Method Man & Joey Bada$$: Hip Hop Culture & Fashion | Two Ways About It

[00:00:00]- What was fashion like for you when you first came out?

[00:00:02]- Niggas was dirty as fuck like... - You know what? - Ain't on the same shit.

[00:00:05]- You know what's crazy? Niggas are still dirty, B.

[00:00:07]- Dirty, dirty word.

[00:00:08](both laughing) (upbeat music) - This is what we doing?

[00:00:23]- Mm.

[00:00:24]- Mr. Bada$$.

[00:00:25]- [Joey] Mr. Method.

[00:00:26]- Peace, peace.

[00:00:27]- How you doing? - I'm good, I love it.

[00:00:29]What's happening?

[00:00:29]- You know, I was checking out these fabrics or whatever.

[00:00:32]There's a lot of choices.

[00:00:33]- Fabrics. I see that.

[00:00:35]- [Joey] They look fabulous. (chuckling) - Hello, how are you guys doing today?

[00:00:40]- We are good. - How are you? All right.

[00:00:42]- Well, my name's Jose.

[00:00:43]Welcome to Hive & Colony.

[00:00:44]We're gonna be working on designing your suits.

[00:00:47]- I like this green, it's like a green yellow- - Yeah. - Type of vibe.

[00:00:52]It's making me feel real Jamaican.

[00:00:54](group laughing) (elegant music) I wanna ask you a question.

[00:01:00]- Yeah.

[00:01:01]- What was fashion like for you when you first came out?

[00:01:03]- Honestly, for me, I was never really into fashion.

[00:01:08]We came after a era where was a lot of suit wearing.

[00:01:12]Honestly, people that was on the block, you know that, didn't dress like that. - Yeah.

[00:01:15]- Everybody didn't dress like that.

[00:01:16]I mean, if you was getting money like that, absolutely.

[00:01:18]But the majority of the people dressed like they was going to war.

[00:01:22]I guess the more rugged you looked, the better off you was and it was cheap.

[00:01:27]- How would you describe your style at the time like going back to the M-E-T-H video shoot and all that, 'cause you had the eye contact, you know- - Yeah. - That kind of thing.

[00:01:38]Like, what was going through your mind at that time?

[00:01:41]- I was still building off the Wu-Tang chamber we was coming out of.

[00:01:44]And Wu-Tang was still going and going strong.

[00:01:47]But now, it's like my solo look.

[00:01:49]And one word to describe it is grimy - Had to be ready for war in all times.

[00:01:53]- All the time and all time.

[00:01:55]Well, a lot of times dudes wore Timbs, either they expected they either had a warrant and they was expecting to go to jail.

[00:02:01]And it's like, you don't wanna go in jail with your best shit on because they gonna take you.

[00:02:05]That was the room and they're gonna take your shit.

[00:02:06]So it was Timbs.

[00:02:07]- There's like a buzzer door. - It was Timbs and fatigues.

[00:02:08]Timbs and fatigues.

[00:02:10]- Do you guys wanna design your own suits?

[00:02:12]- Sounds like a plan. - Oh, hell yeah.

[00:02:13]- [Jose] Yeah, so we could look at some of the fabrics that we have.

[00:02:17]- I need something that compliments my Godiva chocolate skin.

[00:02:21]You know what I'm saying?

[00:02:21]- See, so there's definitely a lot of fabric options.

[00:02:24]- I like this right here, kind of go with the bracelet, you know what I'm saying? - Wow, yeah, yeah.

[00:02:29]- yeah, I like that.

[00:02:29]- [Method] Well, as far as these fabrics, I'm pretty open to whatever you guys think with, you know?

[00:02:34]- And then I could show you guys some of the design options that we have for jackets. - Right.

[00:02:38]How did you use fashion to elevate your career?

[00:02:41]- To me, there's two things, right?

[00:02:43]You got fashion and you got style.

[00:02:45]I always feel like fashion is something that you buy.

[00:02:48]Like you'll go to the store and you can purchase fashion.

[00:02:51]- [Method] Okay.

[00:02:52]- But style is something that like, that's inside you.

[00:02:54]- [Method] Inside, that's fair.

[00:02:55]- That's part of like personality.

[00:02:57]So I would say like, you know, stylistically, style goes hand in hand with just my artistic expression.

[00:03:05]- How would you describe your style and who are some of your influences?

[00:03:09]- Definitely, I'd say that when it comes to that raw, rugged aspect like just old New York is definitely a big part of my stylistic influence.

[00:03:18]You know what I'm saying?

[00:03:19]I still like to put on that raw, rugged- - [Method] Put that on.

[00:03:22]- Why don't we get ready to measure you guys to get these suits for you guys.

[00:03:26]- [Joey] All right.

[00:03:27]- You first though. You lead the way.

[00:03:29]- Okay, - I'll lead the way.

[00:03:31]- [Joey] You think you can make me an old fashioned or something right there?

[00:03:33]- [Jose] Yeah, definitely.

[00:03:35]- Yo, this water hitting. (laughing) (Jose chuckling) (upbeat music) - So we're gonna get you started with fitting.

[00:03:42]So I'm gonna start with the shoulders, arms and chest, okay?

[00:03:44]- I hope we got enough tape for that.

[00:03:47]- Yes. - All right.

[00:03:48]- Shoulders broader than and Broadway, B.

[00:03:51]- Right. - Broader than Broadway.

[00:03:53]Yeah. - Nice.

[00:03:54]Was that? About 100?

[00:03:56]- 19 1/2.

[00:03:57]- 19 1/2, son.

[00:04:00]- Hey, man.

[00:04:01]How did growing up in Staten Island influence your taste in music and who was your biggest influences at the time?

[00:04:07]- Oh, so back in the day when I was introduced to hip hop, it was Sugarhill Gang.

[00:04:14]I was lucky enough that when I moved from Long Island back to Staten Island to hang out with dudes that loved hip hop as much as I did.

[00:04:23]But not only did they love it, they was writing their own rhymes.

[00:04:27]These guys was good.

[00:04:29]I'm talking about Chef, Kappa and a few others that didn't make it to where we at right now, you know?

[00:04:36]About my first year of high school, LL Cool J dropped his first album.

[00:04:43]"I Can't Live Without My Radio."

[00:04:45]What? 16, 17 years old.

[00:04:48]We idolized Todd.

[00:04:49]To this day, that's like my spirit animal, you know what I mean?

[00:04:52]I love Cool J, shout out to him.

[00:04:54]But major influence on my rap style, everything.

[00:04:57]My first round, my raw was in his style, you know?

[00:05:01]- What was it like for you going from being in a group to being a solo artist?

[00:05:07]- Well, I mean, we all started out that way.

[00:05:09]Honestly, we was just dudes that liked to rhyme on the block.

[00:05:12]It was never like any really, any type of real.

[00:05:16]You know, you had your different rap crews and things like that and dudes had they routines but with us it was a little bit different 'cause everybody had their own rhymes.

[00:05:25]- How do you continue to like- - [Jose] Move the hands back.

[00:05:27]- Elevate and push yourself to the next level?

[00:05:32]- I know my only competition is me.

[00:05:34]What I mean by that is I ran into Sean P, people that ain't familiar with Sean P, I was- - Heltah Skeltah- - Rest in peace.

[00:05:40]Duck Down, Brooklyn's Finest.

[00:05:42]There was a time in hip hop where a lot of the people that came in my era, we went on a not a self-hiatus, more like an industry hiatus because we were being pushed out, I guess.

[00:05:51]Or the music genre was changing.

[00:05:54]And I remember listening to this kid, Sean P, and I'm like, "This dude is nasty right here."

[00:05:59]I became one of his biggest fans.

[00:06:01]So when I ran into him, I had to ask him like, I'm trying to talk to him and tell him like you hit like this pen renaissance.

[00:06:09]Like how'd your pen get so crazy?

[00:06:12]And he looked at me, you know, Sean P, he looked at me he's like, "I'm better than niggas, that's why."

[00:06:16](Joey chuckling) Tip.

[00:06:18]- I was like, "Yeah, yeah."

[00:06:19]- Classic Sean P.

[00:06:20]- That makes sense. - Yeah, yeah.

[00:06:21]- That makes sense right there.

[00:06:22]So that's how I approach it now like better than niggas.

[00:06:25]- Right. - With everything.

[00:06:27]That's how I gotta approach every... Not just with the pen, but every aspect.

[00:06:30]- Everything. - To write better than nigga.

[00:06:32]- Word. - For real.

[00:06:33]- All right. Niggas, you know what I'm saying?

[00:06:35]Niggas ain't got the same symphony of thoughts, B.

[00:06:38]- At all, so when you a creative and you have room with an empty canvas and you have room to create, whatever your vision is, man, it's going to translate right there on the motherfucking canvas.

[00:06:50]- Right. - Please believe it. Right.

[00:06:51]- How do you feel like the shoulders fit you?

[00:06:53]Pretty good? Comfortable? - Yeah., yeah.

[00:06:54]It's comfortable. - My arms long enough, B.

[00:06:56]- Got somebody out, pop, pop, pop, pop.

[00:06:57]- Yeah, his arms are pretty long now.

[00:07:00]Do you want to go swap places now?

[00:07:01]- Yeah. - Okay.

[00:07:02]- He said it's my turn?

[00:07:05](upbeat music) - I know you uploaded a video of yourself freestyling on YouTube when you first started.

[00:07:13]Did it make it easier for you to tap into the music industry?

[00:07:17]- Absolutely. You know what I'm saying?

[00:07:19]I used social media, YouTube being the platform at the time as my end.

[00:07:24]It's crazy because one day I just kind of had the vision, like I was coming home from school and it just dawned on me.

[00:07:31]I'm like, "Yo, I'm nice, that's one.

[00:07:35]Number two, all I gotta do is show the world that I'm nice, right?"

[00:07:40]Like, it's one thing to do it with just putting songs out on YouTube and helping people discover your shit.

[00:07:44]But I'm like, "Nah, I need like a real freestyle moment."

[00:07:48]My vision was I'm gonna send it to WorldStar and they gonna put it up.

[00:07:51]They ain't never posted, B, at that time.

[00:07:54]So I'm like, "All right, you know what?

[00:07:56]I'm gonna just put it on YouTube but what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna do like a little marketing ploy on the title."

[00:08:02]So I uploaded it and the title that I put was 15-year-old freestyles for WorldStarHipHop.

[00:08:08]And my first manager, he discovered it and one morning I was gonna school, I got a direct message.

[00:08:14]What he said in the message.

[00:08:15]He was like, "Yo, I just saw your video on WorldStarHipHop."

[00:08:18]I was like, "Wow, look at God, the shit worked."

[00:08:20]- Mm-hmm. The vision.

[00:08:21]'Cause I'm like, I'm laughing internally 'cause I'm like, "He ain't even see it on WorldStar.

[00:08:26]He just thought he did because of the psychology that I put on this video.

[00:08:29]- Wow.

[00:08:31]- You know what I'm saying? - Take notes, man.

[00:08:32]Go ahead, bro. - I feel like, you know, social media still continues to propel my career.

[00:08:38]- With us, it was luck of the draw a lot.

[00:08:41]You had to really put yourself out there, put the work in, run out there, sit in front of record labels.

[00:08:45]You guys took that and put the power back into the hands of the creators.

[00:08:49]- [Joey] Right.

[00:08:50]- Through social media, which is fantastic.

[00:08:53]- My advice to young artists now is out the gate, show people versatility.

[00:08:59]That way they don't ever try to put a cage around who you are and what you can express.

[00:09:05]- [Method] Absolutely.

[00:09:06]- How did you feel with the jacket? Was it comfortable?

[00:09:07]- It was good. - Good.

[00:09:08]- I just think the arms is too short to bow to God.

[00:09:10]- Okay. - (indistinct) likewise.

[00:09:12](group laughing) - So we'll go ahead and you know, work on the jacket and you guys could go and have a drink.

[00:09:18](elegant music) - How did you first get into acting?

[00:09:23]What made you want to act?

[00:09:26]- Man, I mean, it kind of fell in my lap at first.

[00:09:29]The first thing I ever did was a small part and a movie called "Great White Hype."

[00:09:35]Harlem brothers, Sam Jackson, Peter Berg, Jamie Foxx, Damon Wayans, - Great company.

[00:09:43]- From there, I got a call to do "One Eight Seven."

[00:09:47]After that it was an audition, I went on an audition, and I remember the first time I went in the audition, I didn't get it.

[00:09:54]I got a note from my agent at the time, go in with you bring the pain stuff on, bring the fangs, bring the eyeball, the whole shebang.

[00:10:01]So I go in and I do my whole spiel and I got the part in the movie called "Cop Land," which was Peter Berg, Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, so on and so forth.

[00:10:10]- And these joints was both before "Belly."

[00:10:12]- Both before "Belly," yes, sir.

[00:10:13]- Oh, wow.

[00:10:14]- And, but I still hadn't gotten an acting bug.

[00:10:17]Hype Williams was doing the movie and he called me in to do it.

[00:10:21]Called in Nas.

[00:10:23]- They only state this thing.

[00:10:24]- That's when I got the bug.

[00:10:25]So I gotta ask you now, how did you get into the acting thing?

[00:10:29]- One of my greatest inspirations growing up was Will Smith.

[00:10:33]- Nice.

[00:10:34]- Tupac. - Mm.

[00:10:35]- And you know, music was always my first love.

[00:10:37]Like music was that thing that spoke to me.

[00:10:40]When I was making that transition from junior high school to high school, I realized that at the time, there wasn't any programs that was gonna help me enhance my music career or like, you know, rapping.

[00:10:52]- Yeah. - Stuff like that.

[00:10:54]So I'm like, "All right, you know, what's the next thing that I would love to do?"

[00:10:57]And it immediately dawned on me was like acting, you know what I'm saying?

[00:11:01]So I applied for school. - Way back then.

[00:11:02]- Yeah, so I applied for school was like LaGuardia, PPAS, and I ended up getting accepted into Edward R. Murrow's screen theater program- - That's right. - As a theater student.

[00:11:13]Getting accepted into theater like I still hadn't caught the acting bug yet because for me, it was a culture shock.

[00:11:18]It was my first time going to school with white people.

[00:11:21]- Yeah. - You know?

[00:11:22]And being in the theater class, it was like I was one of three black kids in that theater class.

[00:11:28]So it was all new for me and honestly, it was very uncomfortable.

[00:11:31]It definitely wasn't anything that made me feel like this is what I want to do.

[00:11:35]But I learned quickly that how difficult it was to make it as an actor, especially growing up in New York City.

[00:11:43]- You are aware of that back then - Right. - All right. Got you.

[00:11:45]- Like I learned quickly because, you know, I'm in class with all of these kids who've been doing this shit since they was in elementary school.

[00:11:51]- Right.

[00:11:52]- Like they've been in the arts program.

[00:11:53]- But they're in that class with you now, so they ain't really did.

[00:11:56]- And they was advanced, you know what I'm saying?

[00:11:58]I was learning, I was literally at the bottom of my class, literally at the bottom.

[00:12:02]Long story short, I ended up getting kicked out because my... - (chuckling) That no long story short, huh?

[00:12:07]- Yeah. (laughing) - Wait a minute. Hold up, listen.

[00:12:10]Rewind. Why you'd got kicked out?

[00:12:13]All right- - Yeah, 'cause, you know, I got to high school and then I met all my... Like I met STEEZ, rest in peace.

[00:12:19]- Mm. Oh, yeah.

[00:12:20]- CJ, we all forever homies. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:12:22]- And you know, music was something that was still so fiery in my spirit when I met them.

[00:12:27]I'm like, "All right, bet.

[00:12:29]Like shit, I didn't even know that I was gonna come here and meet cats that could rap."

[00:12:33]- That's dope.

[00:12:34]- So, you know, that turned into me cutting class to be, you know, with the bros - It happens, yeah.

[00:12:40]- And stuff like that so we could rap and we could sharpen our skills with each other and that broke, I was already at the bottom of the class, but that broke me to the negative bottom.

[00:12:47](chuckling) You know what I'm saying?

[00:12:49]- So what brought you back though?

[00:12:51]- Well, what brought me back is, so the moment I got kicked out I was like, "Okay."

[00:12:54]A lot of stuff that was required to be in the theater program was- - Theater. - Theater - Yeah.

[00:12:59]- Musicals, you had to do ballet, you know what I'm saying?

[00:13:02]All that stuff.

[00:13:03]And I wasn't really too enthused, like I just wanted to act.

[00:13:06]Like I wanted to do- - Yeah, let's get to work now.

[00:13:08]- You know what I'm saying?

[00:13:08]Real type of acting scenario situations type of thing.

[00:13:12]So I'm like, "You know what, I'm gonna just double down on the music for now and I'm going to use music as a leverage later."

[00:13:20]I was like, "You know, it'll be better if I come with something to bring to the table.

[00:13:23]That way people would actually want to cast me.

[00:13:25]And once they find out that I can actually act, it's only going to be a win-win."

[00:13:30]And you know, the first role, shout out to Sam Esmail, Rami Malek, Christian Slater.

[00:13:34]'cause the first role I landed was in a show called "Mr. Robot" and- - Mm.

[00:13:39]- That was a ill, ill first role.

[00:13:43]What's your preparation process like?

[00:13:46]Like, you know, when you get a role and you preparing to go in, or let's say you already booked it and you know, you preparing to go deliver the, you know what I'm saying?

[00:13:55]Your scenes.

[00:13:56]- Well, first thing I do is get a good night's rest 'cause I wanna show up on time.

[00:13:59]- Right. Okay.

[00:14:00]Well, that's difference between me and you.

[00:14:02](both laughing) - That's that young energy.

[00:14:05]You'll figure it out sooner or later probably, trust.

[00:14:08]As soon as I get this script, I'm going over it.

[00:14:11]I wanna know what it looks like, what it feels like.

[00:14:13]And the process for me is, okay, after I read it, how would I react to this in the real world?

[00:14:17]- Right.

[00:14:18]- I'd probably be this way with it.

[00:14:19]Okay, well, the words are saying this but how would I actually say it?

[00:14:22]- Mm-hmm. That's big for me. - You know what I mean?

[00:14:25]So that's basically the process for me.

[00:14:26]Learn your lines.

[00:14:27]If you gotta go there, go there, whatever that is, I don't need to do that.

[00:14:32]I have so much life experience, PTSD from living in the situations I've lived for the majority of my life.

[00:14:37]It doesn't take me long.

[00:14:38]- Right.

[00:14:39]- Put me in a situation. - Need to blend in.

[00:14:40]- Yeah. - Yes, absolutely.

[00:14:41]And that's it. I mean, what's your process like?

[00:14:44]- My process is very similar.

[00:14:46]Like, I would say I would classify yours as instinctual, which is like me, you know what I'm saying?

[00:14:51]Like for me, I gotta see what the environment feels like.

[00:14:54]Like I read the script, I read my lines, you know what I mean?

[00:14:59]And then after that, what I like to memorize most over lines is the energy.

[00:15:04]- Mm-hmm.

[00:15:05]Like, okay, what's actually being done in this scene?

[00:15:07]- Mm-hmm. - Like, what's the goal?

[00:15:09]How am I feeling?

[00:15:10]How am I making the other person feel?

[00:15:12]I put that over words because sometimes, like you said, like the words will limit you, but you know how it is.

[00:15:17]- It's a beautiful thing. - You know how it is though.

[00:15:19]Like, well, Davis MacLean got way more monologues than unique.

[00:15:23]So it's different. - It's a lot.

[00:15:24]I feel like it requires way more than what it is for me like. - Definitely a lot.

[00:15:28]Well, I think we both do the same thing, but when we have an objective, the same way in life, you're gonna fight for that with all your being.

[00:15:35]- Bear with you. - Whether you're in a scene and your objective is to win an argument- - Absolutely.

[00:15:40]- You're going to do everything in your power to win that argument, to get your point across.

[00:15:43]Whether it's life, you just want to win in life and be happy, you're gonna fight for that happiness and there it is. - Facts. That's a fact.

[00:15:51]Yo, I'm Method Man. Thank y'all. (laughing) - And I'm Joey Bada$$, you heard.

[00:15:55]Yeah. Yo, this was pretty dope right here.

[00:15:58]- This was fly, B. - Fly as hell.

[00:15:59]- This whole lot, this was a real luxurious experience, man.

[00:16:02]- You know how it is. - Shout to Jose in the back.

[00:16:03]- Jose. - Fixing the old fashion.

[00:16:04]- My boy, Jose.

[00:16:05]- I gotta say thank you for your time, man.

[00:16:07]This was a pleasure and an honor.

[00:16:09]- Salute.

[00:16:10]- For real. - Yes, yes.

[00:16:11](gentle music)