Tommy Lee, Methods of Mayhem Say No thanks to Hip-Hop This Time Around
When you hear the name Tommy Lee, your mind most likely goes to 'drummer' or 'Mötley Crüe.' Over a decade ago, Tommy took a hiatus from Mötley to explore other creative avenues, creating nu metal act Methods of Mayhem. The band's sound drew from all sort of musical influences, including hip-hop. That won't be the case on the new Methods of Mayhem disc.
"The first Methods record was really for me ... I'd been in Mötley Crüe for ever ... and I really needed, creatively, I just needed to get my hands on everything," Tommy Lee admits. "So, I had opportunities to work with Snoop Dogg, George Clinton and Fred Durst, and so I was sort of inspired by a lot of those collaborations ... and plus TiLo, who was sort of my partner in that band, he's all about the hip-hop and rock. And the two us were just blending our influences. He's not part of this this time, so there's really no hip-hop going on. Plus, to tell you the truth, hip-hop right now is just in a really weird place. It's redundant, the subject matter is exactly the same."
This doesn't mean Tommy is 100 percent turned off on the genre. He's a fan of Jay-Z's latest effort 'The Blueprint 3.'
"It's awesome! There's 'Death of Auto-Tune.' Genius. I was wondering when someone was going to step up and be like 'Guys, stop! You guys are doing the same s--- over and over.' I loved the video, and that was the first time I'd heard the track. [Jay-Z] took all the Cristal and money and jewelry and the bling, and he's blowing them up frame to frame. That dude rules. He's over it, too, and he's a hip-hop artist! I got real stoked when I heard that."
The next Methods of Mayhem disc will be called 'Public Mayhem.' Tommy Lee is hosting a contest via The Public Record, where normal fans can upload their own musical parts to song skeletons. If your work is good enough, it will be included on 'Public Mayhem.'