Last Time: 1998 Hip-Hop Blowout

Next Time: Aceyalone - Book of Human Language Danja Mowf - Word of Mowf

Artist: Canibus

Album: Can-I-Bus

Genre: Knowledge-droppin, underground-flow, old-school flavored emceeing over a variety of tracks, ranging from underground Hip-Hop to commercial R&B.

Producers: Wyclef Jean, Jerry Wonder, DJ Clark Kent, Salaam Remi, L.G., Canibus.

Tracks: 13 tracks, clocking in at exactly 48 minutes.

Label: Universal Records.

Year of Release: 1998

Date of Review: January 14, 1999

LYRICS: 8

FLOW: 8

MESSAGE: 7

BEATS: 4

ORIGINALITY: 6

HYPE: 6

CONSISTENCY: 6

SCORE: 63%

Can He Bus?

I think I've stated my opinions on Canibus in other reviews a few times. For those that don't know what I thought of him, here it is, more or less: "Canibus is a dope emcee. But it seems like cats are sweating him WAY too much. He's cool and all, but nothing amazing. He's great at battle-rapping and throwing in some nice punchlines, but lacks any sort of depth." I had heard emcees like him before. It seems like once every year or so, somebody like him comes along that everyone starts calling amazing, but I just can't see why. A few years ago it was Jay-Z and Biggie, now it seems to be Eminem. But, for a while there, Canibus was the front-runner for the title of "World's Most Overrated Emcee."

That's what I thought. For some good reasons, too. Every track I had heard Canibus on to that point, his primary focus was only on HIMSELF. He'd talk about how dope he was, how intelligent he was, how he's already one of the best of all-time. And while he was certainly above-average, I just couldn't agree with him about his dopeness. I mean, if you can't talk about anything but yourself, how dope can you really be? I mean, I love Company Flow and EPMD, but straight-up bragging (without backing it up or anything) can sometimes grow tedious. So, I also thought Canibus had the world's most overinflated ego.

Then I heard a track by him on the Bulworth soundtrack titled "How Come?" To my amazement, Canibus could talk about something other than himself! Instead of the bragadoccio and dissing I was accustomed to hearing him do, he was getting kinda deep, talking about the end of the world and whatnot. It was the same ol' Illuminati theories we're all acccustomed to hearing (you know, igniting Jupiter into a second sun called "Lucifer" and all that), which I'm SERIOUSLY getting sick of (if there truly is a "secret" society like the Illuminati, how could EVERYONE know about it?), but Can was able to intelligently tell his tale, nonetheless. For the first time, I actually respected Canibus as something more than an overnight sensation.

Then his debut album dropped. I hesitated to buy it at first: every magazine and website that had a review of it dissed it. Everyone was disappointed, and the reviews for Can-I-Bus ranged from simply average to extremely wack. Shocking, considering that everyone was on this guy's jock, calling him one of the best ever, for about six months.

Well . . . I think I was looking for another CD, but I ended up not being able to find it. So, I picked up Can-I-Bus. "Hey, at least it comes with a free phone card," I thought. And I purchased it.

Then I listened. And listened some more. I skipped past the wack tracks, and listened to the dope ones. And I listened again. And I don't have a CLUE why so many people didn't like this album. Canibus has established himself as a three-dimensional emcee with more skills than I had thought. On Can-I-Bus, he does it all: battle-rapping, bragging, social-consciousness, and even some intellectual pondering. Canibus isn't one of the best emcees ever. But I wouldn't call it any sort of a stretch to name him as one of the top major label emcees out today. I'm not joking; the lyrics here truly are great. The mic-grabbing Canibus that you're all used to from the past is here on tracks like the ultra-hype "Patriots" and you get to hear the brainy, internet-surfing kid's conspiracy theories on the surprisingly intelligent "Channel Zero" (which starts off as just another U.F.O. story but quickly evolves into a philosophical commentary on the origins of mankind). Of course, a few pre-released tracks are already here, so if you don't already own "Get Retarded," "Second Round K.O.," or "How We Roll," you're in for a treat.

Unfortunately, it's not all good. When I first heard of Canibus, he was a lone-wolf battle-hungry emcee, who sometimes hung with the Lost Boyz, but didn't seem to have many true allies. He's even been accused of dissing LOTS of emcees he's rapped with, not just LL (I've heard some claim that on collaborations with Common and The Firm, he snuck in some subliminal insults to the artists he was rapping with).

Well, then he (along with R. Kelly) showed up on the remix to Wyclef Jean's "Gone 'Til November." Since then, Can and 'Clef have been inseperable. I even think Canibus is now considered part of the "Refugee All-Stars" clique (let's see if I can remember 'em all . . . Lauryn, Wyclef, Pras, John Forte, Free, Spida, and now Canibus, right?). While this certainly adds more talent to Wyclef's posse, I'm not so sure it helps Canibus much. In fact, the whole semi-pop Wyclef sound doesn't exactly fit this gruffy-voiced, mean-mouthed rapper. And to hear god-awful R&B choruses between his verses just makes one shudder. Most of the rest of the Refugees are on some sort of Caribbean-type tip, but Canibus is more into straight-up emceeing. He's definitely a square peg in Wyclef's crew.

Still, even with its faults (and it does have quite a few), I'm glad I bought Can-I-Bus. I'm impressed by it. I think his main problem was that he had WAY too much hype. Cats got disappointed, and wouldn't give the album a fair chance. All in all, this album is for 1998 what Rakim's The 18th Letter was for 1997: a solid album that lots of heads just didn't dig. Like Rakim, expecations were too high for young Canibus, and even though he dropped an album that I think is dope, not many people bought it. As a whole, the record has an extremely old school feel to it . . . I'm not sure why, but this album sounds more like it'd belong in '89 than '98. I don't think Canibus consciously tried to do this, like a group such as Jurassic 5 would, but I definitely experienced some flashbacks listening to this. Maybe it's because of the positive vibes, mic-battling, and an all-around fun attitude? Probably.

Well, on Can-I-Bus, you have a.) mostly dope lyrics, with a few wack exceptions; and b.) mostly wack beats, with a few dope exceptions. I'm more of a lyrics-head, myself, and because of that, I'm giving 'Bus the thumbs-up. He's got serious potential to be one of the best . . . someday. In fact, I'd already say he's a better lyricist than Biggie Smalls, whom he regards as the greatest emcee of all-time (I'll never understand why cats sweat Biggie so much).

Canibus needs to follow my advice. First of all, man, you're a really dope rapper. But you can't let ANY wack lyrics slip through.Make sure all of them are your very best. Spend lots of time just thinking and writing lyrics. That should help. Second of all, you have to ditch Wyclef. I understand, you two are good buddies and all (hell, he even threatened to shoot an editor of Blaze that gave you a bad review), but he isn't helping your career at all. You can still roll with him and all (I definitely wouldn't mind seeing you show up on the next Fugees album), but DON'T let him behind the boards for your tracks. If you're looking for producers, I'd recommend some guys like DJ Premier or Easy-Mo-Bee, or maybe even Da Beatminerz. They'll give you some harder beats. And then you can release a really dope album to the heads.

Wouldn't the world be so much of a better place if everyone listened to my advice? :)
---Steve Clark