SS Music Reviews: Method Man and Redman - Blackout 2

Hi.My name's Mark.And I'm white.I live in a predominantly white neighborhood.I went to a predominantly white college. And I have predominantly all white friends.But at night, while all my white friends are asleep,I bump this.

If The Ecstatic plays out like a live show Blackout 2 plays out like a week long Mancation. It's that crazy grimy and gutter. The intro starts appropriately with a "DC make some god damn noise" paying homage to the true home of the Jackals, Red and Meth know we got the east coast on lock.

The album is exactly what you think it is, straight hip hop beats with Red and Meth going back and forth all day like, well like Red and Meth. The responsible revolutionary side of me wants more conscious MCs but Red and Meth aptly capture why I am so hooked on hardcore hip hop in the aptly titled I'm Dope Nigga. Meth flips the metaphors and similes perfectly and I'li lay it out for you here so you can get a small taste of why he says I'm dope, nigga, dirty needle stuck in the arm

Put your nose in my notebook and go and sniff you a line

I'm dope, nigga, I'm heroin in it's prime

While the game is on it's decline, bitches on my Davine

I fine rhymin easy, but I ain't easy to find

Simply put he's right. You can take the Jackal outta the Mancation but you can't take the Mancation outta the Jackal. This album's straight aural Mancation for your weekday monotony. City Lights above lays a simple beat and a catchy chorus about getting tore up under City Lights. What self respecting Jackal who likes to get awesome wouldn't put this on 11 and bass out on their way to jump start Boogers car after getting too awesome two nights prior? Not ScarShoulders that's for Jackal Damn sure. And for the gay clones out there a few tracks get more complicated with horns and live drums but really Red and Meth are keeping strictly Hip Hop for Hip Hop heads.

The official ScarShoulders rating is 4 out of 5 howls. Greatness could have been achieved by dropping the two uncharacteristically unfunny skits and 3 or 4 other tracks and adding remixes of Gotta Have It, Pimp Nuts, and Put It Down...but it's better that they didn't cause they gotta leave something for me and BallDeep to work on in the lab. Let's put it another way, when Mike GolickASpermDonorRecepticle made me want to kill everything this morning this was the first CD I reached for to get the good vibes flowing again.

If you are a gay clone or have fits of GAF behavior do not buy this album. Bonus points were awarded for Redmans barking which is very Jackal in nature. You will see no Esquire review of this album because Esquire is GAF. If Tico buys this album, plays it at home, thinks he's on Mancation, and punches a bunch of holes in his own house the author of this review is not responsible for his actions.