Artist: Canibus Genre(s):
Other
Discography:
Mind Control Year: 2005
Tracks: 11
Rip The Jacker Year: 2003
Tracks: 11
Though heralded as a prospective talent at the clock time of his major-label debut in 1998, Canibus nonetheless became little more than a momentaneous phenomenon as his subsequent work failed to couple the ballyhoo surrounding him. Following some underground work and cameo appearances, most notably on Wyclef Jean's "Bygone Till November" remix in 1997, Canibus feuded famously with LL Cool J. The resulting exchanges -- Canibus' "Arcsecond Round K.O." and LL's "The Ripper Strikes Back," both peppy engagement tracks -- garnered significant attention and, of class, promotion as well. Expectations were therefore high when Canibus unleashed his Wyclef-produced debut full-length,
Can-I-Bus (1998), concisely afterwards on Universal. Critics alas panned the album and listeners did so as easily, so Canibus receded from the spot speedily. He returned two age later on with his follow-up for Universal,
2000 B.C., just it also launch little embrace, and Canibus before long establish himself reversive to the underground tour from which he came. He interestingly sought to engagement his way back into the limelight as he earlier had, in the end confronting Eminem of all rappers. The manoeuvre proved bootless, though, and anomic Canibus regular further from the mass market. Even so, he maintained a cultish following and continued to acquittance albums independently of the majors, now and then discharge turned more of the fight raps he remains nigh known for.
Innate Germaine Williams in 1974 in Jamaica, Canibus touched to the United States with his mother at a young years. Because his mother's life history required unvarying resettlement, the category moved often and the soon-to-be knocker found solace inside himself. His rhetorical abilities blossomed afterwards, in one case hip-hop became the guiding military unit in his life sentence. He began rhyming and in the mid-'90s linked a grouping called T.H.E.M. (The Heralds of Extreme Metaphors), which consisted also of his married person Webb. Following a fallout with his married person, Canibus chased a solo life history and began infiltrating the mix-tape racing circuit. By 1997, he had approached the threshold of the major-label rap game, guesting regularly on high profile releases: He contributed to "Uni-4-orm," an inclusion on the
Verse & Reason soundtrack also featuring Heltah Skeltah and Rass Kass; "Sexual love, Peace & Nappiness," an inclusion on the Lost Boyz's
Sexual love, Peace & Nappiness also featuring Redman and A+; "Qualification a Name for Ourselves," an inclusion on Common's
One Day It'll All Make Sense; the non-album remix of Wyclef Jean's "Bypast Till November"; and most splendidly, "4, 3, 2, 1," an inclusion on LL Cool J's
Phenomenon besides featuring Redman, DMX, and Method Man.
Of the various client appearances, "4, 3, 2, 1" certainly meant the to the highest degree, as it brought together many of New York's leading hard-core rappers and thus ushered Canibus into that like elite course. At the like fourth dimension, however, Canibus lashed out short subsequently with the Mike Tyson-featuring "Second Round K.O.," where he riming, "So I'ma let the world be intimate the true statement, you don't desire me to shine/You studied my rhyme, then you laid your vocals after mine." In fact, the integrality of the song directed biting rhymes at LL: "You walk about showin' off your body cause it sells/Plus to annul the fact that you ain't got skills/Mad at me 'cause I kick that sh*t real niggaz feel/While 99 percentage of your fans wear out high heels," and so on. Shortly thereafter, LL sought his retaliation, cathartic "The Ripper Strikes Back" on the
Survival of the Illest soundtrack (1998) and thusly channeling even more than attention toward Canibus. From the track's chorus ("Can-I-bus? Yes you toilet!") to practically every line of the verses ("You soft as a newborn baby takin' a nap/Make my hawkshaw hard with that bitch-ass track/Where you at? smokin' in some one-room flat/Suckin' on Clef's hawkshaw hopin' to come back"), LL unleashed a wildness of insults and threats. The media, of course, elevated the struggle to deluxe high, as even MTV gave the news report headlines. In the backwash of 2Pac's and Biggie's deaths, such confrontations hypnotised the rap community, and Canibus sure as shooting capitalized on his newfound publicity.
As for his debut full-length,
Can-i-bus (1998), though, the reply was sobering. Critics expressed fiddling support, and gross sales rapidly dropped as listeners besides felt really defeated. Executive produced by Wyclef, the album suffered on many levels, both production-wise and rhetorically as well (critics targeting Canibus' delivery more than his lyrics or themes). The momentum that "Endorsement Round K.O." had generated simmered about immediately, and it didn't help oneself that LL's "Ripper Strikes Back" found real credence at the time as well. In the two age following the release of
Can-i-bus, the rapper maintained an highly low profile, much in contrast to the regular invitee appearances he had made leading up to his debut. As a resultant, when he ultimately did reelect with his followup album,
2000 B.C. (2000), few noticed, it came and went generally unheard, and Canibus returned to the underground after part ways with Universal. He continued to record albums and release them on the main tour (including 2002's Mic Club, 2003's Rip the Jacker, and 2005's Mind Control); what is more, he retained a small bag of fans as well, yet his days as the next-big-thing had clearly come and gone, as they likewise had for so many other gifted rappers.
Savath and Savalas
