In the short time that I’ve been providin’ y’all with rap reviews, I’ve never gotten as many requests to review an album as this one. The story of Canibus is one of the most amazingly rapid ascents up the Hip Hop Mountain. Unfortunately, his failure to claim the crown illustrates how a career can be killed before it ever really starts.
Here’s a quick primer for those of y’all new to the game. Canibus made his mainstream splash on the underrated soundtrack to the 1997 movie Rhyme & Reason. His work on the track Uni-4-Orm with Heltah Skeltah created an instant buzz. That year also saw the untimely passing of Biggie Smalls and, as morbid as it might sound, Canibus was in the right place at the right time.
Canibus did some work with Wyclef Jean on the latter’s debut solo joint. He hooked up with the Lost Boyz, too, but it was his brief team-up with LL Cool J that gave Canibus his biggest press. The two were slated to work together on a cut for LL’s Phenomenon album. There was a falling out (and I’ve heard no less than a half-dozen reasons for the beef) and LL eventually released the track with a few shots at Canibus mixed in.
In response, Canibus dropped Second Round K.O. which was a decent, but one-dimensional diss track towards LL. Everyone knew that LL would return fire, and he did with the incendiary The Ripper Strikes Back. While it’s a somewhat overrated cut, it managed to catch the attention of everyone lookin’ for an alternative to Puffy’s “Shiny Suit” rap that was ruling the airwaves at the time.
With his tail between his legs, Canibus released his much-anticipated debut, which was a disappointment in two ways: One, his 100 mph style on every track got old really quick. Two, Wyclef Jean’s production work was very good, but a complete car wreck of styles with Canibus’ flow.
Since 1998, Canibus has seemingly set out to burn every bridge in the industry while continuing to release hyperactive, but empty albums like C! True Hollywood Stories. On his latest, Rip The Jacker, Canibus has gone the way of the concept album.
Genabis-A typically ballsy track that riffs on the Book of Genesis, this one features phenomenally understated production. Right off the bat, Canibus shows that he has reigned in the out-of-control style that made him a battle rap legend but a shaky presence when the subject matter changed.
First rapper to speak over beats dogmatically
Mixed with Elizabethan drama and tragedy
My motto is to dress casually and live lavishly
Look at the Victorian tapestry in back of me
Levitibus-Lilting drums and strings provide the backdrop for this one and the wordplay is off the charts. The amount of vulnerability the rapper shows is almost unheard of in the macho grandstanding of the genre. He touches on his failure to dent the Billboard charts, his past album missteps and manages one more subtle jab at his enemies.
I was created by intelligent design
You are merely a descendant of the immodified
You diss me out of pride
But when you’re finished talkin bout one of your bitches you’re simply out of rhymes
M Sea Cresy-This is a track that’ll have to grow on you. The production is, again, reservedly powerful. While the metaphors and references will surely send those who care to their encyclopedias. The pitch of the strings lends an Old World feel that works.
Slavery isn’t over, it just took a new alias.
No Return-Three different verses, three different tales. It’s amazing what kind of stories Canibus can spin with so few words. He opens in a far-flung post-apocalyptic future and finishes with a tragic tale of a firefighter’s rescue attempt. The hook is on the weak side, though.
Spartibus-Here’s something different: a chest-thumping, muscle-flexing track full of bravado and ego that you won’t roll your eyes at. It weaves in a classic lyric from Rakim’s My Melody on the hook, too.
Time is breath; breath is life; life is light
Light is no less than capital ‘C’ on the mic
Beneath the mirage of night I’ll attack you twice
Prepare to rig a sacrifice with my ritual rights
Indisible-A Latin infused track with a shaky hook, this one features a strong enough effort from Canibus that it can be overlooked. It includes some “ripped from the headlines” current events and a tone that harkens back to the best of Public Enemy.
The catholic faith will never be the same
You could be put in chains ’cause you got a Muslim name
Sent to Guantanamo Bay and tortured for days
Showtime at the Gallows-The Latin vibe continues with up-tempo drums and a crazy, breathless flow. The production belies the haunting and cautionary tone that’s burned into every word.
Psych Evaluation-Canibus takes a look at his Jekyll and Hyde persona and, again, tackles past criticisms of him head on. The beats build to a crescendo at the end of each verse, which help make this one of the more intensely personal cuts on the album.
I used to be an undisciplined piece of fecal matter
An underdog rapper/ but I closed that chapter
Cemantics-An intelligent anti-establishment track that features some over-the-top, but still effective production. Easily one of the better joints here, you can tell he’s reaching out to his younger listeners on this one.
If you can rise & survive in the Jamaican Ghetto
Then you deserve a Congressional medal
Poet Laureate-The Grand Finale track and Canibus lays everything on the table. Over seven minutes of three diverse beats, Canibus looks back at his entire life and times with some stinging words for the current state of rap music.
From an extroverted point of view I think it’s too late
Hip Hop has never been the same since ’88
Since it became a lucrative profession as a misconception
in the movement in any direction as progression
Even though of the potency of it lessens
big money industries writing checks to suppress the question
So, what was so special about the “concept” mentioned above? Well, legend has it that Canibus laid all the vocals down for this album, then handed them over to Stoupe from Jedi Mind Tricks fame. Depending on who you ask, it took nearly a full year for Stoupe to complete these 10 tracks, as well as the intro and outro. Who knows how face of the industry would look today if this album came out in 1998.
