(Babygrande Records)

Grade: C+

Everyone’s favorite mad-scientist is back with his follow-up to 2003’s “Rip the Jacker.” Apparently he is putting hip hop up for sale with this one, and after listening to the album, that might not be the wisest investment. The production, provided by Nottz and affiliates is solid, but many of the tracks suffer from a boring quality where the self-made hooks are far from catchy and the beats become mundane. Canibus gives you his typical raspy lyrical onslaught mixed with some clever punchlines, but the delivery is so predictable by now that you become immune. To the album’s credit, there are some bright moments. The drum heavy head-nodder, Show Em How, is the clear standout. Back Wit Heat, It’s No Other and I Gotcha also highlight the best of ‘Bis. On the flip, the other seven songs are nothing special, with some being flat-out terrible such as the corny Benny Riley and Dear Academy, where ‘Bis shouts out everyone from Scarlet Johansen to DMX. The most laughable cut on the album is the love song, So Into You, which sounds about as natural as MOP doing spoken word poetry. All in all, if you’re a Canibus fan (Hello? Hello??) you’ll be happy that he is back on the map. However, if you were hoping for 2nd Round Knockout material, you’ll want to buy hip hop from another salesman.

Posted by J-Hize on Tuesday, March 14th, 2006 and is filed under SICKWIDIT, REVIEWS, CD.