Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Let’s get the most important part of this discussion out of the way upfront: I, like nearly every hip-hop fan I know, wasn’t only a fan of Canibus, but was eagerly anticipating his album — “Can-I-Bus” — which was released 25 years ago, today, Sept. 8, 1998. For the record, I’m still a fan.
(Not for nothing, upon looking back at the hip-hop releases for September 1998, it was a monster of a month for the genre. In hip-hop circles, we often talk about Sept. 29, 1998, as arguably the greatest release day in hip-hop history, but the whole month had must-have albums.)
In 1998, I vividly remember the conversations we were having about Canibus. He was absolutely nasty on the microphone, and all of us were prepared for him to be the next big thing in hip-hop. We’d heard him on the Lost Boyz’s “Music Makes Me High” remix holding court with Kurupt and knew he was special. This was back in a time when industry buzz could really have you believing in an artist; you didn’t need a string of mixtapes — a good feature and some great press could have us all waiting on a project.
And then came the beef with LL Cool J. Canibus was featured on the extended cut of LL Cool J’s record, “4,3,2,1” off of his “Phenomenal” album. According to every story, Canibus’ original verse featured a line about borrowing the microphone that LL had tattooed on his arm. LL took it as a diss and had Canibus change his lines. In LL’s verse, though, he responded to the perceived slight and didn’t change HIS lines. In essence, LL Cool J has a whole verse letting Canibus know to simmer…
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