What's beef? For Canibus, it may have meant the end of his flourishing career. Wait, is that fair to say? Let's go back. LL Cool J invites the young Canibus on his track - why? because Canibus was spitting flames and people thought he was the future of hip-hop. Canibus jumps on LL's '4,3,2,1' and does what he does, but his original line 'Yo L, is that a mic on your arm? Let me borrow that' didn't go over well with the Queens legend. In OG-like (but foul) fashion, LL convinces 'Bis to re-record his verse, then LL puts out the record with his own verse airing Canibus the f#ck out. Flagrant, to say the least. The battle went a couple rounds with Canibus dropping his classic diss (aided by Mike Tyson), 'Second Round K.O' and LL hitting back with 'The Ripper Strikes Back' - I wasn't mad at either of them. Wyclef got in the mix of things too, but can I just forget about that? Canibus had promo boxing gloves to celebrate 'Second Round K.O.' but it was far from the knockout blow - after recorded phone calls, disappointing sales on his debut & LL's line "99% of his fans don't exist," LL walked away with the W. Still, Canibus held his own with a legend - the industry just shifts sometimes and the best artists turn into the best niches. You can bet even after his more recent battle loss, Canibus still has loyal fans and 'Second Round K.O' (released 19 years ago today) may be one of the more classic diss-tracks ever recorded in a battle... "You mad at the last album? I apologize for it / Yo, I can't call it, motherf#cking Wyclef spoiled it!" Will someone please call 911??
