Having been waiting in the wings of the music scene since the late nineties, there have been few positive reviews for the Jamaican born, Queens raised rapper Germaine ‘Canibus’ Williams when it comes to his albums. Highly anticipated after his high profile lyrical altercation with LL Cool J, Canibus failed to provide those anticipating with anything substantial to maintain their attention span.

Having appeared on some of the late nineties hottest tracks and encouraging a loyal fan base, people continued to watch the emcee for hopes that his lyrical prowess would finally come through on an album and encourage a Canibus take-over, but it never happened. After parting ways with Universal after Can-I-Bus and 2000 BC failed to hit the spot, Canibus silently took the steps back down to the underground where he opted to put out projects independently. His latest project Hip-Hop For Sale hit shelves last month and gained both positive and negative reviews, history repeating itself all over again maybe, Hip-Hop for Sale may not sell huge amounts of units but it once again has the Hip-hop communities attention on the rapper we expected so much more from back in the day. And as the saying goes, ‘no press is bad press.’

Having served in the US army, having teamed up with hot commodity Nottz to take control of the tracks for this project and having re-released prior projects through Koch, Canibus may just be making sure we remember him as we step into 2006 when he plans on releasing his final album, Caesar Germanicus.

You have the album Hip-hop for sale dropping, interesting title, what was the meaning behind that album title?

The album is aptly titled HH4S as I have other releases that are more or less meaningful depending on the perspective of the listener.

You opted to go with Nottz in terms of production on the album. What made you decide to stay with the same producer and his crew for all the tracks?

Nottz is among the best producers I have had the opportunity to work with. I have enjoyed these different instances of working with various producers. Nottz discography speaks for itself. We also connected as stewards of the music. He is committed and that is my key attribute when selecting production for my work.

Are there any other producers out there that you would be able to work solely with on a project?

Who knows? Producers are born by the minute. The most committed will indelibly have what it takes to make an impact.

In your track “It's No Other Than”, you say I'm a brand new man with a brand new plan, what exactly are you implying there?

Change is a main indicator of a mans ability to acquire his dreams. Emotion manifests thought - manifests words - manifests action - manifests reality. Try it! Continued on page 2 »