Album: Blackout! 2
Producers: Various
Release Date: May 19, 2009
Review: Blackout! 2 came out almost 10 years after its predecessor, which I loved. Blackout! was banging from the first track to the last and Method and Red were so tight it was impossible to choose a favorite. Red's verse on "Da Rockwilder" has been my ringtone since I reviewed it last July. So how does Blackout! 2 hold up?
Sadly, it doesn't. Not entirely, anyway. Of course if you're a curious Wu fan like myself, you're probably asking how the hell this happened. As we sometimes do, let's start by looking at the package before discussing a single song.
Aside from an ad in the back for Method Man's next solo album Crystal Meth (which, six years later, still hasn't happened), the list of producers should give plenty of info away. For 17 tracks (including two skits) there are 14 producers. With practically a new producer for each song, it becomes too many cooks in the kitchen. By contrast, the original Blackout! featured seven producers across 19 tracks. Furthermore, two of the producers on the first album are RZA and Mathematics, and since Mathematics is a RZA disciple their sounds are pretty similar to boot.
Now, on Blackout! 2, most of those producers return (Erick Sermon, Redman, DJ Scratch, Mathematics and Rockwilder) but for a maximum of two tracks each (Erick Sermon, Redman and Rockwilder) and the rest for just one track each. And sometimes a bunch of producers can each bring something strong and unique to the table, but that doesn't quite happen on Blackout! 2, which sucks because Method and Red deserve better. So, onto the album.
Things start off with Mathematics' only beat on the album, "BO2 (Intro)." It's a bit repetitive, but sets the stage for Meth and Doc to roam free. Meth's best rhyme is "This nigga spit, don't he? My flow is heavy / Like Katrina when she broke the levees." He also gives off a clever mixed metaphor of cocaine and rap in the next track - the Havoc-produced "I'm Dope Nigga" - when he says "Put your nose in my notebook and go ahead, sniff you a line." It works on the levels that a "line" can be referenced to a line of coke or one line from his verses (which are usually written first in a rapper's notebook), as well as that his emceeing is as addictive to the user as hardcore drugs are to junkies. Given Meth's popularity the last 20 years, he can back up that kind of bragging. The beat here is pretty phat, and Red holds his own, but it's not the best track on the record.
Ironically, "A-Yo" is one of the catchiest songs on the album, and I like it, but it's also indicative of the album's biggest problem. With Saukrates' sung hook (which sounds admittedly great) and the clean, full sound and relaxed tempo of the track, Pete Rock makes "A-Yo" sound like a borderline-commercial West Coast rap track. It sounds more like the type of tune specifically made for a soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto or an open-world Need for Speed, cruising around a Los Angeles-based area at night, than anything else. But I still nod along and get the hook stuck in my head, so maybe I shouldn't complain?
Erick Sermon saves the lukewarm first act of this play with "Dangerous MCees" by providing an infectious bass riff, popping drum loops, a Biggie sample and tense strings for the boys to rhyme over. Red's verse (as with the first three tracks) is solid but not insane, and Meth's features some good switching up on its rhymes like he did every other line on "Method Man" from Enter the Wu-Tang.
But then "Errbody Scream," "Hey Zulu" and "City Lights" happen, which suffer from a similar problem to "A-Yo" without the saving factor of Saukrates' hook. All three tracks sound like they're trying too hard to be LA club hits. "Errbody Scream" tries to appeal to bottom-rung club rats verbally ("When we in the house shit get retarded, when we in the house shit get retarded, when we in the house shit get retarded, we came to finish what y'all done started, ERRBODY SCREAM!!!"). Then, on the other hand, "Hey Zulu" and "City Lights" just try to be club hits (with Poo Bear on auto-tune on "Hey Zulu" and a crowd on occasional shouting/backing lines for both). Speaking of auto-tune, why in the hell does Redman let half his verse suffer that shit on "City Lights?" I'm good with Blackout! 2 being a party album, but damn does this first half suffer for it.
Ty Fyffe throws us a bone with his old-school blaxploitation beat on "Father's Day," where Redman shines with some slang-heavy lyrics. "Pull out like boat motor streams, crack your shoulder wing / Def Squad decoder ring, psychopath bordering" and "Bricks to Staten Island where babies turn into killers / That's why my Cadillac bare more arms than caterpillars" come to mind. The problem is, this is only the second real standout song and the album's already half over.
And the second half keeps the precedent, with several songs teetering between slightly interesting to pretty decent. "Mrs. International" has a cool soul beat but little else to offer; "How 'bout Dat" is really listenable but guest Streetlife ironically disses auto-tune, which is straight-up confusing considering "Hey Zulu" and "City Lights."
"Dis Iz 4 All My Smokers" finally finds the plot and the feeling of the first Blackout!, with DJ Scratch sampling Nancy Wilson to provide a slow, retro beat while Meth and Red rap about smoking pot. Their flows are smooth and the hook samples a live clip of an audience screaming "This is for all my smokers." It's fun, weed-happy and self-aware and you can't help but smile, even if (like me) it's been over a decade since you smoked marijuana. "Four Minutes to Lock Down" is another tight song with Wu guests Raekwon and Ghostface Killah. With a roster of Meth, Red, Rae and Ghost, it's almost a guaranteed success and they bring a lot of energy that several of the album's other tracks sorely missed. Producer Bink! offers an upbeat drum loop with '70s funk horns. Raekwon provides the best verse with tight lyrics: "G's in my pocket of juice, blue goose / I'm a goon under the moon, glow on the boosters / Yeah, deadly my sons, regret me / Windpipe writin', the mic fightin', respect me." "Neva Herd Dis B 4" makes it a hat trick. Three songs in a row I can't get enough of, representing infectious music and solid rhymes.
But is it too little, too late? More or less. The last two tracks don't do anything to add to the quality of the album, so what we're looking at is five really solid tracks (see the "Recommended Tracks" section), another eight or nine I could take or leave, then a few I'm thrilled to skip. It's not all terrible, but rarely finds its way onto my stereo.
Legacy: Blackout! 2 was received well, critically, which surprises me because I'm not nearly as fond of it as most were. Meth and Red definitely proved on both albums that they have a killer chemistry together, but few enough songs stand out to me that I'm genuinely confused by the difference between my impression and most critics'. It stands as the last solo(ish) effort from Method Man, since Crystal Meth and Blackout! 3 haven't materialized. In fact, Crystal Meth has had no fewer than five release dates announced and missed, although the last two years have likely been filled with working on Wu-Tang's A Better Tomorrow - Method Man is famously present all over that record. In a way, Blackout! 2 stands as a big question mark for Meth, since now that A Better Tomorrow is out we're all hungry for what he does next. Of course, if A Better Tomorrow is any indication, Meth has still got it.
Recommended Tracks: Dangerous MCees, Father's Day, Dis Iz 4 All My Smokers, Four Minutes to Lock Down, Neva Herd Dis B 4.
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