Robert Christgau: Dean of American Rock Critics

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Canibus

  • Can-I-Bus [Universal, 1998] A
  • C of Tranquility [iM, 2010] ***

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Can-I-Bus [Universal, 1998]
So what exactly is supposed to be wrong here? His bragging, tsk-tsk? His retrograde reliance on "bitch" and such? His fealty to the Betrayer of Lauryn Hill? His voice, all gritty and ugly and clear and New York? His "flow," Lord help us? He doesn't flow, he overflows, spouting extra verbiage when any normal logorrheic would shut the eff up, and that form-fucking illusion of distended stanza is his flow. Unfettered after the manner of Kool Moe Dee, uncanny after the manner of Fox Mulder, and uproarious either way, he makes sure his gangsta tropes stay that way because he believes language supercedes reality. And all this I pinned down after being sucked in by the chamber orchestra, Hawaiian guitar, mixed-down Wagner, Claudine Longet parody, Wonder Mike parody, and Roxanne Shanté sample. You'll gasp. You'll chortle. You'll wonder what exactly is supposed to be wrong here. A

C of Tranquility [iM, 2010]
He talks too much about how good he is only because nobody else will--and he is, damn it, he is ("Pine Comb Poem," "Golden Terra of Rap") ***