Rotation

Method Man plays dress-up, too, on the cover of Tical 2000: Judgement Day. But don't let the apocalyptic facade fool you -- he spends the album maintaining the smooth, beer-swigging iconoclasm that's made him one of rap's favorite ruffnecks. With producers like RZA and Erick Sermon, Meth holds his own, diligently maniacal. And, like RZA, he takes some less traveled sonic roads. "Retro Godfather" finds Meth uncharacteristically going the disco-nostalgic route, and he pulls off a turn-off-da-lights number, "Sweet Love," with the help of Cappadonna and Streetlife. He goes for a full treatment of caustic beats on tracks such as "Party Crasher" and "Suspect Chin Music," where he sounds off on rap poseurs ("bandannas and bad grammar don't make you a thug"). There are even some snippets from the HBO documentary Pimps Up, Ho's Down. And, believe it or not, there's a twinge of a Brian Eno influence on "Big Dogs." Where RZA's a troublemaker of the snarky, subversive kind, Method Man is the kind of hip-hop ne'er-do-well who'd only raise hell if the keg tap were empty. He's yin to RZA's yang, Chris Farley to his David Spade, and we love him for it.

-- Craig D. Lindsey