Hip Hop News: Method Man Goes to School After Plea Deal
As part of a plea deal reached following a marijuana sting earlier this year, Wu-Tang member Method Man was ordered to visit 15 city high schools to warn students about the dangers of drugs. The hip hop star, whose real name is Clifford Smith, "is thrilled to do it," defense attorney Peter Frankel said Friday. "He's never been in trouble before. He's not a stereotypical rapper." Method Man was arrested on May 17 after toll-booth workers on the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel reported smelling marijuana smoke coming from his sport utility vehicle. He was charged with driving under the influence of drugs and drug possession after police said they found marijuana inside the SUV. Prosecutors knocked the drug charges down to disorderly conduct as part of the plea deal. Method Man has appeared in films and TV shows such as CSI, How High, The Wire, Garden State, and Soul Plane, among others. He took his stage name from the 1979 film The Fearless Young Boxer, also known as Method Man. His name also refers to the slang "method", meaning marijuana in his native Staten Island.