eninem was such a monster in his prime

[pointproven]

[Jack Hallows]

he was aight. Canibus freestyles were way iller. Big L’s too. i’ll post one from each when i get back to the pad.

[Virbius]

This wasn’t Eminem’s prime. His prime was like ten minutes either side of the Marshal Mathers lp, after he’d stopped being a parody of Cage but before he started being a parody of himself.

[Jack Hallows]

[pointproven]

he was aight. Canibus freestyles were way iller. Big L’s too. i’ll post one from each when i get back to the pad.

canibus in his prime was a great lyricist
same with big l
but they cant fuck with prime eminem.

[Jack Hallows]

well i never… by what merit do you vomit such sacrilege, you filthy heathen?

i demand reasoning and examples.

we can even go freestyle for freestyle for our chosen champions.

i’ll let Big L rest & just represent for Canibus since he & eminem were always being compared anyway.

let’s get it.

[Virbius]

Personally I tried listening to Canibus and one of the first lines I caught was him bigging up Deepak Chopra who’s an egregious bullshitter who makes money off quasi-spiritual mumbo jumbo whilst throwing in the word ‘quantum’ in an attempt to add some scientific weight to what he says. That kind of soured me on Canibus straight away. He said ‘deep like Deepak Chopra’ and that seems true, he seems to use a similar trick of just referencing intelligent stuff in lieu of actually saying intelligent stuff himself. I just grabbed a line at random:

“Barely, the quickening happens in between
In the Elohim Lord Lizard King with the Ripper conditioning
Partitioning with the Fisher King eating chicken wings”

I love fisher king grail mythology, I like Elohim mythology, I adore a lot of fairly abstract rap, cut-up poetry and stuff like that. Canibus just rubs me the wrong way. I do like the production and his flow, and at least his lyrics are interesting.

[Virbius]

Jack, what do you think of this guy’s lyricism? Chester P’s one of our UK legends from a group called Taskforce.



“I find all my comforts in deep insecurities, spoil what’s beautiful looking for impurities,
Buried in the lies tryna live my life truthfully, I sail my ship alone and I’m still having mutinies”
etc.

[Jack Hallows]

Chester P is dope. the lyricism on that track was superb. reminds me of another UK favorite of mine, Lowkey. met him once, he’s top notch.

& lmao @ those Canibus lines. yeah he has a few lines that are similar, like his “i can complete in a minute what would take you a light year.” even though light years are a unit of measurement and distance as opposed to time lol. none of that shit matters to me though cuz along with those, he’s said shit like:

“Color is vibration, vibration is sound,
Sound resonates thru the mouth - check it out,
what I say vibrates no less than 9 ways,
South, South-East, West, South-West, East,
North, North-East, North-West,
And black and white images fade to gray sound waves,
Trap my adversaries like a mouse in a maze,
With a bewildering array of lyrical display,
The best of Bis, orbitally rearranged,
Monoatomic elements with adept intelligence,
The highest professorship, my English etiquette,
Compels me to not say it if I can't spell it bitch.”

gdamn that is some deft lyricism. eminem ain’t fuckin with the professor.

[Virbius]

Ah wow yeah I fuck with those lyrics. What’s that track called? I should probably give him another try. I liked the energy of Can’s verse on his guest spot on Jedi Mind Tricks album (Jus Allah’s GOATed), which is what made me check his album out in the first place.

I’ve never listened to Lowkey, I know that dudes from the US tend to give him and Akala credit but I’m not really familiar with either of them yet. I tend more toward Canadian hiphop rather than US, but Aesop Rock’s American and my all time favourite. Some German hiphop is fire but I don’t understand much of what they’re saying.

What’s a good track to check out as an introduction to Lowkey?

You know M9 (aka Melanin 9) and Cyrus Malachi? These ones give me the chills every time.

[Jack Hallows]

the track is called Master Thesis. i’ma include another hard favorite, Poet Laureate II.. these are two of the illest tracks ever recorded.. straight lyrical porn. no diddy lol

[Jack Hallows]

but yooo Jedi Mind Tricks.. and Army of the Pharaohs in general are legendary. one of the best artists/groups to do it.

& daaamn Akala is another beast i fuck with heavy. Aesop Rock is a dope mc to have as a favorite. good taste mang.. & it figures.. now that i think about it, i can see his influence on your style.

i never really been a fan of Canadian rap.. too similar to UK to me kinda, and plus drake smh. nigga ruined it for everyone up there lol.

here’s a dope Lowkey track… and a bonus track lol..





i’m bouta listen to those two tracks you linked when i get some quiet around me. never heard of them but i like the way you hypin em up.

[pointproven]

well i never… by what merit do you vomit such sacrilege, you filthy heathen?

i demand reasoning and examples.

we can even go freestyle for freestyle for our chosen champions.

i’ll let Big L rest & just represent for Canibus since he & eminem were always being compared anyway.

let’s get it.

eminem had more complex rhyme patterns then canibus
in terms of the patterns and the amount of syllables he rhymed

[Jack Hallows]

so you’re basing your claim of mathers being better than Bis off of rappity rap syllables and patterns as opposed to content, delivery and overall objective lyricism & skill?

yeeaaahhhh, not feeling the criteria bro lol. eminem isn’t fucking with Canibus’ volume of lyricism at all, any day.

also, going by the hip hop vocabulary database, Canibus vastly outshines eminem in terms of actual vocabulary. so all those rhyming syllables and patterns aren’t really doing shit of you’re not actually saying anything creative or different.

[Virbius]

Ok I admit I underrated Canibus, those tracks are fire. Proper unique style, and more substance to it than I remembered. Thanks for the education.

“I Liked Cool J but thought Steven J Gould was cooler”

Yooo ok I forgive him for bigging up Chopra now, Steven J Gould is cooler than Cool J. Ha I love that line. I’ve heard that track before a long time ago, forgot how good it was.

I didn’t realise that Stoupe from Jedi Mind Tricks produced for Canibus. Stoupe’s one of the most underrated hiphop producers imo. The JMT track Deer Hunter is one of my favourite hiphop beats, the way the brutality of the lyrics and Paz’s raw raspy delivery are contrasted with the haunting melodic music is fucking genius.

I’ll check the Lowkey tracks when I get time, thanks.