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.'

Download Methods of Mayhem Songs