METHOD MAN & REDMAN - Blackout 2

Like Martin & Lewis, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, or Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. Every odd couple, sooner or later, has to spend a good while apart even though they're made for each other. The same goes for Method Man & Redman, perhaps American rap's two most famous situation comedians, who had to wait a full decade before following up their acclaimed debut album "Blackout" (1999). And this despite no shortage of opportunities to work together in the meantime: dozens of joint features on their own and other people's records, a successful Fox TV show, "How High", which in 2001 also became a film. And a steadily growing popularity for the duo even outside the US rap system.

"Blackout 2" resembles, in fact, one of those Hollywood comedies shot and produced like a perfect mechanism designed to make the most of the lead performers' chemistry and talent while catering to the target audience's tastes. Everything is exactly as it should be, perfectly measured and balanced, without the risky flights of fancy that an excessive dose of originality would entail. But the fun is guaranteed, not least because we're dealing, after all, with consummate professionals in their field. With the pronounced horror-funk shades of the first chapter toned down, Method Man & Redman serve up hip-hop firmly rooted in the underground (the Wu-Tang Clan, obviously, for the former, Def Squad and the EPMD school for the latter), with torso and mane stretched toward the mainstream, right up to brushing against the most shameless (though never degenerate) chart-friendly r'n'b and pop.

The lyrics, too, are exactly what you'd expect from two jesters like them — no point combing through the verses looking for a glimmer of seriousness: demented humor à la "Chapelle Show", spicy come-ons to the ladies, over-the-top odes to the cannabis the two rappers are undying devotees of, the usual self-glorification, and bizarre free-associative flights of wordplay.

The result is an eclectic record (as the staggering number of producers with such wildly different sensibilities also suggests: from Erick Sermon to Rockwilder, from Pete Rock to Bink!), catchy, acrobatic, and not averse to excursions of exquisite craftsmanship. From the MTV-friendly vein of "Hey Zulu" and "I Know Sumptn" to pounding, bombastic anthems like "Errbody Scream", "Neva Herd Dis B 4" and "Dangerus Mcees" (lean, hardcore delivery and suitably hymn-like harmonies); from the g-funk of "A-Yo" (soft and soulful), "A Lil Bit" (sexy and danceable) and "City Lights" (tighter and sharper) to the stripped-down synthetic "boom-bap" of "I'm Done Nigga" and "How Bout Dat".

A more-than-deserved passing grade so far, given that we've saved the tracks that really raise the bar and make the difference for last: starting with the single "Mrs International", a rap-soul ballad dressed in dazzling Motown garb (the sample comes from the Blue Notes), continuing with "Father's Day", an ultra-minimal oldschool cut driven by an acidic, reverb-drenched blaxploitation tone, and closing in style with "4 Minutes To Lock Down", lean, driving street-rap with looped horn stabs puffing over kick and snare, and essential features from two Clan greats, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah (whose verse, in particular, is a little hardboiled gem).

Solid, accomplished hip-hop for a blockbuster that, all things considered, has what it takes to win over both audiences and critics. Even if it reconfirms the unwritten rule that a sequel rarely matches (or surpasses) the original.

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23/08/2009