Who Is Method Man's Wife? All About Tamika Smith

Method Man and his wife, Tamika Smith, have been together for over 30 years.

The Wu-Tang Clan rapper, né Clifford Smith Jr., rose to prominence in the early 1990s as a member of the famous hip-hop collective, won a Grammy in 1996 for a duet with Mary J. Blige and appeared in movies including One Eight Seven, How High and Keanu.

Throughout his career, his wife has been by his side to support him. The couple met and began dating in 1992 and welcomed three children together before marrying in 2001. During that time, Smith also worked as Method Man’s personal assistant.

Method Man, who said on a September 2021 episode of Red Table Talk that “respect is first and foremost” when it comes to having a long, successful marriage, has supported Smith throughout her career just as much as she's supported him.

However, both Method Man and his wife keep their support of each other out of the public eye, preferring to keep as much of their relationship private.

 "Just know me and my wife are good," the rapper said during a July 2024 appearance at the ESSENCE Festival of Culture. "As far as my family goes, I keep it out of the media. We’re happier that way, plus [my wife] prefers it that way. But just know we’re happy, period. That’s it.”

So who is Method Man’s wife? Here’s everything to know about Tamika Smith and her relationship with the rapper.

Smith was Method Man's personal assistant

Smith grew up in Park Hill, a neighborhood in N.Y.C.’s Staten Island, before meeting Method Man in the early 1990s as he was finding fame with the Wu-Tang Clan.

For five years while Smith was dating Method Man, she also worked as his personal assistant. Per her LinkedIn profile, she was his personal assistant from January 1997 to January 2002.

In 2007, she also worked for a year as a caretaker and developmental aid for adults with disabilities. Now, according to her LinkedIn, she’s a business owner in the beauty industry, having also studied entrepreneurial and small business operations at the College of Staten Island in 2013.

Smith married Method Man in 2001 after nine years of dating

Smith and Method Man met in the early 1990s before she became his assistant. In an episode of Red Table Talk in 2021, Method Man confirmed that they’d been together for nearly three decades by then but only got married in 2001.

“I’ve been with her 29 years,” he said. “We got married in ’01, so we’re 20.”

Smith has three children with Method Man

Together, Smith and Method Man have three children: sons Shakuan and Raekwon and daughter Cheyenne. Raekwon and Cheyenne are twins.

Shakuan and Cheyenne are rappers like their father, under the names 5thPXWER or PXWER and Chey, while Raekwon is a model. Both Shakuan and Raekwon played college football for the Stony Brook Seawolves, per the Staten Island Advance.

“We’re just a family of big football fans," Raekwon told the outlet about what it's been like breaking out of his father and brother's shadows. "The best piece of advice he’s given me is to always stay humble and be yourself.”

Smith often shares photos and videos of her children on her Instagram page, encouraging them in their careers.

Smith had breast cancer

Smith had breast cancer in the 2000s, though it wasn’t something she and Method Man shared publicly. Wendy Williams shared the news on her show in 2006, by which time the cancer was in remission.

Method Man went to Williams’ radio station to confront her for speaking light of the illness, telling Rolling Stone at the time, “My wife is one of the strongest people on the planet. I just want to make Wendy Williams aware of exactly what it felt like to be sitting in that hospital room, watching them pump this poison into the one you love.”

Smith founded a nonprofit organization

Smith founded the nonprofit Have a Heart NY in Staten Island to help underprivileged young people. Method Man has been involved, too, meeting a fan of his music in a hospital visit arranged by the organization.

“At Have a Heart NY we are here to do what we can to help the youth of New York City," Smith told the Staten Island Advance in July 2019. "We are glad we were able to secure Method Man for a Heart to Heart visit with Bryson through Meth’s management.”

Have a Heart NY has organized food drives, chess tournaments, a talent show and a softball game to help raise money. In November 2019, the nonprofit hosted a Thanksgiving feast, during which it also distributed winter coats and holiday meals to local residents.

“I wanted to do something for my community. I grew up in Park Hill. I went to school here. This is my community,” Smith told the Staten Island Advance of the event. “I just wanted to do whatever I can to help the kids out here."

Method Man said it’s a “blessing” that he and Smith have kept their marriage out of the public eye

Method Man and Smith keep their family life quite private, scarcely ever sharing posts about each other on social media.

During an appearance on Sherri Shepherd’s talk show Sherri in November 2022, the rapper shared that their privacy is his secret to having a great relationship.

“Don’t talk about it," he said. "I think the more you keep things private and between you and her, it’s more personal and it lasts longer.”

In a July 2024 interview with Vanity Fair, he expanded on the benefits of keeping their relationship between themselves, saying, “I’ve been married to the same woman for 30 years, and the fact that my wife and I stay out of the public eye is a blessing in itself.”