Who I Am: Method Man, From Staten Island to the Wu
I'm Method Man. My name is Clifford Smith Jr., most people call me Meth, and this is where my merch lives. Here's the short version of who I am.
Where does the name Method Man come from?
My stage name is a nod to a 1979 martial-arts film, Method Man, also known as The Fearless Young Boxer. Over the years I've picked up a few more: Johnny Blaze, Tical, Meth, Ticallion Stallion and Iron Lung.
Where am I from?
Staten Island, New York. I split my childhood between my father's home on Long Island and my mother's in Clifton, Staten Island.
What is the Wu-Tang Clan?
The Wu-Tang Clan is the East Coast hip-hop group I've been a member of since the start, in 1992. Our debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), came out in 1993.
What came after?
In 1994 I put out Tical on Def Jam, the first solo album from a member of the Wu. It reached number 4 on the Billboard 200 and sold over a million copies. Six more solo albums followed, from Tical 2000: Judgement Day to Meth Lab Season 3: The Rehab in 2022.
I'm also half of Method Man & Redman. Together we made Blackout! in 1999 and Blackout! 2 in 2009, starred in How High in 2001 and had our own sitcom, Method & Red, in 2004.
Rapper, producer, actor
Besides the music I work as an actor: Belly, Garden State, Red Tails and Keanu in film, and Oz, The Wire, The Deuce and Power Book II: Ghost on TV. In 1996 I won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group with Mary J. Blige.
Where does the merch come in?
Every design in this store carries my name, on tees, long sleeves, crewnecks and hoodies, with kids' and youth sizes too.