Method Man & Redman – “BlackOut! 2″ (Album Review)
This kind of reminds me of an "UnderGround Railroad...For Mary-Jane Lovers." Not Spider-Man though...
One of the first hip-hop duos I ever officially became a fan of was Method Man and Redman. Their lyricism, their flows, and (maybe even more importantly) their characters seemed made for hip-hop as far as injecting life and energy into it. Characters that can actually win fans over BEFORE they start rapping? That’s what they brought at the time, and to be completely honest, they were the first people to actually GET me to listen and dive into hip-hop, and of course one of the first hip-hop CDs I ever bought was “BlackOut.”
So imagine my surprise when I hear their new single (“A-Yo”) and I get “BlackOut! 2”, also dropping on the monumental hip-hop date of 5/19/09 alongside Eminem and Busta Rhymes. Darn right I’m excited…. But is the album actually worth supporting in the store?
The Good: To answer the question I just posed, YES. I can’t say it more clearly than that. The lyricism is still here, the originality to their roots and their hobbies are still here, the album flows well together, and the production has a little bit of a throwback feel to it, but in a great way. I can’t say if it’s BETTER or WORSE than the original, but “BlackOut! 2” is definitely another addition of great music from these two. It makes you wonder what took them so long to do another album… There’s no super-powered knockout song like “Da Rockwilder” or “Y.O.U.”, but there are songs on here that are just so well-done and catchy you might find yourself keeping a song on repeat before you even listen to the album once.
For the record…That happened three times with me (“A-Yo”, “Hey Zulu”, and “Diz Iz 4 All My Smokers.”)
The Bad: I alluded to it a little earlier, but sometimes this seems like a Redman album, because it seems he’s the predominant voice on the CD, and the interludes from his album carries over in continuation to BlackOut 2. The W-KYA (“W-Kickin’ Yo A**”) Radio drops were present on “Red Gone Wild” and the “4 Minutes To Lockdown” interlude just seemed like a waste of time to me. Also, a couple of the songs seem a little half written (“I Know Sumptn”) and both falter on their bars at times on different songs. But that’s my personal opinion though.
The “Character” Effect: There are lines on this album that just made me straight laugh out loud. Their personalities come out perfectly through their music, which is something you don’t get with the new school rappers that are out. That being said, the Redman “I’m like Jay, tryna drop me a Mil (AMIL)” line in “Hey Zulu” almost made me wreck when I heard it. Hopefully you know that Jay and Amil were part of Roc-A-Fella Records, and Amil flopped, so she was dropped… Heard she worked at a Target now… But that’s not important…
Bottom Line: It’s another worthy addition to the Meth/Red Chronicles. If you’ve been following like I have, this is the album you’ve wanted them to drop since the original BlackOut. This warrants way more of a purchase than the Busta Rhymes CD, so don’t skip this one just because you may or may not have heard anything off of it. BlackOut 2 delivers quality hip-hop music in a way that no other CD coming out that day can. The CD is just so refreshing, in short.
I just hope on the week of the 19th, fans can Relapse and BlackOut…
And yes, that’s subliminal for “Support Eminem and Meth/Redman”. Just in case you didn’t catch it.
Final Rating: —–> 4.5 / 5 <—–
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The Notable Tracks…
- “Hey Zulu” <—- Editor’s Favorite (lol)
- “A-Yo” feat. Saukrates
- “City Lights” feat. UGK
- “Diz Iz 4 All My Smokers“
