Method Man and Redman

Acts like Cypress Hill and The Luniz (remember “I Got 5 on It”?) helped blow a big cloud of stoner rap into the ears of hip-hoppers back in the ’90s and early ’00s. And few did it with more bonhomie than Def Jam’s playful punk Redman and the Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man. On the face of it, the two couldn’t be more different, in terms of both style and personality. Red comes off like the class clown, while Method comes off like the class bully. But it’s that yin and yang that helped make their ’99 debut, Black Out!, such red-eyed fun. But, in the absence of a true follow-up disc (the new one is slated for December, hence the tour), what was once a fat bud has now been reduced to smoldering ash. Here’s hoping that Red and Method prove us wrong with some fresh jams.