Take a scroll through these smoldering shots of the star, captured from his early ’90s rise with Wu-Tang Clan to the present day.

Cliff Smith Jr. was still a few years away from being known as Method Man and helping Wu-Tang Clan take the hip-hop world by storm when he got hooked on what became one of his life’s biggest passions.

On this day in Hip Hop history, Method Man stepped out on his own with the release of his debut solo album Tical. Following RZA’s vision for total industry takeover, Meth became the first Wu Tang ...