Canibus

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Canibus
Germaine Williams
Origin	Jamaica
Years active	1998 - present
Genres	Rap
Labels	Babygrande/Koch

Germaine Williams (born December 9, 1974), better known as Canibus and also as Can-I-Bus and Rip the Jacker, is a Jamaican-born, American MC and Rapper.

1 Background
2 Music career
3 Collaborative efforts
4 Military career
5 Subject Matter
6 Discography
7 External links
- 7.1 Official Websites
- 7.2 Fansites

[edit] Background

After his parents, Basil and Elaine Williams, divorced, Williams moved to the United States with his mother at the age of thirteen. His first new home was The Bronx, where he found an interest in the hip-hop culture, beatboxing, breakdancing and rap music. Due to his mother's job he was often forced to move, living in Washington, D.C., Miami, Florida, Buffalo, New York, England (where his mother originated from), Atlanta, Georgia and New Jersey. This constant movement limited his ability to make friends and turned him into something of a recluse [1]. Williams graduated high school in 1992 and went on to work for AT&T and the US Department of Justice as a data analyst. It was at this time that Williams became an internet 'junkie'. Having grown interested in computers and the internet, he studied computer science at DeKalb Community College (now Georgia Perimeter College) in Atlanta.

[edit] Music career

[edit] Early career, 1995 - 1997

He began rhyming in the mid-'90s and by 1995 formed a duo called T.H.E.M. (The Heralds of Extreme Metaphors) with Atlanta rapper Webb. While he was with Webb, he took part in a legendary cypher with the Wu Tang Clan family in Buffalo,NY, which earned him respect from the rap veterans. In 1996, T.H.E.M. split and Canibus teamed with businessman Charles Suitt. In 1997, Canibus started earning respect in the hip hop world after making numerous guest appearances with artists including The Lost Boyz, Common, Wyclef Jean, Ras Kass, Heltah Skeltah and The Firm.

[edit] Debut album/LL Cool J feud/sophomore album, 1998 - 2000

For the first part of 1998, he was managed by the main man behind the Fugees, Wyclef Jean, who was introduced to him by Jay-Z. It was at this time that the intense rivalry between him and rapper LL Cool J began. The battle stemmed from a collaboration with LL titled "4, 3, 2, 1" from L's 1997 album Phenomenon. LL took offense to the lines, "L, is That a mic on your arm? Let me borrow that," which referenced his tattoo of a microphone on his arm (which in actuality were Canibus' way of showing LL respect) and wrote an indirect diss to Bis, "The symbol on my arm is off limits to challengers...You don't wanna borrow that, you wanna idolize." Before the song was released, LL Cool J asked Bis to change his lines. Bis claims that L said he would change his lines, too, but Cool J denied it and said nobody would know who he was talking about if Canibus' line was changed. The original version was eventually leaked out, and fans started to piece the lines together. After he inked a deal with Universal Records, Canibus released his debut single, "Second Round K.O." in 1998, in which Bis sent an all out assault on LL for dissing him on "4, 3, 2, 1". The rivalry continued, with both sides releasing further diss tracks, but eventually the feud fizzled out. Later on in his career, Canibus would have a similar, but less publicized rivalry with hip-hop superstar Eminem, with Em referring to him as "Cani-bitch" in several songs.

Bis's debut album Can-I-Bus came out in September of 1998. "Second Round K.O.", was a success (with the song and video featuring Wyclef Jean and a cameo by boxer Mike Tyson), the album itself was a commercial failure. Despite eventually being certified Gold, critics (including The Source magazine) also panned the album. Because Wyclef produced most of the tracks, Bis blamed him for his album being a "commercial failure" and cut ties with him. He went as far as to diss Wyclef on his second album for it ("You mad at the last album? I apologize for it / Yo, I can't call it, motherfucking Wyclef spoiled it!"). Bis's second album, 2000 B.C., was also released to mixed feelings. The album also suffered from having very little promotion. At the end of 2004, he and Wyclef met up and settled their differences; they have since worked together on a remix of the Machel Montano song "Carnival Survivors". In an interview with HipHopsite.com conducted in November of 2005, Bis said he recorded five songs with Wyclef and Jerry Wonder at Platinum Studios in New York for the upcoming Fugees' reunion album. Whether or not those recordings will appear on the album hasn't been determined yet.

[edit] C True Hollywood Stories

In 2001, Canibus released his third album C True Hollywood Stories, based after the television show E! True Hollywood Stories of the E! Television network. It was released on Archives Music, a label owned by Bis's future business partner Louis Lombard III. It was a controversial release due to the album's overall concept, which is still a little unclear to this day. Many people took it as Bis's attempt at going commercial and wrote him off as a one-hit wonder, while others have called it a concept album in which Bis satirized the mainstream hip-hop scene. Most explanations since the album's release seem to lean towards the latter. When his new official website MicClub.net went up in the end of 2002, the summary of this album in the merchandise section called it "an introspective look into the ultimate fan 'Stan's' take on the current state of hip hop". In an interview conducted in 2005, Bis's former hype man Pak-Man, who worked on over half of the album with Bis, spoke on CTHS, with his explanation leaning toward the satire idea: "At that time Canibus was in the studio recording a lot of songs and mean a lot, but he didn't want to make the fans wait no more so he did C True Hollywood Stories and he wanted to have fun wit, so thats what we did we had fun wit." In an interview on the website AllHipHop.com posted on April 8th, 2005, Bis was asked what direction he was trying to take with that album, in which he stated "That album depicts the state of affairs in my life at the time - nothing more, nothing less".

[edit] Most recent works, upcoming projects

In the span of his career, Canibus has released seven full-length solo albums. His most recent solo album, Hip-Hop for Sale was released on November 22nd, 2005 through partnership with Babygrande/Koch. The album was originally planned to be released in May of 2005, but it was pushed back to November because 75% of the material was leaked in December of 2004 in the form of an unofficial mixtape titled The Virtruvian Man. Out of the 11 tracks on the official album, five of them are from TVM, remastered for the official release. The album was mostly produced by Virginia-based producer Nottz, with some relatively unknown producers picking up the slack.

Canibus has an assorted number of projects that have been announced to come out but nobody knows when (or if) they will be coming out. It was officially reported that in 2006, Bis would release Mic Club Volume 2, the sequel to his fourth full length album, Mic Club: The Curriculum, as well as a sequel to his fifth album Rip the Jacker. In October 2005, Dewey Cooper announced that Bis would release another album on his Head Trauma label in 2006: a solo album titled Caesar Germanicus. Canibus had gone on to confirm that all three albums were in production and that "Caesar Germanicus" would be his last and final album. However, it has been currently rumored that Bis had split ways with Head Trauma so it's possible that Caesar Germanicus will not be released at all.

However, whatever album will be released from Bis, it has been confrimed that Royce Da 5'9" will appear on the album. At recent shows, Bis has been performing a song he and Royce did together called "Bread and Butter" (Bis would let Royce's verse play then would perform his own verse). It is also rumored that DJ Premier will produce on the album, as he stated in a blog that he is producing for Canibus, among other artists. On his Myspace page, Bis has taken pictures with other producers and artists that he might work with on this new album, such as Domingo and Scram Jones.

Other future projects from Canibus include an autobiographical documentary DVD showcasing his entire career in music, the long awaited HRSMN album, the second C&D album, and the BlakMilc album.

[edit] Collaborative efforts

Aside from being a solo artist, Canibus is also a member of a number of Hip-Hop groups as well. In 2000, Canibus teamed up with Kurupt, Ras Kass and Killah Priest to form rap supergroup The HRSMN (originally spelled out as 'The Horsemen'). Their first collaboration together was the song "Horsementality" from Bis's second album 2000 B.C.. Since then, they have done various collaborations on each other's albums and rumors of a HRSMN album were rampant including speculation about collaborations with Pharoahe Monch, Common and Rakim among others. In 2003, Killah Priest's management released The Horsemen Project, an EP of previously unreleased outtakes recorded by the HRSMN in 2001, around the same time Bis recorded Mind Control (which would be released officially in 2005). As of 2005, the official full-length HRSMN album is still in the works. Canibus is also part of a duo known as Cloak 'N Dagga, which also features Phoenix Orion. Cloak 'N Dagga released their debut album Def Con Zero on October 25, 2005. The album was released through Head Trauma Records the label owned by K-1 fighter Dewey Cooper, and featured guest appearances from Kool G Rap, K-Solo, and former 106 and Park host Free. There is reportedly another C&D album in the works. Bis apparently also plays a part of a rock/rap group known as BlakMilc. The first appearance of Bis with BlakMilc can be found on Bis's recent mixtape, Mic Club Masters Vol. 1

[edit] Military career

In 2002, Canibus signed up for the United States Army. For the next three years fans had no concrete reason for this decision. It was originally thought that he did it because he was affected by the September 11, 2001 attacks but according to an interview with SOHH.com from 2005, there was another reason: "I enlisted because I wanted to get away from the music," said the MC. "I wanted to do something that gave me a separate definition from what I had done all through my teens and twenties. I was 28 when I enlisted" [2]. In May of 2003, two months before his fifth album, Rip the Jacker, would be released to very positive reviews, he graduated from Ft. Knox and started out as a reconnaissance specialist. In 2004, the authorities found Canibus smoking marijuana (otherwise known as cannabis) and thereby discharged him.

[edit] Subject Matter

Canibus is known for his scientific and philosophical approach to hip hop. In his rhymes, he uses scientific jargon and often creates intricate rhyme schemes.

I destroy your whole city block when I'm ready to rock
blow your speaker box magnetically shielded or not
magnetic energies propagates in radio waves
oscillate lyrics and beats copulate to pop your tape
manipulating space in large proportions
millions of brain organs get lost when I start talkin
about shit like, supernatural forces
gnomes and fairies and superstring theories
~Chaos, 2000 B.C.

He constantly uses complex and intricate phrases to show off his intellect. He also uses intricate concepts to make punchlines.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums (solo)

Album cover	Album information
	Can-I-Bus Released: September 8, 1998 RIAA Certification: Gold Billboard 200 chart position: #2 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #2 Singles: "Second Round K.O."/"How We Roll", "I Honor U"/"Get Retarded", "Buckingham Palace"
	2000 B.C. (Before Can-I-Bus) Released: July 18, 2000 Billboard 200 chart position: #23 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #6 Singles: "2000 B.C.", "Mic-Nificent"/"Phuk U", "Watch Who U Beef Wit"
	C True Hollywood Stories Released: November 13, 2001 Billboard 200 chart position: 1 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #71 Singles:
	Mic Club: The Curriculum Released: November 19, 2002 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles:
	Rip the Jacker Released: July 22, 2003 Billboard 200 chart position: #194 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #34 Singles: "Spartibus", "Indibisible"/"No Return"
	Mind Control Released: June 21, 2005 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #79 Singles: "Mind Control"/"33 3's"
	Hip-Hop for Sale Released: November 22, 2005 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles: "It's No Other Than"/"Back Wit Heat"
	Mic Club Vol. 2 Released: TBD Billboard 200 chart position: R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: Singles:
	Rip the Jacker 2 Released: TBD Billboard 200 chart position: R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: Singles:
	Caesar Germanicus Released: TBD Billboard 200 chart position: R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: Singles: