Off the Charts: Method Man

The Wu-Tang chronicles

By Newt Briggs

"If what you say is true, the Shaolin and the Wu-Tang could be dangerous."

--The Wu-Tang Clan, "Bring Da Ruckus"

In an era when gangsta rappers sport designer wife-beaters and fight over Jacob and Co. sportwatches, it's refreshing to know that there are still authentic ghetto players out in the streets doing dirt. Take, for example, the Wu-Tang Clan--the many-headed Staten Island rap collective that has parlayed its trademark blend of streetwise braggadocio and kung-fu outtakes into a hip-hop empire (including a video game and a cosmetics line). But while the Wu's collective stock has risen, its individual members have remained firmly grounded on the asphalt, racking up charges from possession of a firearm to making terrorist threats to attempted murder. Much of the credit for this belongs to Ol' Dirty Bastard, who once asked the police to help him make 20 bags of crack "disappear" during a drug bust, but nearly every member of the Clan, including the venerable Method Man, has been bagged by the 5-0 at one point or another. Here follows a handful of highlights in the history of the Wu--some terrible, some triumphant and some just downright bizarre.

November 1993: The Wu-Tang Clan releases its solo debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), on Loud Records. Not many people notice, even though it will eventually be named one of Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time."

March 1994: Method Man becomes the first Wu-Tang member to release a solo album. Tical, Meth's personal term for marijuana, debuts at No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200 and quickly goes platinum.

November 1994: After an argument with a fellow rapper, Ol' Dirty bastard is shot in the belly. It is not the last time he will have a bullet removed from his abdomen.

August 1997: Method Man, Chef Raekwon, GZA and Inspectah Deck are placed under investigation for assaulting Jessiah "Milk" Styles, a promotions executive at their record label. The beating allegedly occurs the day after the Wu-Tang Clan pulled out of a highly publicized tour with Rage Against the Machine.

October 1997: Method Man is charged with misdemeanor assault after allegedly blindsiding a bouncer outside the Palladium nightclub in Manhattan. Thanks to skillful maneuvering by his legal team, the charges are eventually dropped.

December 1997: Ghostface Killah is arrested for weapons possession in Harlem after police discover a .357 Magnum loaded with hollow-point bullets in his car. During the previous week, he had been scheduled to appear in court to face robbery charges, but he skipped the court date after claiming he had come down with malaria.

February 1998: In a shocking display of altruism, Ol' Dirty Bastard rescues a 4-year-old girl from a car crash. After witnessing the crash from the window of a Brooklyn recording studio, ODB and a friend rush to the scene, lift the car and carry the girl to safety.

February 1998: The following night, Ol' Dirty Bastard interrupts Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech at the Grammy Awards to protest Puff Daddy's victory in the Best Rap Album category. He tells the audience, "I don't know how you all see it, but when it comes to the children, Wu-Tang is for the children."

April 1998: Ol' Dirty Bastard announces he will henceforth be known as Big Baby Jesus.

October 1998: Method Man is arrested in Memphis and charged with resisting arrest and obstructing traffic while signing autographs outside his hotel room. He is maced during the altercation with police.

February 1999: Big Baby Jesus becomes the first person arrested under a new California law that prevents convicted felons from wearing bulletproof vests.

October 2000: Big Baby Jesus escapes from a court-mandated drug treatment facility in California. He will be arrested a month later and then sentenced to two to four years in New York state prison.

December 2001: Method Man and Redman, hip hop's apparent answer to Cheech and Chong, release How High--a film that recycles the plots of Back to School, Legally Blonde and Half Baked with a generous sprinkling of anti-intellectualism and misogyny. It does not receive favorable reviews.

May 2003: Big Baby Jesus is released from prison. He signs with Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records and announces that his new name will be Dirt McGirt.

May 2004: Method Man releases Tical 0: The Prequel, his third solo effort. Sadly, the album's title represents its best rhyme.

June 2004: In an unmistakable case of executive bungling, Method and Red are awarded a Fox sitcom fittingly titled, "Method and Red." Three months later, Method Man announces that the show will be put on "a long hiatus."