Album Can-I-Bus Author "bigd99999", Epinions.com Rating Back to overview » Can-I-Bus kicks off with a simple, yet eerie "Intro", where Canibus displays himself as a hacker on the Internet, with well-produced computer noises. Canibus discovers the album and downloads it, hence kicking it off with "Patriots". Canibus is joined by Pras and Free (yes, the same b*tch who currently hosts 106th & Park). As expected already, Canibus spits flames on the track, with amazing punchlines and hot rhymes, of the battle variety. Canibus' scientific lyrics, and his intelligence and wit is shown from the onset, with clever and memorable lines like: "Don't even talk about guns; the only "nine" you got is a five dollar bill and four ones". Its obvious to me that Free's lyrics were ghostwritten by Canibus due to the sheer lyrical delivery, scientific wordplay, and the sheer fact that Free is an unrespectable rapper due to the fact that she is unbelievably commercial, doesn't write her own lyrics, and its known by the fact that her idiotic a** hosts a show that promotes commercialism and because seemingly every other song she appears on is whack. Ok, enough about my hatred towards Free. The production is listenable and fitting, with a nice piano and violin melody at an even-tempo. "Get Retarded" is a perfect introduction and prelude to the deep battle skills that Canibus possesses. Over unique, keyboard laced production at a nice tempo, a somewhat catchy chorus featuring some weird samples. Canibus comes on with scientific rhymes, with amazing metaphors, similes, and clever and witty rhymes, showcasing Canibus fondness of lyrical supremacy over production. Canibus lyrics are venomously well-written: "You haven't written the perfect rhyme yet, You don't even know the sequences to the Human Genome Project, You haven't come to terms with your God yet, And you refuse to believe in Unidentified Flyin Objects, When I bomb sh*t, I get retarded; probably more than you bargained, I'm talkin about rippin mic off your arm sh*t, Hype sh*t, blow up a mic sh*t, you might get, beat the f*ck up in broad daylight with a nightstick". Canibus shows off his intelligence with the first major creative moment on Can-I-Bus, entitled "N*gganometry". Featuring some dope Wyclef production, giving the track a sad feel, yet fitting for this track. The production is slightly familiar to some old-school joints, specially the DJ Premier-esque scratching, taking samples from "Sesame Street" of all things. Lyrically, this track is top-notch. Canibus gives us a bit of humor, intelligence, wit, and creativity as he shows us his version of complicated "Ghetto" Mathematics, asking Algebraic questions to the listener, relating to the record industry, specifically hip-hop, sort of slightly poking fun at commercial rap. Besides humor, Canibus also includes some scientific and metaphysical lyricism to insert into his questions. Some of the most humorous questions included in this classic would be these examples of humor; "Now if a b*tch sucks yo' dick, for five dollars per square inch, and gets forty dollars, includin a five dollar tip, How big was the dick she just sucked?... the record industry; "If you sign a recordin deal for less than a quarter mill', and your advance is a hundred-thousand dollar automobile, I know the vehicle was probably beautiful, But did you ask your lawyer if it was recoupable?"... science; "If you remove every living animal out of the sea, then wouldn't the world's ocean water level decrease?, This means the planet wasn't three-quarters water...". Unbelievable is the term i use for this track. At last we get to the classic Canibus track which many think has defined his career, the LL Cool J annihilating track "Second Round K.O.". Canibus lyrically smacks the hell out LL Cool J in response to the indirect diss layed down on the LL Cool J and Bis collabo "4,3,2,1", which is where the whole beef was started. Ill sum up the beef as simple as i can: Canibus made a comment on his verse about the tattoo of a microphone that LL Cool J has on his arm. LL Cool J took it as a diss, and layed down his own diss on his verse. Canibus confronts LL about the situation, and LL tells Bis that he would change his verse if Bis removed the "mic" lines. Canibus agreed and returned to the studio to re-record his verse. However, once the song was released, Bis discovered that LL Cool J indeed did NOT change HIS verse towards Bis. After getting in contact with LL, LL explained that as long as Canibus' line wasn't in the song, nobody would ever understand that the line was meant for Bis. Canibus, being a prideful individual, struck back on this song. Production-wise, Wyclef is excellent, as he gives us epic, opera-filled production. Lyrically, Bis is at his best on this track, as he lays down diss after diss, heavy punch after heavy punches, narrated by a man who knows a lot about punching, and that would be Mike Tyson. Canibus interestingly never at all says LL Cool J's name whatsoever, but everybody can easily see that it is directed towards LL with memorable lines like this: "Somebody that he gotta know is betta than him, but he feelin himself, cause he got more cheddar than him, Well lemme tell you somethin, you might got mo' cash then me, But you ain't got the skills to eat a n*gga's a** like me, And if you really want to show off, we can get it on, Live in front of the cameras on your own sitcom, I'll let you kick a verse, f*ck it, I'll let you kick em all, I'll even wait for the studio audience to applaud, Now watch me rip the tat from your arm, Kick you in the groin, stick you for your Vanguard award, In front of your mom your 1st, 2nd and 3rd born, Make your wife get on the horn call Minister Farrakhan". That right there says it all. "What's Goin On" finds Canibus getting introspective, which is something he rarely does anymore to be honest. The production is reminiscent of the famous Marvin Gaye track of the same name, with some added elements to make it extremely listenable. Canibus takes a hand at street poetry and narratives, as he examines the use of gunplay in hip-hop, speaking about the deaths of numerous rap stars due to violence. Canibus explains his need for it to stop, as he spills his guts onto the notepad. His complex flow and lyrics are perfect, and i sort of wish he did more songs like this. Canibus goes deeper on "I Honor U", as he dedicates the whole song to his mother. The production, though not awful, is a bit unfitting, specially the R&B vocals. The beat is decent, but it doesn't quite fit with Canibus lyrics or the R&B, but dont get me wrong. The R&B is fitting, but its just that the beat is off. Canibus introspective nature of his lyrics is excellent, as he raps about his origins and birth. This side of himself is rarely shown in the more recent Canibus. Even though the newer Canibus work is much better lyrically, the introspective piece of Canibus makes him a much more complete emcee, which is why i highly reccomend Can-I-Bus as WELL as the others, so that the listener can have a chance to hear all sides of Germaine Williams. We're not even finished yet... but im making a point. "Hype-Nitis" would be a classic if it weren't for unfitting Wyclef production, which is, as i said from the beginning, the major downfall of Can-I-Bus. Lyrically, Canibus shines as he uses his trademark complicated vocabulary as he explains the dangers of "hype", which interestingly enough is one of the major things that killed the momentum of Canibus career. Canibus annihilates the track with his battle raps once again on"How We Roll". Panama P.I., who is a fake Ja Rule, drops by to do the whack chorus. The production is unfitting and a bit too simplistic, but the song itself is nothing at all close to being bad. As you may have already guessed, Canibus unbelievable lyrical display is what truly makes this track worthwhile, as well as the way Canibus plays with his voice, increasing it towards the end. "I'm the illest lyricist in America -- MC's can't see me, cause I'm too quick, for the human retina to regista, I roll up on ya crew quicker than long sleeves, At a "Speed" that would confuse Keanu Reeves, So ask yourself, who am I?, I'm the illest MC that you ever seen in your f*ckin life, I hop into the backseat of a cab and rhyme, til the meter says 9... 9... 9... 9... Line for line I battle any kind of MC at any time, whether they signed or unsigned, Wit many lines, more lines than a million pair of Adidas, More lines than the bible quoted from Jesus, More lines than a African herd of zebras, N*ggaz just ain't f*ckin wit the 'cannabis seteva'. "Channel Zero" is a perfect example of an unarguable Canibus classic. Featuring creepy and actual FITTING production this time around, Canibus manipulates the microphone and gives us an eerie track with even more eerie metaphysical subject matter. The most fitting word to describe this song is: Thought-Provoking, because that is exactly what Canibus does on this track; provoke thoughts. Germaine touches on some amazing points here from space-aliens, to government cover-ups, conspiracies, corruption, UFOs, cloning, war, to even questioning the BIBLE and religion itself. Canibus proves he is much more intelligent than most emcees out there, as his scientific display is mind-boggling. Honestly, i am set to tell you that this album is worth purchasing simply for this track. Still an unbeliever? Read this: "Ninety-seven percent of our Presidents were Masons, Responsible for launderin trillions of dollars from the nation, for the construction of underground military installations, Abductions and cattle mutilations, Experiments on human patients can take place in several subterranean bases, A hundred and fifty stories below a basement, With knowledge of genetic information, you need to fear science not Satan, Cause through the manipulation of certain biological agents, they create strange creations: Top secret special operations, Low frequency sounds and lasers, people like Carl Sagan that didn't believe in the Drake equation were tryin to keep Western civilization on the need-to-know basis". In my opinion, the most thought-provoking of all lines honestly questions what COULD be a fumble in the Bible, or perhaps the hidden truth: "Yo, the holy script from Genesis 1-26, says, 'Let us make man in our image under our likeness', First of all who's THEY? You see if God was truly a single entity that's not what he would say". Creepy and Scary. Awful Production and mediocre guests is what plagues "Let's Ride". Don't fear Canibus-fans, his lyrics are still top-notch and above anybody else. Pras, Wyclef, and Product all show up to provide the awful and mediocre chorus. However, fans of true lyricism can overlook this and the terrible production and find another Canibus lyrical masterpiece. "Buckingham Palace" puts the album back on track lyrically, and production-wise (then again, the album was really never off lyrically). This WOULD be the perfect ending to the album, but sadly it is not. The minimalistic and simplistic production provided by 'Clef on this track if fitting for Canibus lyrical showcase, as his verbally murderous tactics are once again shown. For fans who have no clue who Canibus is, this is a perfect example and introduction into the sheer skill and microphone mastery that Canibus possesses. The dark instrumental and excellent lyricism is a near-perfect match. Unfortunately, Wyclef ends Can-I-Bus with the awful "Rip Rock", which is an embarrassment and one of the only blemishes on Canibus repertoire, and it wasn't even his fault either. The awful commercialized synthesizer guitar provides an awful backdrop for Canibus to rap over. Canibus lyrics are good, of course, but that still doesn't save the song from being anything higher than average. Wyclef screws up the close of the album in a bad way production-wise, but Canibus closing verses are in a word: amazing. Despite the bad production, which to me doesnt matter, Can-I-Bus is pretty dope. This is a perfect introduction to one of the illest cats in hip-hop, and his variety, creativity, intelligence, and sheer lyrical finesse is in its finest form on this CD. The hip-hop heads themselves who are true fans of lyricism will find a lot to enjoy on this album. I highly suggest purchasing a copy and supporting every single thing that Canibus touches.