Canibus
Canibus (Germaine Williams) is an American Rapper and Recording artist. He was born in Jamaica in 1974. His father, Basil Williams, is a former Jamaican cricketer. The family moved frequently, living in The Bronx, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Buffalo, and Montreal due to his mother's career requiring constant relocation. Canibus stated that he was an introverted child growing up. After completing high school in 1992, he spent a year working for AT&T and another year as a data analyst for the U.S. Department of Justice. His interest in computers and the Internet led him to study computer science at DeKalb College in Atlanta.
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 (now called C.I., also known as Central Intelligence). While he was with Webb, he took part in a legendary cypher with the Wu Tang Clan family in Buffalo, New York, which earned him respect from the rap veterans. In 1996, T.H.E.M. split and Canibus teamed with businessman Charles Suitt.
Canibus' debut album Can-I-Bus came out in September 1998. While "Second Round K.O.", produced by Wyclef Jean, was a success, with the song and video featuring Wyclef and a cameo appearance by boxer Mike Tyson. Despite eventually being certified Gold, critics panned the album, criticizing both Canibus' subject matter and Wyclef's beats, most of which were considered inferior to both "Second Round K.O." and the artists' previous collaborations.
The original album contained a lot of socially concerned material. Some songs depicted the government, AIDS, and the modern-American homicide issues.
Because Wyclef produced the majority of the tracks, Williams blamed him for the general dissatisfaction with Can-I-Bus and cut ties with him, going as far as to diss Wyclef, most notably on the title track of his second album ("You mad at the last album? I apologize for it / Yo, I can't call it, motherfucking Wyclef spoiled it!"). Said album, 2000 B.C., was also released to mixed feelings and reviews – the latter once more focusing on the lack of topical variety and uninspired production – also suffering from very little promotion by Universal Records.
2000 B.C. featured the first collaboration between Canibus and Kurupt, Ras Kass and Killah Priest, a rap supergroup collectively known as The HRSMN (referring to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse), on the track "Horsementality". Though following 2000 B.C.'s release it had been announced that the group would be releasing an album, these plans never materialized, with only an EP of outtakes from 2001 entitled The Horsemen Project released by Killah Priest's management in 2003. Since 2000, however, the members of the group have worked together on various songs and rumors of a full-length HRSMN album are rampant to this day and include speculation about collaborations with Pharoahe Monch, Common and Rakim, among others.
Though much bitterness between Canibus and Wyclef Jean remained for a period of time, the two artists finally settled their differences at the end of 2004; they have since worked together on two remixes of the Machel Montano song "Carnival Survivors". In an interview with HipHopsite.com conducted in November 2005, Williams revealed that he had recorded five songs with Wyclef and Jerry 'Wonder' Duplessis 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.
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 (now called C.I., also known as Central Intelligence). While he was with Webb, he took part in a legendary cypher with the Wu Tang Clan family in Buffalo, New York, which earned him respect from the rap veterans. In 1996, T.H.E.M. split and Canibus teamed with businessman Charles Suitt.
Canibus' debut album Can-I-Bus came out in September 1998. While "Second Round K.O.", produced by Wyclef Jean, was a success, with the song and video featuring Wyclef and a cameo appearance by boxer Mike Tyson. Despite eventually being certified Gold, critics panned the album, criticizing both Canibus' subject matter and Wyclef's beats, most of which were considered inferior to both "Second Round K.O." and the artists' previous collaborations.
The original album contained a lot of socially concerned material. Some songs depicted the government, AIDS, and the modern-American homicide issues.
Because Wyclef produced the majority of the tracks, Williams blamed him for the general dissatisfaction with Can-I-Bus and cut ties with him, going as far as to diss Wyclef, most notably on the title track of his second album ("You mad at the last album? I apologize for it / Yo, I can't call it, motherfucking Wyclef spoiled it!"). Said album, 2000 B.C., was also released to mixed feelings and reviews – the latter once more focusing on the lack of topical variety and uninspired production – also suffering from very little promotion by Universal Records.
2000 B.C. featured the first collaboration between Canibus and Kurupt, Ras Kass and Killah Priest, a rap supergroup collectively known as The HRSMN (referring to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse), on the track "Horsementality". Though following 2000 B.C.'s release it had been announced that the group would be releasing an album, these plans never materialized, with only an EP of outtakes from 2001 entitled The Horsemen Project released by Killah Priest's management in 2003. Since 2000, however, the members of the group have worked together on various songs and rumors of a full-length HRSMN album are rampant to this day and include speculation about collaborations with Pharoahe Monch, Common and Rakim, among others.
Though much bitterness between Canibus and Wyclef Jean remained for a period of time, the two artists finally settled their differences at the end of 2004; they have since worked together on two remixes of the Machel Montano song "Carnival Survivors". In an interview with HipHopsite.com conducted in November 2005, Williams revealed that he had recorded five songs with Wyclef and Jerry 'Wonder' Duplessis 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.
Bio
Birth name: Germaine Williams
Born: 1974 Kingston, Jamaica
Genres: Hip hop
Occupations: MC, Lyricist, Actor
Years: active 1993-Present
Labels: Archives Music, Babygrande, Gladiator, Warlab Records
Born: 1974 Kingston, Jamaica
Genres: Hip hop
Occupations: MC, Lyricist, Actor
Years: active 1993-Present
Labels: Archives Music, Babygrande, Gladiator, Warlab Records
