…but lost the war.
How does this type of shit happen? After ten years, the question still causes widespread puzzlement across the Hip-Hop community.Â
Dude had it.Â
The flow, the gruff, battle-tested vocals. The skills to “eat a nigga’s ass…” (his words, not mine). As far as rookies go in ’98, he was 2nd only to Pun in the art of lyrical massacre, only to take that “two” and use it to become the next Sam Bowie.
Even LL had to acknowledge the predicament ‘Bus had put him in: You came up with that bullshit/some heads sucked it up/then dropped that garbage album/and totally fucked up… he spit on the 2000′s “Back Where I Belong.” For the uniformed it basically happened liked this: LL asked Canibus to be on “4,3,2,1″ but took an line about borrowing his tattoo as disrespect and changed his verse to a subliminal diss. Canibus change the line but LL kept his jab on the record and from then it was on…
“You studied my rhyme/then layed your vocals after mine/that’s a bitch move/something that a homo rapper would do…”
Yep.
Even though the video was shot in a boxing ring and contained some instigating ad-libs from Mike Tyson, ‘Bus wasn’t wearing any gloves when he spit acid all over the self-proclaimed G.O.A.T. LL had survived many a battle before, but this was possibly the first time there were reasons to be concerned. The newjack had a classic record and a legendary battle under his belt — all before his first album dropped.
But like the aforementioned LL line stated, Canibus killed his career his damn self. After dropping his lukewarm debut, he parted ways with Wyclef and continued to pile up garbage in the album category.
And if you thought LL layed dormant from the uppercut that was “2nd Round K.O.,” then you must not know the kid from Farmers…
“Your 4″11/crackhead ass ain’t hurtin’ nuthin’…”
“Runnin’ round town with a Bob Marley imposter…”
“Heard that convicted rapist on the record too/fresh up outta jail/ass cheeks still black and blue…”
“Ask Canibus/he ain’t understandin’ this/cuz 99% of his fans don’t exist!”
With “The Ripper Strikes Back” combined with Canibus’ own shortcomings, LL triumphed once again. But Canibus’ name will be forever cemented in 1998 Hip-Hop history. Like Jay-Z, ‘Bus had the better song, while LL was Nas with the better diss.
rELIVE
VS.
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And for LL to come that hard in that red overalls, glitter “Phenomenon” time period was refreshing….
Canibus was to 98′ what Papoose is to 08′. All hype and no substance.
Canibus in ’98>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Papoose in ’08
Biggest stages of excessive fandom over one hip hop artist at one time for me:
1. Wu-Tang Clan ’94-’97
2. Lupe Fiasco ’06
3. Canibus ’98
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfyqzUmiUkg
Nas – Hero (live)
Ten years later, I still can’t believe how hard LL came. I spent the rest of that year trying to convince aggins that LL ended Canibus’career with that song, but nobody was trying to hear me. He even flipped that man’s own name on him during the chorus.
Trackstar the Dj Says:
Canibus in ‘98>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Papoose in ‘08
^
I never really felt either on. Ifelt both were overhyped. I would give Can-I-Bus the edge though for 2nd Round Knockout alone.
i was one of the many who really had high hopes for Canibus’ album because of his mixtape appearances and then when that shit finally dropped we were all like “womp womp womp….”
with the exception of “KO”, ALL the beats were “rabbit feces”, lol. (TC, that’s a “classic”. i’m STILL dyin’ from that shit)
i normally give records 20 seconds to grab me upon dropping the needle on it. i think i was done “listening” to that whole album in 2 minutes cause the tracks were so awful that it didn’t matter what he was saying on top of them. i was truly DONE with that nigga, and anything that came out with his name on it afterwards i avoided like the plague. sorry to say that, but that’s just how i felt. still feel that way. all that fuckin potential, wasted just like Field Mob (them niggas are a whole nother story though).
how many muhfuckas can REALLY say that they had Cool J, who was known for decapitating niggas on wax, SHOOK?
even Wyclef (who was responsible for all them damn rabbit ass beats) dissed his ass afterwards…
“Like Jay-Z, ‘Bus had the better song, while LL was Nas with the better diss.”
i don’t really agree with that. i think 2RKO is better both ways
I had high hopes for Field Mobb too.
This is one of those major mysteries of hip-hop.
u crazy if you think ll cool j ended canibus’s career… canibus did it to himself with a helping hand from his production team…
“2nd round ko” imo is one of the best DISS tracks of all time… LL’s comeback was garbage…
ten yrs later when i hear it, i still gotta rewind canibus’s line “now watch me rip that tat from your arm… kick u in the groin… stick u for you vanguard award… in front of mom, your 1st 2nd and 3rd born…” gives me goosebumps to this day…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4cBhV4smyk
I want few (three) songs recorded by Fat Joey Crack and B.I.G.gie !
@ Ninjea Flea Fyaaah
http://www.zshare.net/audio/1670380532fad9bb/
Dis joint iz fo-ya !
peace
ps: Ciroc Obama is in a building !
Canibus timing was messed up too. This right when swag/ charisma was starting to mean as much as lyrics.
Canibus’s downfall was that he couldn’t craft full songs. He could freestyle for days; but when it came to creating songs, he wasn’t up for the task. Supernat has the same problem.
2nd round knockout was the only song that ever held my attention from Bus’. I had a homeboy who swore by dude. Damn he caught a brick.
In regards to Bis’s career afterwards, 2000 BC wasn’t too bad and Rip The Jacker was ridonkulous… after that I dunno what happened, was gonna drop a whole album with Nottz but then again Royce said that too, Nottz is a beat tease by the sounds of things.
Canibus’ mixtape verses were so unbelievable it’s amazing he couldn’t get ANY OF IT to carry over to wax…..
and you thought Nas had tin ears…..
Canibus had some sketchy ways of promoting himself too…
ANYbody remember that Tin Man/Gold outfit from the MTV Awards???
Whose funky idea was THAT???
“but you ain’t got the skills to eat a n*ggas azz like me….”
PAUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lots of folks hate LL, but the dude was undeniable.
Cannibus has this freestyle were he spit for like 10 minutes. STILL blows my mind.
What to the four hoursemen ablum ras kass, kurrupt, killah priests, and canibus ? Tomorrow is not promisied. I know they wish they went and got that check.
LL neva gets his due as a battle emcee. Or an emcee period. We treat him like the Madonna of rap–like he’s all about trends and fluff. Dude’s a real emcee. He wasn’t no dope dealer or hoodlum or hustler, but dude was a spitter who knew good beat from a bad one. Why gets written off for that i have no idea.
Some of it is just stupid ageism–the way we toss aside anyone over about 29 or 30 as being irrelevant regardless of their caliber of work. Some of it is this stupid notion that being a “real” black man and a “real emcee” means tellin’ hood tales and callin women out their names.
Some of it might be the gay rumors that floated around about dude for a while.
It’s a stupid. Some of his music’s been awful, some of it’s been great, some has just been pretty good. Dude’s earned his spot, tho.
Give the cat his due.
Canibus’ big problem is he’s like Rass and ‘nem–lines and bars but not great songs. awful beats, too.
If Canibus were white, he’d be on Rhymesayers or Def Jux and have a nice little following.
2RKO destroys LL’s response,
“99% of his fans wear high heels” is a doper line than “99% of his fans don’t exist,” especially considering the two involved.
oh, and I love that line about battling on LL’s own sitcom. Ouch.
@ DS, are you talking about the “100 bars” freestyle, where he has the line about reading the lyrics off the back of his eyelids?
LL has made ALOT of solid records…
i just cant stand seein the mufucka….dude has a SERIOUS issue with licking his lips…i think its become a nervous tick for him…my daughter had on the teen choice awards a few nights ago and he came out and looked like he was on some crazy drugs lickin his damn lips like every 2 minutes…my daughter was like: ‘why does that guy keep licking his mouth?’
canibus’ first album was his best album to date. had more substance than the others. i was never disappointed with his 1st but was disappointed in what followed. LL’s answer to 2nd round knock out was indeed garbage (word to raine4398) i really don’t know where ‘bis went wrong…honestly. i really enjoyed listening to his freestyle’s. he had the craziest lines.
Cannibus is one them dudes with dope ass lyrics, but I can’t stand to listen to him. He got an annoying ass voice that always sounds the same. Chino XL is the same way for me, I realize that lyrically they’re both beasts but not too smooth and use too many fucking metaphors. I love cats like Big L who has a similar style but alot smoother. I can only listen to one cannibus song every 2 weeks, if I tried listening to a whole album I’d get a fucking migraine headache and shit.
Back in 1998 heads thought that Canibus was an otherworldly alien capable of spittin’ rhymes so complex that he’d get the Bruce LeRoy “glow”. On the real, he has so much buzz and hype from his freestyles and guest spots that you’d think he was the damn Avatar or some shit.
It’s hard to explain the Canibus situation to folks that didn’t hear this cat on mixtapes or heard him back in 1998. We thought that him, Talib Kweli and Mos Def were gonna “bring it back”. Then I heard “I Honor U” and all my hopes were dashed.
One.
your in denial if you LL didnt merk this aggin.
he was pretty ill as a battle rapper but fuck canibus…imo dude was/is garbage…i might be the only one to ever think that…he had like 3 joints that kinda impressed me, that’s it…but he did murk LL
I remember early in 98 having a Canibus vs DMX mixtape. And how Canibus outshined him… Took him too long to get his album out… And it was weird. I’m a believer in the conspiracy theories abt LL getting him blacklisted from production/radio play,etc…
Canibus was to 98′ what Papoose is to 08′. All hype and no substance.
====================================================
I didn’t know Papoose even existed in 08.
While I think Canibus won that battle.. trust me living in Queens at the time and having that opinion caught me MUCH wreck.. but what happened was that he didn’t have the ability to change styles and still shine.
Listen to almost any LL album and you see he has the ability to rap to any group: ladies, thugs, style boys whateva and that is why he is still to me the GOAT rap artist.. Not rapper, not lyricist, but rap artist. And have to admit his comeback might not have been a winner.. but it sure as hell wasn’t unworthy.
Canibus v LL wasn’t the same as Nas v Jayz. Canibus had that shit sewn up and flop like a wet rug. AND he brought LL back to his senses.
who got that freestyle canibus did
on a clue mix tape..where he killed
it over the wu’s beats or raekwon’s beat or something ??