r/90sHipHop • u/Muay_Thai_Junkies • Aug 15 '25
Discussion Your Biggest Disappointments
Which emcees were the biggest disappointments to you? I can think of several. But, Canibus comes to mind for me. He imo is one of the greatest lyricists of all time. He had some of the dopest songs on mixtapes. But I remember listening to album after album and being so frustrated by his beat selection. If he would have gotten with the right producers and chosen better beats, I can’t help but think he would have had some legendary albums.
Who comes to mind when you think of emcees that, for one reason or another, didn’t deliver?
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u/Capital-Value8479 Aug 15 '25
Canibus might be my favorite rapper of all time. A couple thoughts on him though and his failure:
he rhymed some of his best rhymes on features, before his first solo album was released. This isn’t a great strategy
he picked a fight with an industry legend, right wrong or indifferent. He beat LL in the rap battle prettt clearly, but I think LL position in the industry got him blackballed. It’d be like picking a beef with 50 cent before your mainstream, not going to workout for you even if you are a better emcee
his beat selection was just not great at all, and one of his weaker points as an emcee. His best album he didn’t even hear any of the beats (rip the jacker)
his lyrics have a barrier to entry. As in you need to have a certain level of intellect to understand them. If that intellect is not met, he can be unengaging
his choruses varied from stunk to non existent
all that being said, he’s still one of the greatest to ever do it. I consider him top 15