Method Man recently broke down his top 25 most essential songs for Complex.com, speaking on how he met up with Notorious B.I.G. and how he initially didn’t want to release “All I Need” as a single. But one of the most dynamic revelations was that Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version was penned mostly by RZA and GZA.
Speaking specifically on his feature “Raw Hide,” Meth explained why RZA and GZA had to take on rhyme duties for the 1995 LP. “The majority of the verses on that album are old RZA rhymes and GZA rhymes,” he said. “’Approach the school, 9:30, you’re late,’ that’s RZA’s shit. I heard that shit when I was 14 years old. That whole, ‘Easy on my balls, they’re fragile as eggs,’ niggas said that in a rap battle in fucking 1989.
“Dirty took all their shit and made it his own and GZA ain’t say shit,” he continued. “Most of [Dirty’s verses] was GZA’s shit. I remember GZA and ODB got in an argument one night and GZA was like, ‘Nigga most of that shit you say on your fucking album is mines anyway!”
He did state that ODB wrote some of the songs, including “Brooklyn Zoo,” and stated that he himself wrote the first verse on Ghostface Killah’s “Cherchez La Ghost.” 
Read the full feature at Complex.com.
RELATED: Method Man To Star In “The Mortician,” Trailer Released
Just saw Meth, Street and Math in concert last night….part of the Smoker’s Club Tour….which was utter trash, minus Wu..
aye meth why all did you have to air out dirty laundry like that bruh? somethings should be left to the group you waited after Ason Unique passes and says something ayethats a sucka move hell I rember niggaz saying rza really wrote the first tical for real.meth cut the bullshit and finish up your album.
ya, its a bitch move….co-sign
Like anybody thought that Rock Monster wrote for himself anyway, that dude could barely speak in interviews
meth fucked up with this shit , how you gona go off on odb while he’s dead plus since all this time has passed, sorry meth but fuck you with this
Still one of the greatest WU albums! My favorite solo WU! No changing! ODB 4 EVA!
damn….i def can’t respect this shit, true or not. it woulda been bad enough if he said it when dirty was alive, but it’s garbage for him to say after his death.
co-sign
110% way to honor your brother meth
CO-SIGN…why don’t you keep your mouth shut on ODB…you don’t see Rza or Gza coming out of the woodwork way after the fact to air-out old laundry. Instead…why don’t you focus on actually coming out with a BANGING ALBUM from start to finish (excluding TICAL of course)…just because you did a cool lil SOUR KIDS song recently don’t mean you TOP GUN yet…you still got REAL LYRICAL NIGGAZ in the game like JOE BUDDEN (minus his bitch-ass-ness Wayz), who we all know, deep-inside, will still CHOP YOUR HEAD OFF LYRICALLY punk…DAMNNNNN…I bought tickets to the MR. MEF coming to San Francisco on November 2nd…shiiiiit….now I’m gonna those muthafu#$@
@Twoholla…
What brought up Joe Budden, or even “real lyrical niggaz”?
mayne, in a time when we need more wu unity meth comes out n stirs negativity… how does this help regardless of its truth?
hey its cool man. you still can’t replicate the personality that dirt had
ODB wasnt lyrical he was just crazy!
rappers share rhymes. they always hav n always will.. its all wu and im not even a wu fan. it is what it is. all of em was/are talented and like dude said earlier no one can replicate dirtys personality or delivery (which does matter)
quit making excuses for someone who had ghostwritten lyrics. I bet if this was lil wayne, or eminem you would be bashing the hell out of him.
Dude just cus u dont know about it doesnt mean it doesnt go on..ems used verses penned by fans, wayne has used ghost writers soooo many times, fuck dude listen to mad skillz song ghostwriter..all the times he stops hes actually written for a rapper he leaves the names in when he does it live and the list is crazzzzy and thats just one ghostwriter…gtfover it.
ODB >>> wack flocka flame
one of the greatest black entertainers ever when the wu first dropped. he just had it and a ton of it.
Method Man wrote a verse for Ghostface? NO FUCKING WAY IN HELL.
LOL! I know! Especially since Ghost has had the most consistent albums to date…Sounds like Meth needs to go back to smoking weed
Oooor you should go back to smoking crack cuz Meth never said he wrote the entire record he said mentioned a line that Meth used to say back when he was younger and Ghost used, that’s normal as hell not only in hip-hop but in music.
i liked life better when i didnt know that lol
fucking snake….meth yur a pussy
and the worst thing about it is it’s all a stunt he’s probably just trying to get relevant again First the sour patch kids commercial, now this. THE ONLY THING I WANNA HEAR FROM METHOD MAN IS CRYSTAL METHOD AND THAT PROBABLY WONT COME TILL 2067
Stunt? If anything he just got people to be curious and pay some extra attention to ODB’s album. But keep typing your little foolish thoughts.
LMAO at all these people.
ODB had ghostwritten lyrics and people seem to be okay with it. I’m sure if this was eminem, or rick ross, or lil wayne, people would be bashing the hell out of them. Dre uses ghostwriters and people bash him for that. If your gonna judge one rapper about that, judge all of them.
I guess since ODB was part of Wu its okay for that?
Hahaha well i lost all respect for ODB because of that. I dont give a fuck if hes dead or not, fuck him for pulling that kind of shit.
you want a hate campaign on ODB NIGGA!
DID’NT YOU KNOW…THERE AINT NO FATHER TO HIS STYLE STFU!!!!
If you’re going to box all the comments in, then make sure you know the people saying it happens all the time in the industry ore the same ones who dislike it when Puffy, Dre or Baby do it. The issue is it happens ALL the time, rappers take lines and ideas from their people, other artists, other songs. So in reality, your loss of respect means nothing, because you don’t even know when it happens to approve or disapprove.
It’s the truth…so why do people have a problem with Meth telling the truth? I don’t get it.
You really didn’t think ODB was writing all of those rhymes…did you? I sure didn’t. My fav track from ODB is “Brooklyn Zoo” anyway…a track which he wrote, so it’s all good in my book.
This happens all the time. Why you think Cons was acting up? What about the Young Chris & Hov comparisons? Gillie & Wayne? Lord Superb & Ghostface? You didn’t hear Eminem’s influence in all of Slaughterhose & Yelawolf’s raps in that cypher? You don’t think Bleek & Kanye help Jay redo his raps? If you don’t you are a fool. If anything GZA & RZA helped make ODB’s album classic. And if people actually listened to music you heard the album with the GZA & ODB song and where ODB did the same song on the album by himself.
eminem didnt help write the joe budden verse, i guarentee you that, joe wouldnt have that.
I said INFLUENCED, not wrote.
Honestly this shit’s not that surprising, it actually makes sense since GZA and ODB both spit the same verse on different parts of the album anyway, and who do you think wrote the original? Either way, it sounds like a whole different verse when ODB does it. For anybody else this would be scandalous but I don’t think anybody loved ODB for his lyrical prowess. As far as getting mad at Meth, I don’t know. I mean, was that supposed to be some deep secret they never talked about and took to the grave?
Exactly a Star! and completl;y original when it comes to delivery!!
I don’t think meth is taking anthing away from Dirty!!
ODB was Wu Tang answer to Flava Flav anyway, nobody ever respected him for his lyrics, they liked him because he was the crazy Mascot guy who was there to provide comic relief
If this were about GZA or Rae it would be a diffrent story
Althought it does make you laugh about that old Vibe List where they had ODB ranked hire as an MC then Black Thought & Sticky Fingaz, guess now I get why Joe Budden was trippin on that, lol
Well said
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If u didnt kno that u gotta smoke more rocks then odb if anything meths leavin out alllot of other times he used others rhymes. Dont get me wrong odbs a legend but dude aint sick as a rapper lol.
he himself wrote the first verse on Ghostface Killahs Cherchez La Ghost.
is he saying that he wrote ghost rhyme?
Nah. In the Complex piece, Mef said that the first few lines — “Brothas try to pass me but none can match me / No girl can freak me, I’m just too nasty” — were from a rhyme he’d written several years before.
It’s hard to write rhymes when you’re fucked up a lot, RIP ODB I don’t want to bash someone who has passed but I believe it that ODB didn’t write all of his songs, “Damage” feat. GZA you can tell by the flow it was written by one person cause it matches perfectly each time as they trade off rhymes. I will say that ODB adds something to these verses, like on “Raw Hide” he has his rant thats classic now but I don’t believe RZA or GZA or anyone else wrote. ODB was also more recognized for his flow more than anything and it his unusual antics that were used by groups like NWA with Eazy-E, Public Enemy with Flava Flav.
Wu fans been knowing that for a minute, if you listen to mad Wu shit you’ll hear where ODB has referenced shit or straight up re-spit his Wu brothers shit, but really that’s always been part of the Wu… they always borrow lines of each other. I don’t think Meth was tryna air Dirty out anything but he probably coulda kept that story to himself. WU TANG FOREVER!!
if this was said about a modern rapper people would flip out. I respect GZA alot for not making this public or ever alluding to it in interviews. RIP ODB
I’m sure most people figured this out a long time ago. Dirty wasn’t ever a lyrical mastermind or anything. He was a nutty persona. Listen to Dog Shit from Forever. That’s a Dirty rhyme.
ODB was overrated…nuff said. The nigga couldn’t rap period! The nigga couldn’t “rap” a christmas gift. I hate seeing little college white boys and girls rock that stupid ODB shirt like they REALLY listen to his music on the daily! Y’all ain’t foolin nobody son. gtho wit dat mess
Only a groupie fan would be salty and upset because their favorite rapper didn’t write one word or two, because perhaps you held them high like they were a god and got the shock of your life when you found out they’re human just like you.
weed carrier: * spits a verse on the plane *
rapper: yo that’s hot! that goes with this new song, lemme get that.
weed carrier: 5gs and you can have it.
rapper: bet
* rapper records in studio *
studio engineer: yo, maybe if you say this word at the end of the rap, it will sound better.
rapper; alright. lemme try it.
* song is done, comes out and is #1 on radio*
* NONE OF YOU KNOW WHO HELPED OR ACTUALLY WROTE SAID SONG *
And what I just said HAPPENS ALL OF THE TIME.
Too fucking funny! Y’all so-called hip hop heads currently verbally TRASH and despise artists like Nicki Minaj, Wayne, and Drake cause you THINK they are spitting ghostwritten lyrics. But when you find out that ODB was definitely spitting ghostwritten lyrics, you still respect and admire the man and refuse to say anything bad about him just because he came from the golden era. Y’all are some tools.
You the fool. Let me show you how:
people knew Biz Markie didn’t write
people knew Treach was writing for Latifah
people knew Dre nor Eazy wrote
people knew about Puffy not writing
people knew Kim had Biggie writing
people knew RnB songs were ghostwritten
people knew Gillie was writing for Wayne
and now these same people who knew and know all of this information are now hating on these NEW rappers you named? Stop making yourself look foolish.
I think that’s because it’s a given that ODB can’t rap. The rappers you name are now assumed to be the only rappers that matter – hence them taking up half the headlines on this site.
gillie wasn’t write for lil wayne
Brooklyn Zoo was lyrically the best song on the album, good to hear ODB wrote it
how u gona throw shots at a dead man…dude is a legend ghostwritten or not
I second that
Those weren’t shots, they were just facts. Most people already knew this, just like they knew that Dre didn’t write any rhymes on “The Chronic.”
method man just mad that he the only member that don’t have a definite classic solo album.
I disagree. As dumb as he is for spilling the so called beans, I have to say Tical was a classic. Followed by Tical 2000. Everything after was trash…And I’m a Wu fan..
I’m sorry, which one of his albums went platinum again?
@Anonymous:
4:21 was a strong album, too. Tical 2000 would have been better if it wasn’t so long.
What? I Bring The Pain, All That I Need, PLO Style, METHOD Man aren’t classics off that 1st album? GTFOHWTBS! Sub Crazy even got burn! WORD IS BOND y’all “niggaz” is cray…#cutitout…AND I know alotta y’all are POSING…
They feeding y’all slum…imma leave nuggets ova here…
100
true
fuck tha method man
Sorry meth you sound mad should you have use GZA & RZA old rhymes too.then your album might have been classic Looser! if RZA & GZA aint say that you shouldnt be saying that man.
Method mans Tical was platinum and dirtys was gold
This is genuine news. Not “Rick Ross’s cat dies” or “Drake thanks fans for buying albums”
A lot of you cats should go read the Complex piece. DX took the most sensational aspect of a long-ass story and pumped it up like Mef was shitting on Dirty. That’s a tacky news tactic designed to get clicks. Go read the whole story from the source.
yea i read it there first you see Meth really open up about shit..specifically on the stuff about triumph and reunited, cash still rules. hes not shitting on anybody from the clan its just about the thoughts he was having while they were on top of the world.
we all knew that ODB was wack ass fuck.
I mentioned this before on the Beiber/Preemo thing – ghostwritting is a part of hip-hop period!
From the early days ghostwriting has been part of this culture.
Read the full complex article – ODB is genius in his own write – he quoted and remix his brothers punchline it what was undeniabley a classic debut album!
Anybody who REALLY followed the WU been figured out that Dirty either didn’t write most of that album or spit old rhymes of his. Hell, I heard Dirty spit “Brooklyn Zoo” on the Stretch and Bobbito show in ’93. Go youtube some of those old Wu-Tang freestyles from like ’91-’93. I didn’t think it was neccessary for Meth to blow up the spot of a dude who isn’t here anymore to defend himself but, again, this isn’t really news to real heads.
Sorry meth you shouldnt blow up old dirty like that, plus nigga is RIP, you sound rather mad, i see! may be your album could have went platinum too if you use GZA & RZA old rhymes too. Looser! if RZA & GZA aint say that you shouldnt be saying that man.
yah Tical went platinum.
and T2K.
and Blackout!
hahaha no shit, do some research before you say some dumb ignorant shit like “maybe your album could have went platinum” lol wikipedia that shit squid boy. Who cares if meth is saying this shit, its obvious ODB was lyrically the slopiest. To be honest the only members that ever mattered in wu are Meth, gza, rza, ghost, raekwon and occasionally inspektah deck. Not surprised they wrote most of his album, dude was nothing special…
“How, I don’t even like your motherfuckin’ profile,
Give me my fuckin’ shit, (Ch-ch…plow!)
Not seen and heard, no one knows, you forget,
Niggas be quiet as kept,
Now you know nuthin’, before you knew a whole fuckin’ lot,
Your ass don’t wanna get shot,
Alot of M.C.’s came through my showdown,
To watch me put your fuckin’ ass lo-o-ow down”
Brooklyn Zoo – ODB
WAKE UP RAPPERS! RETURN TO THE MESSAGE! NOW!
Theres plenty of rappers out there crying about politics. your just mad cause no one buys it
The revolution is gonna be televised and it won’t be sold. You heard that before well it is that real, you want a message, you want knowledge you gotta search for that shit. Fuck what people ain’t buying it don’t mean the shit’s wack.
WAKE UP RAPPERS! RETURN TO THE MESSAGE! NOW!
FIGHT THE POWER! MY PHILOSOPHY! YOU MUST LEARN! SELF-DESTRUCTION! FUCK THE POLICE!
WHERE ARE THESE SONGS?????????
Meth kinda threw Dirty’s legacy under the bus with this. This is really something he just could have kept between him and the clan.
I agree….damn
No mather what anybody says, ODB was the heart of the Wu!!
Cant imagine Wu legacy without an Ol Dirty Bastard!!!
The truth is with the first row of hip hop Wu classics they wrote albums with a bunch of cats but the Rza laid the blueprint 4 the albums, they should go back to that!
RIP ODB!!!
nobody could ever present the lyrics the way ODB did it!
we always knew that odb was lame
That type of shit needs to be kept within the CYPHER. No one benefits from hearing this,and at most it serves as a tool to cause discontent among The Righteous People! Renew your History,God. Don’t let “Them”,attempt to divide and conquer The Almighty Wu-Tang!!! Peace *7)
I know he didnt write all of it but his 1st album was great!Shit all of you on here love the chronic or are waiting for this detox album..guess what Dre aint write shit on any of it!!!And hes up on a pedestal..lets go to lil wayne who I think is horrible but tahts besides the point..Gillie wrote the shit he blew from so cmon man to say Dirty was lame is crazy
FACT is, aint nobody who could do what Dirty did with those ryhmes, ghjost written or not. Without the style, character and energy which the brother possessed, the whole entire WU movement would have never been able to make its mark on the culture the way they did it.
On some songs from the album, it was kinda obvious that it was ghostwritten. Perfect example was Damage feat. GZA, you could clearly tell that GZA had wrote the rhymes since they matched GZA’s flow on the track and had that complicated rhyme scheme to them that ODB didn’t write with.
ODB was still a legend for his style though, no debating that.
Hold on though who knows if Meth really even said this???Could be someone starting bullshit but we wont know until Meth says it himself on a vid or something
Good point!
It was probably couple lines here and there throughout the album. I’m sure they twisted Meths comments. That’s what the media does anyway. ODB is a legend. No other like him. His style was dope as fuck. Let him rest.
i like how some ppl don think he sed that. but if he did he a wack ass dude. gonna talk about two of the greatest wu albums. and one of the best in wu tang anyway
i didnt think anyone thought ODB was really an emcee, just the dopest hype man ever who could spit a bit
Hope the press have misinterpreted what Meth said. ODB is the illest ever Mc. Even if they did write for him its because they couldn’t spit the lines themselves. RIP Dirrt Dog will always be missed.
He did state that ODB wrote some of the songs, including Brooklyn Zoo,
Nuff said.
They used to do routines together so that’s not surprising. Most rappers in that age group and up started out making routines, that’s what most old school rap is based on some make it to records some didn’t and obviously odb revived the rhymes he used to beatbox to on All In Together Now.
dry snitchin
i don’t understand why he felt the need to say this to a reporter/journalist/critic/whatever but honestly it doesn’t matter that much, do people get upset when they find out Luciano Pavarotti didn’t write all the songs he sang? he was still an exceptional artist, just like ODB, so why talk shit about a man who is dead and can’t defend himself from slander? i agree that Meth’s words were probably taken out of context as is usual for modern journalists in the entertainment field…