AMW i.e. Talent: DJ single Handed]
June 15, 2007
The man who was supposed to be hip-hop’s lyrical savior and flew off the radar just as quickly as he arrived is back again with another offering. Canibus’ new album, For Whom the Beat Tolls, has been released through 101 Distribution and his own imprint, Mic Club Music.
According to Hiphoppress.com, guest appearances include Vinnie Paz from Jedi Mind-Tricks, Wu-Tang brethren GZA and Killah Priest, and former EPMD-led Hit Squad member K-Solo. Production duties will be held by Scram Jones, J. Wells, Moss, Zinn Deadly and the Capital Gang Movement.
I am willing to give this album a shot. That’s something I haven’t done since his first album was released.
Way back when I was an 18-year-old obsessive advocate of all things hip-hop, I was looking forward to the album to end all albums. Canibus had showed his extreme lyrical dexterity on several other artists’ offerings, such as “Making a Name for Ourselves” by Common; “Desperadoes” by The Firm; “Beasts from the East” by A+, Mr. Cheeks, and Redman; and “4, 3, 2, 1” by LL Cool J featuring everyone and their grandmother. Not to mention the fact that Canibus had a few songs of his own, such as “How We Roll” and “Second Round Knockout” A.K.A. “Screw LL Cool J.”
The album dropped, and it was plagued with two large problems. Wyclef’s production fit Canibus’ rhymes as well as my shoes would fit Shaq (I’m a size nine-and-a-half). Some of the concepts and lyrics behind the songs were, for lack of two better words, out there. While I found it quite creative when Canibus rhymed from the point of view of a sperm getting ready to fertilize an egg, that sentiment wasn’t shared by many of my peers. Mathematical and extra-terrestrial musings littered the album and turned it into a snooze-fest for many.
The title of the new album’s first single, “Secret of the Cosmonauts,” likely proves that Canibus hasn’t changed a bit.
I will gladly give it a listen. Due to my disappointment in his initial release, I never listened to much of his subsequent material. What I did hear wasn’t as thrilling as when he first came on the scene. I give him credit for not giving up despite minimal mainstream success. Perhaps this is what I need simply due to the fact that there isn’t much else out there right now. I need something to hold onto. To believe in. Or at least listen to without cringing.
I hope Canibus is back to his old form of being an “animal with a mechanical mandible, ready to damage you, spittin’ understandable slang at you!”
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