Method Man’s Hot 97 Performance Did Nothing But ‘Bring The Pain’

Method Man has vowed never to hit a Hot 97 Summer Jam stage again after an underwhelming crowd reaction earlier this month.

The Grammy award-winning rapper was in Long Island, New York, on Sunday, June 2, to perform at the 2024 Summer Jam music festival alongside his longtime collaborator Redman. A clip shared online shows the duo performing their 2000 hit “Rockwilder” and hitting their signature dance moves to the track.

But when Hot 97 posted a short clip of the performance as a recap, Method Man hopped in the comments section to explain why he’ll never perform at the festival again, as captured by XXL.

“Not our crowd at all,” he wrote. “Thanks again, New York and the whole tri-state (that showed up to the event) plus Pete and Ebro. I got love for you guys. But never again.. at this point the generation gap is just too wide for me. #nevercomingback.”

The Wu-Tang rapper was a subheadliner with Redman with Doja Cat, Offset, and Sexyy Red headlining this year’s festival. Other performers included Sleepy Hallow, Davido, and Tee Grizzley.

After seeing Method Man’s response, fans defended the veteran rapper.

“Sad day in hip hop when the crowd can’t appreciate Meth and Redman,” one fan wrote.

“Looking at the lineup, it’s clear to see that’s not a generation gap, but a QUALITY CONTROL gap,” another person added in response to this year’s Summer Jam lineup.

“This is on the promoters, why would you throw Meth and Red in that mix of artists?” added someone else.

Method Man and Redman had just performed at The Roots Picnic the day before and had no complaints about the crowd reaction.

According to one fan, the difference might lie in the intention Roots Picnic puts into its performance lineup and how it offers music lovers across generations a chance to experience their favorite artists without impacting the overall vibe of the event.

“They’ve mastered the multi-generational, multi-genre lineup. With a multi-generational, multi-genre crowd,” the fan wrote

This year’s Roots Picnic Saturday lineup included headliners Jill Scott, Nas, Sexxy Red, The-Dream, with a live mixtape set featuring Black Thought of The Roots and Method Man and Redman. On Sunday night, Lil Wayne and The Roots headlined along with Gunna, Andre 3000, Babyface, Robert Glasper, and many others.

When comparing the Summer Jam lineup to the Roots Picnic, it does appear that Method Man and Redman might’ve been the only veteran rappers to hit the stage among a flurry of newer acts. It could’ve resulted in an audience filled with mostly younger fans who were there to see Doja Cat and Sexxy Redd rather than the How High stars.

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