There’s two words that need to be explained before getting into this review:

1. The patience of waiting. Sometimes, in the life of a hip hop fan, you just wait for that goddamn release date to happen, and sometimes, you just wait for a goddamn release date that won’t be pushed back till you’re dead! In this particular case, fans (and me) had to wait six years for another solo album by Staten Island’s Finest, Method Man.

2. The pain of expectations: People don’t expect anything from a wack rapper – he’s been wack in the past, why should his new record be any good then, that’s how people seem to be thinking. On the other side, people expect everything from a good rapper – each and every album gotta be better than the old one, some people want him to evolve, others want him to stay exactly the way he is/was. The tight MC can never be as good as people want/expect him to be. And a long phase of waiting might contribute to even higher expectations.

That way, Method Man’s “Tical 0 : The Prequel” had to accomplish the impossible: Being a better album than human beings can create, stay Wu-Tang style on the one, evolve and be modern on the other hand. No chance to fulfil all that, of course, Mr. Meth didn’t come up to the, i.e. my expectations. But all that put aside, yes, “Tical 0: The Prequel” is a dope record.

Bad things at first: Too many guest appearances. Maybe this is my personal point of view, but I don’t like solo albums to be all joint-ventured all over – if it’s a solo record, it’s a solo record, period. Seventeen tracks including an intro and an outro, and only four solo joints, that’s just not enough. Then, Method Man doesn’t really have shit to say except party and chicks. There’s only one or two tracks where he seems to get away from that (“The Motto”, “The Show”), but he doesn’t really go far from it, and that’s something I miss after waiting six years for a record.

Then the good: He still has the wickedest flow, he still rides beats like pornstars meat, and he still knows how to knock your head out. The productions is done by a lot of different people (most known include the Rza, Rockwilder, and Rick Rock, which by the way produced the best track “The Prequel”) and therefore go a lot of different directions. The production is not as dark as it was on older albums, but then again, it’s not all clubbish, more of a good mixture.

Ergo: A tight record, if it wasn’t Method Man. But being a Method Man album, I just want a little more. Still, it earns good FIVE OUT OF SIX SHOTS.