"I'm tryin'a send my babies to college, While you rappers' babies sift through yo pockets..." @MethodMan

I wasn't terribly impressed with this animated trailer for The Meth Lab, the upcoming album from Method Man, but that doesn't mean I don't smell what the Ticallion Stallion is cookin'. Stream the animated trailer, the title cut, and a dope promo track below...

Huh. Here's a promo joint I copped via some nifty googling. 

Meth going hard on that 88 Coupes beat by Harry Fraud... SICK!
 "I'm tryin'a send my babies to college/
While you rappers' babies sift through yo pockets/
I want your life or your wallet"
-Mef*
Dope. This mixtapeish joint's got all the ingredients for a banger. Method Man just needs to have his team figure out how to make 7-10 more like this, and The Meth Lab will be another classic. Her's what I hear in this track that needs duplicating:

1. Dope beat- Yeah, I know it's jacked from another artist... just get some brand name beats from somewhere. If all else fails, see if you can get some kinda Harry Fraud for two-for one special or something.
2. That Lindsay Lohan-  Street hop is serious business, but Mef is at his best when he brandishes that dry wit. Throwing in celebrity coke fiend references can't hurt either.
3. Charisma for days- (the kids call it "Swag"). He sounds loose, but confident. Chopping through some lines, slowing it down for others. He's feeling himself here, and it shows.
4. "Don't let the smooth taste fool ya" toughness- Mef reminds me of the dude who will be laughing and joking one minute and slapping a tooth out the next. Not a lotta fun in real life to be around unbalanced personalities, but that tension makes for good hip hop music. Mef is genial and shit, but he has to keep those sharp edges on display. "Nuthin ta fuck wit" and all that...

*bonus points for that grown-ass man/dad rap salute!

Then again, I'm not sure if The Meth Lab will resound with today's mass rap audience, even if he manages to grind out a classic record. On the one hand, I think a lot of the core Wu-tang fan base has simply aged out of this kind of music. As much as heads wine about "rappers today", my generation can come up with excuses not to buy dope new records like nobody's business! On the other hand, young audiences seem satisfied with autotuned rap singers in tight pants, leopard print, and diamond-encrusted accessories that rap almost exclusively about girls' pelvic areas (with varying amounts of tears in their eyes).

But here's hoping The Meth Lab enjoys sales proportional to its dopeness when it arrives this August.

Peace,
-samax

Samax Amen draws people, places and things for fun and profit. He is the artist of many great comics you never heard of like Herman Heed, Champion of Children, The Brother and The World As You Know It. He even writes and draws his own comics, like Dare: The Adventures of Darius Davidson, Spontaneous, and Manchild when he gets around to it. Because making comics is hard and stuff, he started GhettoManga as a blog in 2006 and as a print magazine in 2008. 
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