Method Man Covers Cassius For Hip-Hop 50: 'I’m Still Here'

Source: JD Barnes / for Cassius

Method Man is showing off his grown-man sexy on Cassius’s Hip-Hop 50 cover and all we can say is yum. The rapper-turned-actor flexes his fashionable side in a stylish editorial shot by photographer JD Barnes.

Method Man has made an indelible mark on Hip-hop with a lauded 30-year career across music and TV. And though he denies the title of sex symbol, Black women admire the gorgeous gangsta who only seems to get finer with time. At this point in his life, Method Man — real name Clifford Smith — is enjoying his second chapter as the popular character Davis MacLean in Power Book II: Ghost. But rapping will always have his heart.

Source: JD Barnes / for Cassius

The Tical lyricist, and member of Wu-Tang, has enjoyed a career most artists dream of. Much of which he attributes to having a strong sense of self.

“When you start valuing other people’s opinion of you more than your own opinion of yourself, that’s when you have a problem,” he explained to Cassius’ director of content Alvin Blanco. “And for me, it became me basically not valuing what people said about me but what I said about myself. Not valuing what people thought about me but what I thought about myself. And it’s definitely working. The fact that I’m still here is a testament to my work ethic, and people fucks with me heavy, for real.”

Source: JD Barnes / for Cassius

Still, Meth takes acting very seriously. “In the beginning, I have to admit I only took roles that, ya know, were me, there wasn’t any acting involved whatsoever,” he revealed in the cover story. “I was very green, and you can tell now it’s apples and oranges to where I am now. I decided to take it serious when I saw exactly what these actors go through just to get a part and to survive on a daily basis. For me, that is motivation enough to go through every step that I have to go through in order to give my best performance. And not just my best performance but my 110% effort to make sure that I’m not the weakest link on this set. ‘Cause there are people that show up hours before I do to make sure everything runs smoothly. Who am I to come unprepared?”