as a “conscious” rapper and hymen protector, and guest Spank’s hook not only rips off the chorus from Lil Keke’s “Southside”, it replaces that titular phrase with “Meth Lab”, which is fucking annoying, although the fact that he throws in a “Part 2” at the very end brings it back around to absurdity. Spank also sounds fine during his verse. However, Method Man fucking kills it on “The Lab”, racing through his bars utilizing a breathless flow that would rival many a rapper a third of his age. This is why Meth is low-key the best rapper out of the Wu today. God damn.

11. EPISODE 7 – BRIDGE BOYS (FEAT. ROC & KASH VARRAZANO)

The ROC credited on “Bridge Boys” is not the same guy that was once a part of Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def family, but is, instead, a weird alias for Rock, or Da Rockness Monsta, of Heltah Skeltah. Okay then. Over a hypnotic Ron Browz beat that is only disrupted by an unnecessary Kash Varrazano chorus, Method Man and Rock each use up a verse’s worth of boasts-n-bullshit, Rock’s distinctive flow clashing nicely with our host’s casual braggadocio. Had it not been for the hook, I may have even gone so far as to say that “Bridge Boys” was a decent song. Alas. “Half you rappers gettin’ short bread and offered Lorna Doones” is a funny line on Clifford’s part, anyway.

12. EPISODE 8 – BACK BLOCKZ (FEAT. FREAK, CARDI EXPRESS, & YOUNGIN)

Could have done without Youngun’s Meek Mill-imitating hook, which added nothing to the proceedings, but otherwise “Back Blockz” wasn’t bad. This Dame Grease production is a true showcase for green Staten Island talent, which is what the Meth Lab series was supposed to be in the first place, and both Cardi Express and Freak, both need to file the proper paperwork to change their rap names immediately, manage to do alright for themselves. Nothing either man says is out of the ordinary for our chosen genre, and they’re both trampled on by Meth when he pops in for a third verse that is flames, but still, the fact that they appear on Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium and hold their own is a plus. I also kind of dug Grease’s moody instrumental, combining horror movie lullaby-esque vocals with trap drums at the beginning of each verse to good effect.

13. EPISODE 9 – RONINS (FEAT. HANZ ON, CAPPADONNA, & MASTA KILLA)

“Ronins” is not so much a song as it is an excuse for various members of the Wu-Tang Clan to get together and talk shit, which is usually just fine, especially for stans who dig their posse cut efforts. The Sunday instrumental is almost an afterthought here: typically, if one of these cypher sessions isn’t scored by The RZA or another Wu-Element, it won’t have any sort of impact, and that rule stands here. Hanz On is the standout in that it’s obvious that he’s clearly out of his depth, experience-wise, even with a flow that apes fellow guest Cappadonna’s vocal mannerisms so thoroughly that newbies may be confused during a first listen. But Meth, Cap, and Masta Killa make the most of an otherwise-forgettable track with a badass song title that really should have been used much earlier in the Wu’s storied career. Ah well. (Meth also gets a key fact wrong during his verse – track one on Redman’s Whut? Thee Album is not “Time 4 Sum Aksion”. Song one is, though. But I’m just being mansplainy at this point.)

14. COMMERCIAL BREAK (IMPRACTICAL JOKERS “TORTURE”)

More smirk-inducing and occasionally amusing than funny, but these guys are clearly enjoying themselves. As long as someone is, right? I will say that this skit at least proves their familiarity with the early work of the Wu, so that was nice.

15. EPISODE 10 – TWO MORE MINS

This direct sequel to The Meth Lab’s Mathematics-produced “2 Minutes of Your Time” doesn’t feature any Wu involvement behind the boards, but producer Daez turns in a fuzzy guitar chord looped around harder drums than expected, and this keeps our host focused on the task at hand, said ”task” being talking a bunch of lyrical shit for two minutes. Easily a highlight of Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium, “2 More Mins” (apparently the project was so rushed than nobody involved had a moment to spare to spell out entire words?) features a Method Man at the top of his game, laying down boasts-n-bullshit that prove his place as one of the finest in the Wu. That’s all I got, because that’s just what this is.

16. COMMERCIAL BREAK (THOTTI GOTTI “PUSSY ON SOUNDCLOUD”)

Unnecessary, but at least Meth left in the laughter that filled the studio following this skit’s recording, giving it a “blooper reel” feel.

17. EPISODE 11 – S.I. VS. EVERYBODY (FEAT. APOCALIPPS & IRON MIC)

Features far less participation than one would expect from a song entitled “S.I. vs. Everybody”, unless guest stars Apocalipps and Iron Mic (both former members of the defunct onetime Wu-affiliated group Ruthless Bastards), along with our host, are supposed to represent the entirety of Shaolin, in which case they should be prepared to get their asses handed to them. Yep, even Method Man. The Alfredo Rivera and Daez beat on “S.I. vs. Everybody” is fairly bland, and the verses presented here won’t ever rank among anyone’s favorites. I will commend Iron Mic for his honesty, though: by saying that “[he’s] been bangin’ since Meth was on that stoop with Mary [J. Blige]” (it was a rooftop, but anyway), he’s publicly admitting that he hadn’t been hustling on the streets since birth, like a lot of these wannabes would like you to believe, but instead only since 1995, which was refreshing in a “I have to take one good thing away from this crappy song”-type of way. Of course, he’s likely also only thirteen years old, so.

18. EPISODE 12 – LITHIUM (FEAT. SHEEK LOUCH & HANZ ON)

Unless one counts the fact that this Daez production stabilized my mind so thoroughly that I fell the fuck asleep, there is nothing out of the ordinary about “Lithium”, the pseudo-title track of the evening. Every verse on here is as appealing as a tumbler full of dirty dishwater and is far more likely to trigger a manic episode than it is to treat one. Meth sounds bored as shit (perhaps deducing that Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium is already far too long as it is, as though he’s living the album as it plays through), Hanz On gifts himself the lengthiest verse for no apparent reason, and Sheek Louch of The Lox turns in a downright awful performance that negates every single goddamn time I’ve defended him in the past on this very blog whenever he was regularly stomped out lyrically by his teammates Jadakiss and Styles P. Ugh.

19. EPISODE 13 – P.L.O. (REMIX) (FEAT. HANZ ON, HUE HEF, STREETLOFE, & LOUNGE LO)

Hanz-On sneaks a remix of his own solo song “P.L.O.” onto Meth Lab Season 2: TheLithium (the original can be found on his own album, Barca), so, unsurprisingly, Method Man is tacked on close to the end as an afterthought. That doesn’t make this one terrible, though: even though the hook is kind of meh, the Melks instrumental (the same as it appears on the OG) is alright, and it works as an effective delivery system for a posse cut. The weakest link on “P.L.O. (Remix)” is, oddly, Streetlife, whose flow sounds far removed from his early days on Meth’s Tical, although he does manage a “fuck Donald Trump” that cannot be spun into a different context, so that was nice. Cappadonna’s younger brother Lounge Lo gets a chance to play, too. This wasn’t bad, but I can only imagine why Carlton Fisk wasn’t invited to participate, especially as he did appear on The Meth Lab. Hmm.

20. EPISODE 14 – KILLING THE GAME (FEAT. PRETTY BLANCO)

A weird entry that doesn’t really belong on this iteration of Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium. Had this been a true showcase of lesser-known Staten Island talent and not a repurposed Method Man solo effort, I could see “Killing the Game” garnering some ink, as it plays like a response to the Yelawolfs and MGKs of the rap game, as Pretty Blanco spits a verse talking about avenging the death of a friend, and it… wasn’t bad? It wasn’t great, no, but Blanco clearly put some effort into his flow, so much so that Meth himself adopts the delivery for himself as a writing exercise. Meth only manages boasts-n-bullshit here, and he isn’t the best fit for the dramatic trap theme (provided by a committee made up of Tyler and Erick Coomes, Justin Truman, and Hanz On), but still, “Killing the Game” could have, and by all rights should have, been much worse.

21. EPISODE 15 – YO (FEAT. HANZ ON, STREETLIFE, & APOCALIPPS)

The final song of the evening is “Yo”, a gimmicky Chris Stylez production that isn’t decent enough to withstand hearing the word “yo” repeated so many goddamn times during the verses (or hook). The only dude that walks away from “Yo” unscathed is Streetlife, who abandons the concept quickly to deliver his boasts and threats with an undercurrent of raw Wu-Tang menace (“I’m an alpha dog, y’all n----s is analog”; “You could die for that shit you blog”). The beat isn’t gritty enough for me: a posse cut of this nature shou8ld sound like it was scraped off the pavement. But at least Street sounded better here than he did during his previous cameo.

22. OUTRO (METH LAB SEASON 2)

God damn it, there’s going to be a third one of these?!

THE LAST WORD: Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium is akin to watching a film where it’s obvious that the actors were all having fun during production, but none of that translates for the viewer, as it feels like drowning in a lake of inside jokes that you aren’t privy to. A lot of this project just flat-out doesn’t work, and it’s hard to pin the blame on either Method Man or executive producer Hanz On, although I must note that Meth’s last solo effort before all of this Hanz On nonsense was the oft-brilliant 4:21… The Day After, so. A project showcasing unsigned talent from Staten Island is an admirable concept, a sequel to that project doubly so, but at this point, nobody actually wants this kind of shit from Clifford Smith: we want a proper solo album. That, and another Method Man & Redman project, or maybe that’s just me.

But I say that even with the caveat that a lot of our host’s performances on Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium are spirited in a way that most rappers pushing fifty years old just plain aren’t. The man sounds rejuvenated, as though he wakes up every morning feeling the need to prove himself to every single person that crosses his path, and for the most part, he fucking kills it. I’d go so far to say that Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium features some of the best Method Man verses of his entire fucking career. Yeah, I went there. He doesn’t sound lazy, reserved, or over it: he spits as though he’s trying to secure another Def Jam record deal, even though there is literally no reason he should feel like he has to try so hard. But he injects an energy into the proceedings that, honestly, this kind of project just doesn’t fucking deserve, and it helps the medicine go down.

Production-wise, most of this album is pretty mid. There are some good beats here: Dame Grease’s work behind the boards on “Grand Prix” and “Drunk Tunes” is diversity at its finest, as those tracks are for two entirely different audiences, and yet Meth sounds natural in both environments. But those moments are few and far between: one will find themselves willing to sell their soul for a Wu-Elements instrumental. The numerous guests mostly fail to hit their marks, up to and including some of the bigger names: only Redman and Da Rockness Monsta stood out for me, although I also dug Noreaga’s cameo for nostalgic reasons. I couldn’t tell you the name of any of the unknowns on here that I’d look forward to hearing from in the future, and a lot of that has to do with the impact their performances left on me, but a tiny bit is also the fault of the artists themselves, as they fail to go out of their way to differentiate themselves from their peers. But I guess there’s always the apparent third entry in this series – maybe they’ll all wise up and make it their beeswax to push themselves?

Anyway, Meth Lab Season 2: The Lithium is meh, but with some fire performances from our host, who isn’t supposed to be the main attraction but who receives top billing. The concept of this album is confusing: shouldn’t Meth be ceding his spot to some of these kids? Regardless, there are some good songs on here, so while it isn’t worth the money, a stream or two won’t kill you. I will say that it sure would be nice if Method Man reverted back to proper “solo” mode for whatever his future endeavors happen to be, though – I miss that guy.

-Max

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