Review Summary: battle rapper makes epic battle rap. cool.
Soon after the release of
Can-I-Bus, Canibus was met with backlash and critics who thought his record was no good. Indeed, Canibus had not led up to the hype that he had coming for him, and his career fell to ashes. He would take a two year break from rap before coming back to the industry, and when he did, he came back with more lyrical prowess than ever before. He got an army of beat makers that were somewhat willing to actually help him make the music that he deserved. It would be more epic, it would have crazy lyrics, and it would be an overall better effort. It would be what
Can-I-Bus should have been, and it Canibus’ sophomore album
2000 B.C., and this time he did not let his fans down.
The main problem of
Can-I-Bus is still a problem here, but for the most part, it’s to a lesser extent. The stale and old production techniques on
Can-I-Bus are still here, but they do not have nearly as much toll on the album as they did before. Songs like “2000 B.C.”, “Mic Nifficent”, and “Lost at C” actually have decent production values, something that Canibus hasn’t ever had before. “2000 B.C.”, in particular, works because the production seems to fit the epic-operatic madness of the beat at hand. That being said, the album also has some of the worst production Canibus has ever had to deal with. “I’ll Buss Em, U Punish Em” has incredibly muddy production, and the beat seems to be a mere mush in the background while Canibus’ veraciously raps. “Phuk U” has fuzzy production, and the production definitely does not fit the almost mechanical beat, thus ruining a possibly decent rap song. “Chaos” attempts of have an element of a build-up, but a good idea is completely demolished by the poor mix on the album, which keeps the beat at a quiet thump, and thus ruining any kind of musical equivalence the attempt had ever had.
The beats on
2000 B.C. are diverse to say the least, much more diverse than the piano and funk samples on
Can-I-Bus, but at the same time they don’t hold a candle to many of the beats of the time. The beats show potential, “2000 B.C” is one of the most epic hip hop beats of the late 90s, and “Mic Nifficent” makes way with a multitude of horn spouts and vocal samples, but for the most part, the beats are just good ideas gone bad. “Die Slow” has a good idea with the piano samples, but in the end just runs on too long and sounds like Elevator music. “Doomsday News” attempts to be jazzy, and while it does sound like a good idea, it’s just too mellow and too weak for Canibus’s type of music, and thus the beat doesn’t fit the background.
Still, some of the beats shine because of their epic nature, due to the fact that it completely and totally fit Canibus’s new rejuvenated self. On
Can-I-Bus, he had the lyrics that completely fit who he is, a battle rapper. The problem was he didn’t completely have the swagger that made him the hyped rapper of the decade.
2000 B.C shows that rapper everybody wanted in every way possible, swag, flow, rhyme, and beat. He completely demolishes every track he touches on
2000 B.C., he is an angry man indeed. He is angry at Wyclef for flunking his last album back to the history of hip hop failures, and this album has (“2000 B.C. (the song)” in particular) that new emotion from Canibus. “Horsementality” is where Canibus truly shines lyrically, giving us his fully lyrical library in one song, the artillery against his enemies, and his usual witticisms on subjects like science and math in the mix.
"The top ten become nine dead if I ever decide to hop in
With the one-two, one-two shot to the chin
knock you out like ten shots of vodka and gin
The beautiful blend of power and strength
From the top of my head, down to where my toe cuticles end"
2000 B.C. was a gigantic failure commercially. The label expected
Can-I-Bus numbers, which was around 500,000 to 1,000,000, but the album moved less than 200,000 copies. Canibus would get dropped of his label for the lack of sales, but there is something that
2000 B.C. did do. The critics were convinced before this release that Canibus was a worthless battle rapper, incapable of making a decent album, but
2000 B.C. proved them completely wrong. While this album still has Canibus with weak production and a mixed selection of beats, he as a rapper was rejuvenated, and puts on his most aggressive performance as of yet. That alone makes
2000 B.C. an astounding improvement over
Can-I-Bus
Recommended Tracks
“Horsementality”
“2000 B.C.”
“Mic Nifficent”
“Lost At C”
