Songoftheday 12/9/19 - Who the fuck want to die for their culture, stalk the dead body like a vulture...
from the album The Show (Original Soundtrack) (1995)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #13 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 8
Today's song of the day comes from two of the most revered rappers in the underground hip-hop community, Redman and from the Wu-Tang Clan, Method Man. Redman, born Reginald Noble in Newark, New Jersey, had been discovered and mentored by Erick Sermon of the group EPMD, who he initially toured with. Redman released his debut album Whut?!? The Album in 1992, and the lead single "Blow Your Mind" went to #1 on the Rap Singles chart in Billboard magazine, and almost reached the R&B top-40 at #42. A second song from the set, "Time 4 Sum Aksion", also went to the top of the Rap Singles chart, while stopping at #63 on the R&B list. Two years later, Redman returned with his sophomore effort, Dare Iz A Darkside. Although that disc became his first to reach the top-40 on the albums sales chart at #13, and single "Can't Wait" broke the Hot 100 pop chart list at #94. Meanwhile, Redman's buddy Method Man was just coming off of his biggest success with his collaboration with Mary J. Blige with the Grammy-winning "I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By", which went to #2 on the pop chart in 1995. That was from his album Tical which reached the the top of the R&B albums chart and #4 on the main sales chart. The pair recorded together and put together a song for the upcoming documentary movie The Show, with interviews of many of the key players like Russell Simmons, Run DMC, Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg, and more. The History lesson in record form had many different styles and attitudes with artists like Onyx, Rappin' 4-tay, and Mary J. Blige. Lead single "Live!" from Onyx only made it to #81 on the R&B chart in Billboard, but the pairing of Redman and Method Man on "How High" on a sample of the disco classic "Fly, Robin Fly" by the Silver Convention proved irresistible...
"How High" became Redman's first and Method Man's second top-40 pop hit in September of 1995. The song also went to #10 on Billboard's R&B chart, and #2 on their Rap Singles list.
Redman returned in 1996 with his next album, Muddy Waters, which again topped the R&B albums sales chart and gone on the main list to #12. From it the single "Whateva Man", featuring Erick Sermon, almost returned the rapper to the top-40, peaking out at #42. Meanwhile, Method Man's contribution to the Batman Forever soundtrack, "The Riddler", was released as a single and climbed to #41 on the R&B chart and #56 on the pop Hot 100. The pair continued to consistently collaborate, and released three albums together starting with 1999's Blackout!. In 2002, they appeared in the movie How High as well as record a soundtrack that included "Part II", a sequel to "How High" which coasted on a sample of Toni Braxton, and the single went to #28 R&B, #5 Rap Singles, and #72 pop Hot 100. As for Redman, he's released five solo studio albums since with two (2000's Doc's The Name 2000 and 2001's Malpractice) topping the R&B sales chart. He's also guested on many hit singles, including the #1 R&B/#3 pop "How Deep Is Your Love" from Dru Hill. His most recent hit on the pop Hot 100 was "Let's Get Dirty (I Can't Get In Da Club)" which popped in at #97 in 2001, while his latest R&B chart appearance is 2007's "Put It Down", which spent a week at #92. His most recent album, Mudface, came in 2009 and went to #147.
As for Method Man, he's had five solo albums apart from the Wu-Tang Clan, with 1998's Tical 2000: Judgement Day and 2004's Tical 0; The Prequel both going to #1 on the R&B albums chart. His most recent R&B singles chart appearance came in 2006 with "Say" featuring Lauryn Hill, which climbed to #66. His last album, Meth Lab Season 2, came out last year but didn't sell enough to chart.
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Here's the pair performing at a Def Jam concert...
and live in Paris in 2006...
and finally, at the Beats launch party in 2014...
Up tomorrow: Ohio rappers await their check.
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