NEWS: Method Man & Redman Tour Dates

Method Man & Redman’s Blackout 2 is set for a December release as they will launch their Still High Tour tomorrow, October 17th at the Nokia Theatre. All dates below.



STILL HIGH TOUR DATES
Fri-Oct 17, 2008 New York, NY – Nokia Theatre
Tue-Oct 21, 2008 Bloomington IN – Bluebird
Wed-Oct 22, 2008 Covington, KY – Mad Hatter
Thu-Oct 23, 2008 Detroit, MI – Crofoot Ballroom
Fri-Oct 24, 2008 Chicago, IL – House of Blues
Mon-Oct 27, Minneapolis, MN – First Ave
Wed-Oct 29, Denver, CO – Ogden
Thu-Oct 30, Aspen, CO – Belly Up
Fri-Oct 31, Salt Lake City, UT – Murray Theatre
Sun-Nov 2, Bellingham, WA – WMU – Viking Union
Tue-Nov 4, Portland, OR – Roseland
Wed-Nov 5, Seattle, WA – Showbox SODO
Thu-Nov 6, Arcata, CA – Humboldt St. Univ
Fri-Nov 7, San Fran, CA – Grand Ballroom
Sat-Nov 8, Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst
Sun-Nov 9, Petaluma, CA – Phoenix Theater
Tue-Nov 11, Los Angeles, CA – House of Blues
Thu-Nov 13, San Diego, CA – Cane’s
Fri-Nov 14, Phoenix, AZ – Marquee Theater
Sat-Nov 15, Albuquerque, NM – ALB Convention CTR
Sun-Nov 16, Dallas, TX – House of Blues
Tue-Nov 18, Austin, TX – Stubbs Waller Creek Amp
Wed-Nov 19, Houston, TX – House of Blues
Fri-Nov 21, Athens, GA – Georgia Theater
Sat-Nov 22, Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
Sun-Nov 23, Carrboro, NC – Cats Cradle
Tue-Nov 25, Norfolk, VA – Norva Theatre
Wed-Nov 26, Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
Fri-Nov 28, Asbury Park, NJ – Stony Pony
Sat-Nov 29, Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero
Sun-Dec 2, 2008 Baltimore, MD – Sonar
Sat-Dec 3, 2008 Richmond, VA – Toads Place
Thu-Dec 4, Burlington, VT – Higher Ground
Fri-Dec 5, Worchester, MA – Palladium
Wed-Dec 10, New Haven, CT – Toad’s Place
Fri-Dec 12, Providence, RI – Lupos

NEWS: Rock The Bells Line-Up Announced

The Rock The Bells tour is back (check photos from last year's here). The bills is a little lighter than last year but still a cannot-miss level event.

Performers: A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Mos Def, De La Soul, Rakim, Method Man & Redman, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah, Immortal Technique, Dead Prez, Murs, Kidz In The Hall, Spank Rock (blegh, they better be booed off stage), Santogold, Kid Sister, Wale, Flosstradamus, Jay Electronica, The Cool Kids and it will be hosted by B-Real (Cypress Hill) and Supernatural.

Rock The Bells Tour 2008
7/19 Chicago, IL
7/20 Toronto, ON
7/26 Boston, MA
7/27 New York, NY
8/2 Miami, FL
8/3 Philadelphia, PA
8/9 Los Angeles, CA
8/16 San Francisco, CA
8/23 Denver, CO
8/30 Vancouver, BC

LISTEN: Method Man & Redman - Broken Language 2008 Freestyle

DOWNLOAD Method Man & Redman - Broken Language 2008 (MP3)

Meth and Red freestyle over Smoothe Da Hustler & Trigger the Gambler’s Broken Language beat. They both kill it, but Red kills it a little extra.


Props to Shake.

VIDEO: Method Man's Top 5 MC's & Songs

The new odd beard is in effect. Definitely a surprising list haha.

VIDEO: Wu-Tang Clan Live @ Hammerstein

I scoured YouTube for a few videos of this weekend's Wu-Tang Clan Hammerstein Ballroom concert. See below. Shaky, far away and fuzzy but the energy is palatable. Below photos take by DutchDaMasta. Erykah Badu came out to sing Happy Birthday to Raekwon.



VIDEOS:
- Raekwon - Criminology (Live @ Hammerstein) [Watch]
- Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nothing To F*ck With (Live @ Hammerstein) [Watch]
- Erykah Badu sings Happy Birthday to Raekwon [Watch]

VIDEO: LL Cool J Interview w/ Jim Jones

Is it just me or is Tim Westwood's vibe, for all of his great work throughout the years, just kind of annoying in that fronting kind of way? Anyway, he interviews LL Cool J and in an interesting moment they cut to the also present Jim Jones who according to LL appears on a posse cut with Method Man, KRS One, Lil'Kim and LL himself. He also states Jim "...put a hard verse together on there. it's crazy, he went in too deep. No pen or nothing, he just looked up in the air and just came out with some heat." Jim is doing Jay-Z's rainman redux now?

NEWS: Method Man Defends RZA

Now this is technically unsubstantiated and the source is unclear, but just because I really want this to be true and it sounds like something Method Man would say , we're just going to assume it is. Meth speaks on Ghostface Killah and Raekwon's vocalize displeasure with RZA and 8 Diagrams.


Method Man & RZA @ Rock The Bells, more pics here
""Them niggas got they opinion, but shit's peace between me and RZA, no question. Ghost & Rae don't never like nothing anyway...never," Method Man states with a dismissive tone. "Them dudes be looking at they mom's turkey on Thanksgiving like 'The fuck is this bullshit??' (laughs) 'Man this macaroni is some ol buuulllshit! Megan Good's titties is some bullshit! Rihanna's forehead, that's some bullshit!"

On RZA's production and 8 Diagrams: ""That's music right there man, I don't know what them dudes is listening to. They must have heard it from some clock radio speakers or something, and Rae, that nigga was probably just mad 'cuz he ain't had his lunch yet at the time. I like what RZA doing right now, the way he's able to go outside the box as well as go to the typical Wu bangers ya'll critical ass motherfuckers is used too. I already got some joints from him on my next album, more heat. In fact we was just in the studio a few days ago, and Nas came through. He hopped on a beat and we did the hook and everything that night. He talking about he wanna put it on his Jiggaboo album (a joke reference to Nas' upcoming album, The N Word), but I think I'ma hold on to that one. We might hook up again for another song. I was actually supposed to be on It Was Written back in the day, but it just never happened." Man, I hope is legit. RZA and Meth with Nas.

LISTEN: Ghostface Killah - Yolanda's House ft. Raekwon & Method Man

DOWNLOAD Ghostface Killah - Yolanda's House ft. Raekwon & Method Man (MP3)

It's Ghost hour here at SitDownStandUp.com! Two back to back inbox arrivals. This track off of Ghostface Killah's Big Doe Rehab features Method Man and Raekwon but someone still clocks in only slightly over 3 minutes. Ghost explains the track here.


Ghost & Rae @ Rock The Bells. More pics here.

VIDEO: Method Man In '300' Spoof Movie

Method Man gets kicked in the face during a fight scene in Meet The Spartans, a comedy spoof of 300.


Via Wooohah.

CONTEST: Win Live Method Man DVD

The picture above is a screencap from the new Method Man live DVD Live From The Sunset Strip (FortressDVD [info], Oct 30th). Shot in high definition this year at the House Of Blues in Hollywood and including all the classic Meth material you can handle. Also includes a ODB tribute. For tracklist and trailer go here.

WHAT TO DO TO WIN: the first five people to e-mail will get a copy mailed to them. Please write me at wes[AT]liberatedmatter[DOT]com (subject line: Method Man Contest) and tell me what your favorite Meth song is, and mention your address.

NEWS: Previewing 8 Songs Off Wu-Tang Clan's 8 Diagrams

I sat down with Masta Killa and listened to 8 tracks off of the Wu-Tang Clan's upcoming new album 8 Diagrams. Some quick thoughts. I heard sword sounds, dark cinematic sounds and driven MCs.


Rae and RZA @ Rock The Bells, NYC Full Set here.
Weak Spot - A track that has Raekwon burn right through the minimalist yet big sounding beat produced by RZA. Not as gritty as we're used to from Mr. Diggs, almost somewhat cinematic.

Take It Back - Produced by Easy Mo Bee with co-production by RZA. A great mid-90's beat that sounds like it would've been great for an early Jay-Z or Biggie to rhyme over. Again a cleaner sounding track that what we're used to. Great bass scratches accent the beat as Ghostface rides it with his trademark flow.

Thug World - Produced by RZA and LA's radio DJ King Tech with starring roles for Inspektah Deck and RZA on the lyrics. Great dark beat with lots of atmosphere. Semi-sensical and conscious lyrics from RZA.

Watch Your Mouth - My least favorite, you can hear it here for yourselves. Produced by DJ Scratch and co-produced by RZA.

They Want To Stick Me For My Riches - Clearly Morrissey and/or Sufjan Stevens inspired in its titling. Produced by Mathematics and co-produced by RZA. Features a lot of singing, in an almost R. Kelly gospel-soul kind of way, which was offputting at first, but grew on me. Method Man shines. Mathematics wrote the lyrics for the parts sung and the singer is Gerald Alston of the legendary Manhattans.

Wolves - Produced by RZA, dirty beat. Very Wu Tang Forever with U-God going hard and taking the spotlight.

Life Changes - Produced by RZA, dedicated to ODB with emotional verses and great lyrics. Takes a sample from the Freda Payne song 'The Road We didn't Take'.

My People Gently Weep - Produced by RZA and George Drakoulis. Samples George Harrison's 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' and features Harrison's son Dhani and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on guitar. Ghostface sounds insane and amazing and the whole thing is a cluster fuck of sounds and ideas that ends up working very well.

My high hopes for the album were tested and got higher after hearing these tracks.

VIDEO: Method Man DVD Trailer

Method Man is releasing Live From The Sunset Strip October 30th. Now, I've been known to be very critical of Hip Hop concerts as a concept, because most of them suck, but Method Man was definitely on point at Rock The Bells earlier this month. The DVD is shot in High Definition, so you can see each individual seed in Meth's blunts on stage, at the House Of Blues in Hollywood, California. Tracklist below.


Photo part of my Rock The Bells set
Track List
Intro (Album 4:21)
Method Man
Bring The Pain
Ice Cream
All I Need
Grid Iron Rap
How High
What The Blood Clot
Suspect Chin Music
Fall Out
Ya’Meen
Is It Me
Problem
Say
Wu Tang Clan Ain’t Nothing To Fuck With
Triumph
Shimmy Shimmy Ya (Tribute to ODB)
Brooklyn Zoo
Judgement Day
Da Rockwilder

Method Man Live DVD Trailer

Wu Tang Clan Documentary

DOWNLOAD Raekwon - Wu-Gambino's (Hidden Chamber Remix) ft Method Man (MP3) via MissingThumbs

With their Rock The Bells performance still fresh on my mind I watched this fantastic 21 minute behind-the-scenes video of the Wu Tang Clan in the studio speaking on the new album 8 Diagrams, Ol' Dirty Bastard, working together, and much more.


Via Nahright

Rock The Bells (Day 1) Pt Deux

The People
Where to start? The Wu Tang Clan were amazing, even with a missing GZA for the first part. RZA had to cover for him on 'Shadowboxing', but GZA made it to stage halfway through his set and showed the crowd where he may be the premier lyricist of the group.

Mos Def was somehow a little uninspiring and self-involved it seemed. Such a great talent, but I think we, the people, will always be rooting for him to come back to his Black Star/Black On Both Sides days. His focus was so much stronger. His partner in crime Talib Kweli has actually only been getting better. He used to awkwardly not be able to ride a beat during a live performance but he's really stepped his game up and outshone Mos for most of the set.

Seeing Cypress Hill was a childhood dream come through, ever since listening to my Cypress cassette tapes and learning all the words. And wow, they were amazing. My personal favorite performance of the day. The music still resonates so strongly and the DJ Muggs beats are still so good. Vintage yet relevant.

Rage Against The Machine was obviously amazing. I hadn't seen them since 1994 when during their performance at Pinkpop the crowd jumping up and down actually officially registered a small earthquake (1.1 Richter Scale).

The Roots were solid as always and put on an amazing JBs-like jam that grooved so hard. Who knew Black Thought could sing that well?

The New York Times wrote up Rock The Bells, and pointed out one of the more interesting moments.

...Public Enemy, which endures despite some evident personal friction. “I was in the middle of something, Chuck,” said Flavor Flav, when Chuck D tried to start a song too soon. Did Chuck D wince in response?

It definitely was a bit of a toe cringing moment as Flavor Flav refused to cut his standard self-congratulatory bit of the show short, which in all reasonableness really shouldn't have been a problem with the time constraints of a 45 minute set. I've seen him do the same exact bit before, and it's a little sad, a little touching, and a little bit long as he thanks the audience for watching his VH 1 Shows, introduces his kids (always different ones it seems), and gives us a 2 minute version of his trademark phrase "Yea Boyyyyyyyy". But Chuck took it in grace and saved the show.


Redman and Flavor Flav Embrace

For more go to BrooklynVegan.

Rock The Bells (Day 1)

Wow. More writing later. Still recovering.

Tons of pictures of Cypress Hill, The Roots, Wu Tang Clan, Redman, and more HERE.
A few quick samples below.