Iconic Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man is a highly versatile MC who has been a formidable force in hip-hop for decades. The rapper (real name Clifford Smith Jr.) is loved for his intricate lyricism, partnership with Redman and his famous stoner comedy How High, a must-watch that will have viewers laughing out loud. Known as one of hip-hop’s greats, Method Man is undoubtedly a talent.
During the early-1990s, the Wu-Tang’s heyday, Smith was so revered in his hometown that the late Notorious B.I.G. wanted him to appear on his 1995 debut album, Ready To Die. The pair collaborated on a track entitled, ‘The What’ rhyming back-and-forth with an astonishing synergy over an Easy Mo Bee instrumental.
However, in a recent appearance on Math Hoffa’s podcast My Expert Opinion, Smith revealed that he took rhymes from another New York native to bolster his verse on ‘The What’.
Detailing the day the pair recorded, Smith recalled, “By the time I got [to the studio], Biggie’s verse was written and he told me that he wanted to end it with, ‘You can’t mess with M-E’ and I was supposed to go, ‘T-H-O-D,’ but I overlapped him because it didn’t fall on beat doing it that way. That’s where the ‘T-H-O-D Man, here I am / I’ll be damned if this ain’t some shit.'”
He continued, “I wrote that shit quick as fuck. Who was I biting there? Whose flow was I [biting]? Nas. That’s biting Nas’ flow. ‘I’ll be damned if this ain’t some shit/Come to spread the butter lyrics over hominy grits… Coming where you rest at, surrender/Step inside the ring, you’s the number one contender/Looking cold-booty like your pussy in December.’”
Smith the proceeded to admit that he had also flipped a line from the duo M.O.P. revealing, “I got that from M.O.P. ‘Actin’ as if it can’t happen.’ [Lil] Fame was like, ‘I’ll make it happen!’ I loved them n-ggas from day one. ‘How About Some Hardcore’? I was like, ‘Them n-ggas is it!’”
Listen to ‘The What’ below.
