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From music-making to acting, Method Man is in his bag, and he’s dishing on staying in the rap game while embarking on other pursuits!
The longtime Wu-Tang Clan member spoke on the subjects during a new interview with Cassius Life, and he initially acknowledged his acting pursuits.
Method Man, 52, said that — while he started by only accepting roles where “there wasn’t any acting involved whatsoever” — he eventually got “serious” about the craft after taking note of all the other people who tirelessly work to help the projects take off. He also discussed making sure not to be “the weakest link on [the] set.”
“I decided to take it serious when I saw exactly what these actors go through just to get a part and to survive on a daily basis. For me, that is motivation enough to go through every step that I have to go through in order to give my best performance. And not just my best performance but my 110% effort to make sure that I’m not the weakest link on this set. ‘Cause there are people that show up hours before I do to make sure everything runs smoothly.”
Following these observations, the Power: Book II star asked himself, “Who am I to come unprepared?”
He continued by addressing some of the differences between the crafts, noting, “Hip-Hop has nothing to do with my acting.” Instead, he acknowledged how childhood trauma and “real life s**t” play into acting.
“I love being creative. But as far as the acting goes, Hip-Hop has nothing to do with my acting, whatsoever. What has a lot to do with my acting is post-traumatic stress disorder from my childhood and real-life things that happened. Not things that happened on the stage, interviews, concerts whatever. Real life s**t. Grocery store kind of s**t. Laundromat kind of s**t. Going back to school shopping for your kids type of things. Something genuine that keeps you grounded.”
Speaking of hip hop, which recently marked its 50th anniversary, Method Man touched on how he’s seen the genre shift since he entered the scene in the early 1990s. Specifically, he gave hip hop its flowers for evolving into a “billion-dollar business” that “sets the trend[s].”
“You seen how it went from a million-dollar business to a billion-dollar business. Just know this, Hip-Hop sets the trend for a lot of the cultures. A lot of the fashion, whether it be Timberland boots or those ugly-a** Balenciaga sock sneakers, Hip-Hop did that.”
Method Man shared that the genre “changed the landscape” despite obstacles that people put in its way.
“There’s no denying that this music genre has changed the landscape of how music is even listened to or how music is accepted. They keep moving the [goalposts] on us ’cause every time we get a little win it’s something [that] drags us back, or they put something in the forefront that doesn’t represent all of us, just a small group of us. But you live and you learn.
Regarding the ever-changing state of the rap game, he reflectively added, “I’ve seen people come, I’ve seen people go. And I am glad that I am still here [and] relevant enough to be mentioned amongst some of the greats.”
