When people talk about the fall-off of the Wu-Tang Clan, there are a few timestamps they might bring up as to when exactly this took place. Some may trace it back as early as 1998, when RZA adopted his "digital orchestra" sound that plagued his own RZA as Bobby Digital In Stereo, a production technique that led to many finding the sophomore albums from the likes of GZA, Method Man and Raekwon (or even the debuts of Inspectah Deck and U-God) to be highly dissapointing, whether that was due to RZA's production touches, or due to the artist leaving out Robert entirely due to this new style not meshing with their vocals.
There's also an argument that it was much later, around the time Wu-Tang dropped their 8 Diagrams effort in 2007. After all, how can a group that has already fallen off produce such great works as Supreme Clientele and The W (an underrated group effort which I'll get to soon)? Around the time 8 Diagrams came out was when there were many internal disputes within the group, and this was generally considered to be a notable low point within their group discography - also, artists such as RZA and GZA released some of their most poorly recieved projects around this time. 2007 was not a great year for the Wu (unless we're talking Ghostface Killah, because every year is great for him).
And then you have the logical people, who say that, even though some members of the Wu-Tang were able to put out great projects after this point, the years 2003-2004 were when the Clan's true relevance within the hip-hop game kind of dwindled to a speck. They hadn't released as a group in a couple years by this point, the only member still making great music at the time was releasing an album with no Wu features at all (although The Pretty Toney Album did have a couple RZA and True Master production credits), and everyone else was either inactive or pushing mediocre product - think Raekwon's The Lex Diamond Story, RZA's Birth Of a Prince, Inspectah Deck's The Movement, and last but definitely not least, U-Godzilla Presents The Hillside Scramblers - basically some of the most poorly received and forgotten albums in the entire Wu catalogue. It shows that when Masta Killa was able to put out an album that was actually good, people had grown so indifferent towards most Wu material that this thing barely charted at all (#136 according to Wikipedia). Yes, 2007 wasn't good either, but to me this particular era was when the Clan dwindled in sales and quality, dropping into the worst places possible as musicians, and generally giving way to newer styles of hip-hop from the likes of 50 Cent, Jeezy and T.I.. It would get better, but really ever since Iron Flag the Clan haven't seen a huge amount of success with any of their own work - again, not counting Ghostface, because his catalogue is seriously good.
And amongst this myriad of mediocrity (did I really just type that out?), one album in particular was singled out as the most dissapointing, ugly, and generally terrible LP of the entire Wu chronology up to that point - and that ladies and gentlemen, is Method Man's third album, Tical 0: The Prequel.
Let's get this over with.
1. Intro (feat. RZA) (prod. Yogi, co-prod. Rich Mae)
One of the reasons people tend to give for hating the shit out of this album is that the release we got wasn't even what Meth wanted to put out - originally, the album had a bunch of RZA beats, before the label decided Robert was no longer capable of making music that would sell well. So imagine the anger of these people when Meth had Bobby himself speaking on the intro, over some music that he didn't even produce! And you know how many credits he actually has on the album? One!! What the fuck??
2. The Prequel (feat. Streetlife) (prod. Rick Rock)
Despite Rick Rock's slightly clunky work behind the boards, Mef does his best to keep this one head high above water, with a fun and memorable performance on the mic that goes down surprisingly well as the first song on an album where the rapping is generally considered to be quite bad. "I got these wannabe gangstas sleeping with the lights on" is kinda funny if you ask me, and while Streetlife's contribution is merely limited to a short hook, Meth's performance makes sure the audience gets hype from the jump. I've always been a fan of this one, and it looks like I still am.
3. Say What (feat. Missy Elliott) (prod. Tony Dofat & Sean "P. Diddy" Combs)
Probably the most forgettable song in the entire Method Man catalogue comes in the form of this dissapointing Missy Elliott collabo, and it's not poor just because the guest star's contribution is limited to a generic hook. Method Man should never be rhyming over an instrumental that sounds as flat and inoffensive as this, and even with the occasional funny bar like "I tried to quit puffin' before, but I'm no quitter", it's clear that even Meth himself realises that this track isn't worth a truly good performance. Also, this song has Diddy ad-libs, immediately rendering it unplayable in the year 2025. Oh dear.
4. What's Happenin' (feat. Busta Rhymes) (prod. DJ Scratchator)
5. The Motto (prod. Nasheim Myrick & Lee Stone)
Over a dark, menacing and dreary instrumental from Hitman Nashiem Myrick and Pharoahe Monch producer Lee Stone (this and Scarface's "On My Block" being the only two non-Pharoahe Monch production credits he's really had over the years as far as I know), Meth drops some slow and calculated verses, punctuated by a rather silly hook that it's best we all forget about. Overall, this song is decent though - the beat is heavily suited to Meth's "you can't fuck with me" attitude on the song, and while some of the bars are generic as fuck ("we can kick it until our feet hurt"), most of the time Meth's lyricism is amicable. This isn't Clifford's best work, but for an album cut it's pretty solid.
6. We Some Dogs (feat. Redman & Snoop Dogg) (prod. Denaun Porter)
Of course we couldn't have a Meth album without the presence of Reggie Noble, and here he is alongside Snoop Dogg of all people - in fact, there were rumours around this time that the three were going to be forming a supergroup, which like many hip-hop rumours, was based upon absolutely nothing the artists themselves had said. And just like the previous song, this one is... pretty good, if not exceptional. Denaun's instrumental is fun, sure, but his hook is pretty atrocious, and all of the MCs come off as kinda-sorta misogynistic on here - I don't recall Blackout! having any crude sex songs on it, so what made these guys want to try this sort of song now? "Big Dogs", this ain't - it's no wonder these three never hooked up for an album.
7. The Turn (feat. Raekwon) (prod. RZA)
The last song on the album before things kind of go to shit (spoiler alert) is this RZA produced cut that would probably have been a classic if it had been made by the same people ten years earlier. On this album however, RZA's production feels a little stale and repetitive, and Rae is far from his peak too, even if the instrumental does dwarf most of what we heard on The Lex Diamond Story the previous year. Thankfully, Mef rides the beat well, which is good, because he has twice as much screen time as his guest on this short track, that also implements a sample which I think I recognise, but can't place where it's from. Meth's last bar is pretty funny here - one thing the man can't be faulted on is his ability to not take himself too seriously all the time. Overall not bad, but you're better off checking out the other Wu-Tang feature song on here, which I'll explain later...
8. Tease (feat. Chinky) (prod. No ID)
You'd be forgiven for having some hope for this track, despite the horrible song title and oddly racist stage name of the featured artist Chinky - after all, No I.D. is one of the best producers of all time, right? Sadly, this song is inevitably horrible - Method Man should never be found within a five mile radius of such a commercial sounding instrumental, and just because he wrote some good love songs in his day, it doesn't mean he can spit some shit like "chicks call me gravel pit dick, the bed rocker" and expect to get away with it. God, this is terrible.
9. Rodeo (feat. Ludacris) (prod. Boogz)
Yes, that is the same Boogz who made a name in the late 2010s and 2020s on albums like Kanye's Jesus Is King and Donda - or at least I think it is. Unfortunately, it seems he had some work to do back in 2004, because this electric guitar groove is simply godawful, forcing Meth and Luda to sound like unfunny parodies of themselves - it takes a special kind of terrible music to make two of the best rappers of all time sound like they have absolutely no clue what they're doing, and yet it happened here. This has to be one of the most disappointing collaborations of all time - thank God it's short is all I say.
10. Baby Come On (feat. Kardinal Offishall) (prod. Fafu)
And you thought "Tease" was bad.... - I don't even want to comment on this bullshit.
11. Who Ya Rollin Wit (prod. JellyRoll)
Since the previous three songs land themselves comfortably on my infamous "worst three track runs I've ever heard" list, Meth chooses to switch things up for this joint, and spit some more hardcore shit over what sounds like something Xzibit passed up from his Weapons Of Mass Destruction album, which isn't really much of a compliment - I'd certainly struggle to say much good about a song with a chorus as terrible as the one that appears on here. Still, just by default this one sounds acceptable compared to the last three tracks, and during the verses at least the instrumental is somewhat enjoyable - with Meth's performance being solid as well. I certainly don't love this song, but hey, anything's better than "Baby Come On", so I'll take it.
12. Never Hold Back (feat. Saukrates & E3) (prod. E3)
Against my better judgement, I've always rather liked this collaboration with Redman's Gilla House signees. E3's production on this joint is fun, with an electronic bounce that is somewhat haunting but also playful, and Method Man sounds far more comfortable here than he has for a while now on this album. Not to mention, E3's vocals during this chorus are actually really nice. I'm genuinely a fan of this track.
13. The Show (prod. Self)
14. Act Right (prod. Rockwilder)
Sadly by 2004, Rockwilder was long past the point of remembering how to make actual music - by now he's been making concoctions of random noises that are supposed to pass as "club bangers" for so long that not one of his beats has any sort of melody, rhythm or groove that you might consider to be good. It's a pity, because the guy wasn't half bad around the time "Da Rockwilder" came out. I almost forgot, Method Man raps on here too. Yeah.
15. Afterparty (feat. Ghostface) (prod. Q)
Aside from "What's Happenin'", this has to be the clear standout from this project, one of the best Wu collaborations post 2000 in my personal opinion. Meth and Ghost spit a fun back and forth over an awesome instrumental from Qur'an Goodman (credited as just "Q", which I'm sure he was glad about), that incorporates these violins that sound simultaneously fun and tragic, which is quite the feat I must say. The addition of GFK into the proceedings was always going to help this track stand out, and he doesn't disappoint, with his rhymes about being at the party reminding me of some of the stuff he spit on the excellent The Pretty Toney Album, released a couple months before this track. And while on "What's Happenin'" Busta kind of outshone our host, here each player is an equal, both sounding awesome, with quotables galore on this cut. Man, this album has some good moments.
16. Crooked Letter I (feat. Streetlife) (prod. Denaun Porter)
The second Kon Artis produced track on here is surprisingly better than the first, which is mental considering that that song featured Redman and Snoop Dogg, while this one has a guest feature from Streetlife. While it is unfortunate that Denaun always has to fucking sing on songs he's produced (Christ, this man is no MJ), the back and forth on here from Meth and Street is entertaining, and the song has that somewhat menacing air to it that's present on quite a few of the highlights across this record. This isn't brilliant, but I can dig it.
17. Ridin' For Outro (feat. Black Ice) (prod. Yogi, co-prod. Rich Mae)
Kind of reminds me of the intro and outro to Nas' Nastradamus album, only with actual music behind it this time. Kind of an intriguing outro, but poorly placed considering it feels like it's setting something up, only for the album to just end abruptly. Would have worked better as a skit before some kind of dark storytelling track.
Tical 0: The Prequel is like working days as a helicopter pilot, and nights cleaning the toilets of the local KFC - in other words this thing has some of the highest highs and lowest lows of any album I own on CD. It's actually ridiculous how the structure of this project plays out. You have some of Meth's best solo material ever in tracks like "Afterparty" and "The Show", and a legitimate classic of the 2000s on "What's Happenin'", plus some other seriously solid moments, like "The Prequel" and "Crooked Letter I", all of which show Meth's brilliant abilities as a humorous and talented MC, as well as his great ear for beats and talent for meshing well with his guest star.
But amongst that, especially around the middle point of this tracklist, you have what are not only the worst Method Man songs ever, but also some of the worst released by a Wu member in general. Seriously, "Tease", "Baby Come On" and even "Rodeo" are legitimately embarrassing to listen to, with their insipid instrumentals, miserable choruses, and creepy verses from a rapper who sounds like he's going through the most inappropriate mid-life crisis of all time. Just imagine if the whole album had been of the quality of the high points on here - this could have been an almost Supreme Clientele level of great. Instead we get a few brilliant songs, a few more pretty decent songs, and some absolutely terrible songs too. It's no wonder Meth himself hates this album even more than all of his fans do - he was clearly still capable of creating good product at this time, but it just seems that the label got in the way of him cooking up something truly spectacular. It's a true shame we never got to hear the original album that Meth had recorded - that shit might've been seriously dope.
But in the end, I'd still call this better than most of the non-Ghostface Wu releases of the early 2000s. Even upon relisten the highs are still obvious to me, and while it's very inconsistent, it's far more likely to pull me back in than whatever Raekwon and Inspectah Deck were up to around this time. Seriously, go back and listen to this - there just might be some gems that you initially missed in your extreme rage over the lack of RZA input on here. Just make sure you keep a finger posted ready above the skip button, because that's something you're going to want to be hitting a couple of times with this one. Thanks for reading!
Best Tracks: "The Prequel", "What's Happenin'", "The Turn", "Never Hold Back", "The Show", "Afterparty"
Worst Tracks: "Tease", "Rodeo", "Baby Come On"
Read up on some of my other Method Man critiques by clicking here!
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