—blogged by @lovelikejhoney
Member of the iconic rap group, #WuTangClan, and Grammy Award-winning rapper, #MethodMan, reminisced on his relationship with his former record label in a recent interview with HipHopDX. Method Man signed to #DefJam Recordings — which was rising as the best hip-hop label — in 1994 where he released four solo albums in addition to simultaneously releasing projects with the Wu-Tang Clan.
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During his tenure with the label, there was a wave of new executives that shifted the energy and Method Man didn’t seem to adjust so easily. “I burned a lot of f*cking bridges at Def Jam,” he told HipHopDX in April. “I had a lot of love for the company ’cause I came in when I was young. I had been there for so many f*cking years, so when staff changed and people changed and things started to change, I didn’t know how to handle the sh*t.”
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The “Tical” rapper continued:
“I hung onto the people that were still there and alienated myself from the new people and by that, that small circle I had the bigger circle around it, none of them f*cked with me. And then that small circle that I f*cked with, there was nothing they could do about it, so they couldn’t f*ck with me either, so now I’m a man on an island by my f*cking self.”
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Reflecting on the situation, the Staten Island MC recognized his mistakes and offered an apology. “It was a shift and I didn’t know how to handle the shit. I should’ve stayed true to myself and been myself, but I didn’t and I was rotten to a lot of people up at Def Jam. There were some people up there deserved the shit. But I was rotten to a lot of people who did not f*cking deserve it and I apologize for that sh*t, big time.”
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Method Man parted ways with Def Jam around 2006 but remains a hip-hop legend. He currently hosts TBS’ “Drop The Mic” and is readying his sixth solo album “Meth Lab II: The Lithium.”
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As for Def Jam Recordings— the label founded 34 years ago, responsible for establishing music careers for acts like the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, and Public Enemy—has continued to excel into the powerhouse label it is today paving the way for artists such as #KanyeWest, #JAYZ, #Rihanna and #TeyanaTaylor.
