Blackout! (Method Man & Redman album)

Blackout!
Studio album by Method Man & Redman
Released September 28, 1999
Recorded 1998-1999
Genre Hip hop
Length 58:36
Label Def Jam Recordings
Producer DJ Scratch, Gov Mattic, Mathematics, Reggie Noble, Rockwilder, RZA, Erick Sermon
Method Man & Redman chronology
Blackout!
(1999)
Blackout! 2
(2009)Blackout! 22009
Method Man chronology
Tical 2000: Judgement Day
(1998) Tical 2000: Judgement Day1998
Blackout!
(1999) Blackout!1999
Tical 0: The Prequel
(2004) Tical 0: The Prequel2004
Redman chronology
Doc's da Name 2000
(1998) Doc's da Name 20001998
Blackout!
(1999) Blackout!1999
Malpractice
(2001) Malpractice2001
Singles from Blackout!
  1. "Tear It Off"
    Released: 1999
  2. "Da Rockwilder"
    Released: 1999
  3. "Y.O.U."
    Released: 2000

Blackout! is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Method Man & Redman.[1] It is the first full-length release by Method Man and Redman after many collaborations. The album continued a string of highly successful Def Jam releases in the late 1990s. The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 254,000 copies[2] and served as a bit of a precursor to the 2001 major studio film How High. Both rappers enjoyed perhaps the height of their popularity as a tandem after the success of the album and its three charted singles. The singles were also popular videos which were mainstays on MTV and BET. The sequel to the album, Blackout! 2, was released on May 19, 2009.

Background

Originally the name of the album was to be Amerikaz Most Blunted and was advertised as that for months before the release, but they changed it to the more commercially acceptable Blackout!. The CD version of the album features three previously released bonus tracks; "Well All Rite Cha" also appeared on Redman's solo album, Doc's Da Name 2000, "Big Dogz" from Method Man's Tical 2000: Judgement Day and 1995's critically acclaimed single "How High".

The most popular of these previous collaborations was on the song "How High" from the soundtrack to The Show. The album's three singles, "Y.O.U.", "Da Rockwilder" and "Tear It Off", spearheaded the highly hyped release to go platinum on January 6, 2000,[3] more than three months after the album's release. The album has also been certified platinum in Canada (100,000 copies).[4] The album has sold 1,575,000 copies to date. . Blackout is also considered a landmark for both rappers and for East Coast Hip Hop.

Critical reception

Rolling Stone (11/11/99, p. 132) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...a tight-as-drum album in an era of half-assed efforts."

Entertainment Weekly (10/10/99, p. 73) - "...when hip-hop's most playfully creative rhyme stylers throw down like two superballs in a rubber room, they're unstoppable - and make rap's most joyous ride." - Rating: A-

The Wire (1/00, p. 100) - "...skulk-funk...Redman moans a melody of dank basement isolation, while on 'Cereal Killer' he sabotages over vamping guitar....Meth executes some taut syncopation...on which his syllables alternate cadences with producer Eric Sermon's thumpingest track of the LP."

The Source (2/00, p. 95) - Included in The Source's "Top 10 Albums of the Year [1999]."

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)ProducerLength
1."A Special Joint" (Intro)Clifford Smith, Reggie NobleReggie Noble1:28
2."Blackout"Smith, Noble, Erick SermonErick Sermon3:43
3."Mi Casa"Smith, Noble, SermonErick Sermon2:52
4."Y.O.U."Smith, Noble, SermonErick Sermon4:03
5."4 Seasons" (featuring LL Cool J and Ja Rule)Smith, Noble, Sermon, James Smith, Jeffrey AtkinsErick Sermon4:04
6."Cereal Killer" (featuring Blue Raspberry)Smith, Noble, Robert DiggsRZA3:57
7."Da Rockwilder"Smith, Noble, Dana StinsonRockwilder2:19
8."Tear It Off"Smith, Noble, SermonErick Sermon4:10
9."Where We At" (Skit)Smith, NobleReggie Noble1:53
10."1, 2, 1, 2"Smith, Noble, George SpiveyDJ Scratch4:41
11."Maaad Crew"Smith, Noble, SermonErick Sermon4:27
12."Run 4 Cover" (featuring Ghostface Killah and Streetlife)Smith, Noble, Diggs, Dennis Coles, Patrick CharlesRZA4:24
13."The ?"Smith, NobleReggie Noble4:50
14."Dat's Dat S**t" (featuring Mally G and Young Zee)Smith, Noble, Ronald Bean, Jamal Phillips, Young ZeeMathematics4:19
15."Cheka"Smith, Noble, Aubrey WilliamsGov Mattic, Reggie Noble3:02
16."Fire Ina Hole"Smith, Noble, BeanMathematics4:21
Total length:58:36

Charts

Album

Year Album Chart positions
Top Canadian Albums Billboard 200 Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums
1999 Blackout! 3 3 1

Singles

Year Song Chart positions
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Hot Rap Singles
1999 "Tear It Off" 52 16
2000 "Y.O.U." 69 18
"Da Rockwilder" 51 14

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.