‘Tical’: Method Man’s Star-Making Debut Album
The album was both the launchpad for Method Man and the beginning of a nearly unprecedented run of solo and group success for Wu-Tang members.
It’s hard to say who was Wu-Tang Clan’s most magnetic performer, but Method Man made his case the earliest. On Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), he held down hook duties (“C.R.E.A.M.”) for their biggest song, and even had a single named after himself on the same LP (“Method Man”). With his grizzled vocals, technical chops, and unbridled imagination, he was an immediately compelling mic presence. He crystallized that reputation when he became the first Wu member to unload a solo album. Released in 1994, Tical presented Meth as one of the most dynamic all-around rappers of the decade.
Spitting over a bed of RZA’s gloomily kinetic soundscapes, Meth paired a vandal’s sense of humor with the technique of an NY cypher-dweller. Released as the album’s first single, “Bring The Pain” is a masterpiece of pop culture allusions and subdued soul. “In your Cross Colour clothes, you’ve crossed over/Then got Totally Krossed Out and Kris Krossed/Who the boss? N—–s get tossed to the side/And I’m the dark side of the Force.” That sense of humor spills over into tracks like “Release Yo’ Delf,” which features an interpolation of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”; here, a survivor’s anthem transforms into a doomsday for rival MCs. On “Meth Vs. Chef,” he battles with fellow Wu-Tang member Raekwon. Deliberate, yet palpably spontaneous, it’s a fittingly electric showcase for Meth’s multilayered gifts.
One of the album’s great legacies was “All I Need,” a Street Life-assisted track that was eventually turned into an even more indelible remix featuring Mary J. Blige. Skillful and tender, it was a track that revealed Meth to be as capable a loverboy as he was a brawler, a combination you see time and time again in the biggest rap stars.
Decades after its release, Tical stands as both the launchpad for Method Man and the beginning of a nearly unprecedented run of solo and group success for Wu-Tang members. The LP went on to sell more than 1.5 million copies while generating sizable levels of critical acclaim. While it can sometimes get overshadowed by other Wu-Tang solo releases of the era, Tical remains a monument to his status as Wu-Tang Clan’s first star in a constellation filled with them.
