Method Man says it’s the end of an era for him and Summer Jam as he chided the crowd for not showing enough energy during his performance with Redman.
According to the rapper turned actor, the generation gap makes it almost impossible for him to connect with the audience at the current festival. The 2024 Summer Jam lineup saw stars like Sexyy Red, Ty Dolla $ign, Doja Cat, French Montana, Gunna, and Fivio Foreign taking the stage. However, there were also some veterans like Jadakiss, Eric B & Rakim, Redman, and Method Man.
Following his set, the hip-hop legend shared his feelings on Instagram, letting organizers know he will not be returning for future gigs. “Not our crowd at all,” the rapper wrote in a comment. “Thanks again, New York and the whole tri-state (that showed up to the event) plus Pete[er Rosenberg] and Ebro [Darden] I got love for you guys, but never again.. at this point the generation gap is just too wide for me.. #nevercomingback.”
Several fans echoed Method Man’s sentiments, with some folks pointing to the vast difference in both sound and lyrical content of rap in the 1990s as opposed to present-day new music. “Half that crowd don’t know what’s going on they on that jiberishh ish,” a fan said. “Come on now Hot 97 you should be ashamed to allow this level of disrespect for our legends. Why did you put them in front of these kids who don’t have a glue what they rapping about in these classic songs?”
“This was today ?? Summer Jam used to be the official start of the summer for me, now I Rather stay home and listen to WBLS,” Jovia said. “Now this is what I’m mad I missed. But Roots Picnic > Summer Jam (now).”
Method Man and Redman joined Freeway, Common, and Black Thoughts for a well-received performance of a remix of “4,3,2,1” over the weekend at the annual Roots Picnic. The cut originally featured Master P, DMX, Canibus, and LL Cool J and was featured on Cool J’s 1997 album Phenomenon. The New York rap duo took the stage during J. Period’s Live Mixtape set, and the audience was much more receptive.
Questlove, the festival’s organizers, shared a clip of the legendary rappers on stage and gave some history lessons at the annual festival.
“30 Years Ago Today w. 6 one way tickets in hand we took a risk and left our beloved City Of Philadelphia for the shaky shores of Londontown — specifically Camden — the East Village Of London,” Quest wrote. “2 weeks into our stay we did our first festival (a last min side stage add on to [Glastonbury]) and we promised hook or crook we would bring a festival to our city.”
He shared that his dream came to fruition in 2008 when he hosted the first Roots Picnic.
“I’m glad we stuck to our guns to not go ‘festival’ and just throw ‘the best names’ & change yall $2000 as some of our ….uh contemporaries do….i mean no knocking em….we played ALL those festivals but when you get trapped in the name game then you pigeonhole yourself and the pressure to just draw the biggest names becomes unbearable after a while,” he added.
