Canibus

Before his battle with LL Cool J, Canibus seemed ready to occupy Rakim’s abandoned throne. His scientific flow satisfied a thirst for the lyrical, even if his verses were often absurd and abstract — he quantified a pseudoscience known as "Niggonometry.” Lacking the knack for choosing beats also altered Canibus’s career trajectory, demoting him to the underground. Try to find something on Hip-Hop for Sale as savage as "2nd Round K.O” and you’ll fail. Instead, there are mediocre beats that exist without engaging. Of these offenders, it’s hard to find the worst because they are all bad, though the big band clumsiness of "I Gotcha’” is especially egregious. While his vernacular used to be spectacular, posse cuts or confrontational modes are the situations in which he shines. And really, he’s too whack to get on a track with any heavy hitters and has no one to battle. You feel sorry for the dude — he’s stuck in a pose he hasn’t earned.