Method Man is not a fan of unofficial, stitched-together remixes — at least to judge by a recent Instagram post.
The now-deleted IG post, caught by AllHipHop, has Meth reacting to a remix by YouTuber DJ Skandalous of the song “Built for This,” from the soundtrack of RZA‘s film The Man With the Iron Fists.
The original track features Meth, Freddie Gibbs, and Street Life. Skandalous’ version, which as of this writing has over 266 million views (as opposed to just over 1.5 million for the actual song’s music video), uses a new beat, removes Street Life, and adds parts of other songs from Ice Cube‘s group Westside Connection, Eazy-E and 2Pac.
Method’s post shared a screenshot of Skandalous’ track, and the caption decried “unauthorized remakes of records with fake collabs.”
“This guy I asked him a long time ago to take this trash down as it takes views away from the original content,” the rapper wrote. “And he still has yet to do so.. over 200 mil views and not one penny to the creators.”
“No one takes into account the time and effort it takes to even make these records let along get these records, put out into the public for someone to come and do half the work and get twice if not quadruple the views of the original content,” he went on. “Whatever happened to IP rights..?”
Meth continued: “I’ve heard my voice on beats I would never rhyme to and a lot of times the verses are offbeat. This is what we call hack shit and I don’t respect it. The main culprits are south central channel , golden age hip hop , and New Yorks finest to name a few.”
The rap icon closed with a question: “Am I wrong for standing up or should I just sit down and shut the f*** up?”
YouTube remixes are not the only part of the modern music business that Meth has been speaking out against lately.
This past summer, he revealed that he’s yet to earn any streaming income from his music, despite his success as a solo artist and with Wu-Tang Clan.
The rap legend made the surprise revelation during an interview with Wale Ogunleye, Head of Sports & Entertainment at UBS, that was released on Hot 97’s YouTube channel.
While discussing the rise of artificial intelligence and its impact on artists and other creatives, Meth said: “I’m still trying to figure out AI but I have seen some things that have made me raise an eyebrow — the Drake diss with the [fake] 2Pac and Snoop, the fake Kendrick [diss songs]. It’s a lot to it.
“I mean, I think it goes way deeper than that, especially when it comes to IPs [intellectual property] for artists that came from my era. Because honestly I’ve never gotten a streaming check for any of my music.”
He added: “Like I said, I’m still trying to figure it all out because there may be someone who can make a perfect mix of the two where — I’m not saying to accept it, but at least make art out of it, and that’s what I’m always for, the creative part.”
Method Man didn’t go into further detail about the ownership of his music or publishing and why he has yet to see a dime from streaming services, as he claims.
Its crazy I just saw some unofficial videos on YouTube algorithm earlier today & said the same shit. They stitch together videos from lesser known features & its really just shitty work. You can usually tell from the channel name but the comments have me befuddled by how many ppl believe the shit real
Its crazy I just saw some unofficial videos on YouTube algorithm earlier today & said the same shit. They stitch together videos from lesser known features & its really just shitty work. You can usually tell from the channel name but the comments have me befuddled by how many ppl believe the shit real
About 25 years late Meth. All those Makaveli and Biggie blends were prolific after they passed, and it’s only gotten worse since.
He’s right. Unofficial remixes are wack as fuck! Meth has all the rights to complain!
Good point I don’t even like the shit. I have a partner that sends me those fake mixes and I delete the shit.
Good point I don’t even like the shit. I have a partner that sends me those fake mixes and I delete the shit.
There is a bunch of this retarded shit on streaming too… for some reason these people love to use Doom, Kool G Rap, Sean P or Wu-Tang members old verses and they out it on their shitty beats… I hate it with a passion, but it is what it is, anytime I see a name I do not know with a DJ attached to it that has a song with P! or Doom I block that shhhh
Hip Hop is dead. Vultures just picking the meat from the bones.
DJ Skandalous is a cretin, he also puts blatantly fake articles on social media as well.
Shut up Method Man. You are REPLACEABLE. We have AI now. We can make CLASSIC sounding Meth n WuTang as the push of a button. Your “art is worthless now. AI for the win. Artists are a rip off. I’d rather listen to a robot any day of the week. Hope you all know I’m kidding, I agree with Meth, he’s always been a good dude.
i dont think that guy made 1 penny of it anyway
There’s one with rza and doom that’s pretty dope but I don’t listen now that I know it’s just a YouTube mash up.
Meff does seem to whine a lot man. Every two years he got some complaint about something. last time he called all his fans fickle because he wasnt on the clan tours and they were expecting him. Bit of a windbag this guy.