Method Man

Street beef: Method Man doesn't seem happy with the way Sean Carter is running Def Jam, and he doesn't seem to be alone. After all, his 4:21 . . . The Day After was released on the same day as another huge Def Jam project, The Roots' Game Theory, and neither seems to be basking in the promotional glow that they both deserve as legitimate genre stars.

Of course, if you had worked as hard as Method Man -- who largely fell off after his 1994 solo debut coup, Tical -- has to reinvent yourself as a rapper to be reckoned with, you'd be pissed too. Unfortunately, 4:21 is an undercooked and over-"baked" failure, not a comeback. On the other hand, Wu's Inspectah Deck just released the fantastically heavy The Resident Patient on a tiny label, and he's not barking up HOV's tree.