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The proceedings kick off with an introduction to what Canibus' style is mainly like. His cerebral rhymes and physiology-fused subject matter is all put into the Intro. We hear 'Bis and a friend hacking into a computer system with random cursing and muttering in the background. It's mostly space filler and does nothing more than just to paste the word "Intro" into the track listing. Although it may introduce you well to Canibus' advanced way of thinking (lyrically), much like every other album intro, it's skippable. The first real track comes in at around forty seconds later and gives us a beat that sounds like a mixture between heavy drum loops and a military march. The aptly named Patriots is our first introduction to Canibus and the mismatched production that plagued his extremely well-written and mind-boggling lyricism. The first indication that this track is laughable beat wise should be the title. While I understand the whole Navy S.E.A.L.S idea only formed through this album and it was supposedly going to be a new group that dealt only within the hallowed walls of absolutely nothing, the title of the track is a throw-away. Thankfully more time and consideration is put into the actual rhyming. Guest artist Phri from the horrible 106 & Park makes an appearance and does a fairly good job at contending with Canibus' deft lyricism; still, no ones really better than the master himself. Canibus comes with some great punch lines and a flow that complements his ferocious, mind-boggling lyricism that is only topped by his mastery of the simile. Though the production is lackluster you can't deny Canibus' pure lyrical ferocity. Get Retarded cleanses my ears by bringing an extremely head-noddable beat with a mixture of a sliding synthesizer and a drum loop that's as Old School as it gets. The minimalist drum loop and a scratched chorus that pronounces "Get retarded" over and over again gets your head nodding to the brilliant beat immediately. Even though the production in no way fits Canibus' rhyming style and cadence, by this time I've learned to not expect that from this album and tune out the production to better concentrate on 'Bis' stellar lyricism. The battle rapping commences once again with fierce, hard-hitting lines that both diss and enlighten the listener to how much of a retread commercial Rap is. While the similes and punch lines are still largely intact, he also spends a little more time making points rather than just boasting. No matter how you look at it you have to admire Canibus' pure lyrical finesse and his on-point flow that only complements his verbose writing style and hard-hitting rhymes all the much more. ("Murderin' niggas with lyrics manufactured within/My DNA's double-helix, I leave you in troubled spirits/I'm absolutely the purest, breed of MC from the United States of America to Europe I deserve it/However you wanna word it, I'm perfect/Touch my microphone on accident and get murdered on purpose") After a barrage of battle raps for at least eight minutes 'Bis feels it's time to change up the subject matter. Niggonometry is slightly reminiscent of the Tribe Called Quest track What?; although the topics are generally more mathematical. Though it's been done already by the above-said group, it's better than listening to battle raps over and over again. The production still isn't fitting, but the sample that may sound familiar, as it's been heard on Dr. Dre's The Chronic from the beginning of Rat-A-Tat-Tat and also on Public Enemy's Muse Sick -N- Hour Mess Age, the flute sample should sound extremely familiar. At least Wycelf decided to add something listenable even if it's not fitting and a drum loop that flips beat every few seconds as the track progresses. The production is one of the better pieces, as is the arrangement that is sure to get your head nodding. Lyrically, this is a mixture between humor, warning messages and just pure lyrical boasting; if you expected anything more from 'Bis, you're sadly mistaken. But hey, who really cares if he's redundant with his style if his fierce lyrics haven't lost any edge and his points are made thorough by the same moments that make his lyrics some of my most quotable. For example, he gives us an example along these lines: if you took all of animals out of the sea wouldn't the waters ocean level decrease? That would mean the Earth isn't three quarters water. His scientifically-infused lyricism is top-notch and few artists can actually master these points with as much talent as Canibus creates a track with. I'll skip over 2nd Round K.O mostly because you can read nearly any other review related to the album and hear about 'Bis' lyrical assaults on one of Hip-Hop's most prolific rappers (no longer an emcee) LL Cool J. Canibus decides once again that he wants to make points and educate the listener rather than give us another battle rap. The answer to this is the highlight What's Going On. In case you can't make assumptions, you can pretty much guess that the popular track of the same name that this track is named after by Marvin Gaye will be sampled, you now know that. The more synthesizer-heavy beat is made better by darker drum loops and another usage of strings that are more haunting then instrumental. The beat is fitting for once and another head-nodding piece of material. More fitting is Canibus' lyricism. I still find myself amazed when he adds his complicated flow into his more complex lyricism to create a track that is both educating and lyrically profound at the same time. I could sit here writing paragraph after paragraph about Canibus' lyricism but all I need is this one sentence to describe the entire album: never will you hear an emcee this good ever again. You can call be a die-hard Canibus fan or you can just say that I've listened to Doomsday News a few too many times but no matter who you are, you have to admit that listening to Canibus on his whackest tracks is like reviving Jesus and listening to him speak (but at an audio stand-point). ("Bullets – bein’ shot from guns, guns bein' carried by thugs/Who come to the clubs to shed blood/Bear in mind, that every time a nigga reaches for chrome he jeopardizes more lives than his own/To some this record ain't even relevant until you experience/How a bullet can shatter your dreams in a millisec'/By some thug cats who didn't take that/By bustin’ a gat, they could render somebody handicapped") After the horrible produced and filler material that is I Honor U that is so meaningful it sounds forced, we get hit with a few straight lines of whackness. Wyclef's signature sound is all over the following cuts. The whack drum sample on Hype-Nitis overshadows the subject of Canibus' hardships of actually getting heard. Lyrically, he also seems to slack off a bit and get a little simpler. Still, you can't deny his lyrical skills but over production this dull, redundant and just plane boring, it's hard to actually listen to more than thirty seconds of the track. Admittedly, the opening of the track has a rather Old School feel to it that should remind anyone of the days of Kurtis Blow, the overall effect of the track is dull and redundant. How We Roll is definitely an improvement but a retread of a good battle rap to say the least. The production is mediocre, though head-nodding, but still nothing that fits Canibus' style of emceeing. You won't find many uses of similes and punch lines here, but 'Bis' lyrics are complex, as is his flow that never seems to let up. I wouldn't say this is skippable material but there are definitely better tracks to be found on the album, though he still never lets up lyrically. The following track, Channel Zero, is more of a step in the right direction. The production is more suiting to Canibus' style with a dark synthesizer in the background that's rather hard to recognize that flips sound-scalings but is made apparent by darker, Old School drum loops. Although the chorus is rather annoying as is the spacey synthesizer that rings in through-out the chorus' duration, the lyrics will definitely hook you. This is what 'Bis should do on every single one of his albums. He puts his scientific lyricism to good use by giving the listener his ideals on cover-ups and extra-terrestrials. Just describing the subject matter should be enough to let you know that 'Bis' lyrics are only for those with time to spare. Let's Ride is another decline, however. The title alone implies pure whackness. While, once again, Canibus' lyrics are second to none, Wyclef's horrible production plagues another braggadocio-based track. To make matters worse, Pras feel as though he has to sing during the chorus and annoys more than adding helium to Eminem's voice. Buckingham Palace is more of a trademark 'Bis track as the grimy, minimalist production is as close as the album comes to a battle beat. The darker drum loops and sound effects through-out the background give it an ethereal feel that takes 'Bis' verbose threats to a new level. As well, Canibus himself seems to be back on track both with his hard-hitting similes and his uncompromising lyricism. This is what I consider to be a Canibus classic; a dark beat and mind-boggling lyricism that underground Hip-Hop heads couldn't write if they sat in a dark room and tried for twenty-four hours. This is the albums true highlight and the real track that shows the true extent of Canibus' lyrical and verbal mastery. Once again we're struck by more whackness. I ask myself why 'Clef didn't just end the album on a good note with Buckingham Palace. He must have felt that a more Rock-sounding track was a good idea or at least harder-sounding than the guitar-filled tracks that we've heard for the last thirty-five minutes. I won't go into 'Bis' rhymes, similes, punch lines and humor which, as you have no doubt about, are the only redeeming factor of this track. However, 'Clef fucks everything up once again by providing a mixture between horrible grunge guitar effects and drum loops that do nothing within the confines of even fitting the track to give us something un-listenable once again. Skip this at all costs fore if you don't you take the risks of going deaf. Overall, what is there to really say about this album? If you don't mind a mixture of good and bad production, fitting to un-fitting and some generally horrible beats, you'll appreciate Canibus' lyricism which undoubtedly makes this album listenable. While it's nothing compared to his second and much better album 2000 B.C, this is his only album that delves into more than just battle raps and a barrage of boasting topics and non-stop instances of punch lines, metaphors and similes. If you can look past some horrible production and some that's plainly mediocre, you'll find an underrated gem in Can-I-Bus? |
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