One underappreciated yet artistically exceptional East Coast emcee is Canibus. Born in Jamaica and raised in the Bronx, the rapper (Germaine Williams) found fame following a 1996 remix of the Lost Boyz single ‘Music Makes Me High.’
Released when the West Coast was still ruling the charts, Canibus featured alongside Long Beach collective Tha Dogg Pound. From there, he began to ascend within the industry.
Although the lyricist is known for his lengthy beef with the legendary emcee LL Cool J, Canibus also feuded with Detroit musician Eminem. During an appearance on the My Expert Opinion podcast with Math Hoffa, the artist spoke about the pair’s argument.
Addressing how Eminem (real name M Marshall Mathers) interpolated one of his rhymes on his 2002 hit ‘Without Me’, Williams stated, “There’s a rhyme in there where he said, ‘Two trailer park girls go round the outside’, that was from the rhyme that I said on ‘Box Cutta Blade Runna’.”
He continued, “So he was doing things like that, saying things in a rhyme here it was driving me crazy! I just gonna keep it all the way, a buck! It was driving me nuts!” He proceeded, “I was in Amsterdam in the Red Light District, and shorty had the ponytails and all that, and I was standing there looking into the window, and she ran over to the radio and [played ‘Stan’]”
He added, “And then I hear his voice come on, Em’s voice comes on, and he’s talking ‘I’m your biggest fan’, and I feel like he’s talking to me!” In a 2002 interview with Tim Westwood, Eminem clarified the origin of the beef.
The Detroit artist explained that Canibus had heard a rumour that he ghostwrote the lyrics to ‘Second Round K.O.’ LL Cool J’s 1998 diss track aimed at Canibus. According to Mathers, he asked to collaborate with Canibus, but he shouted at him, exclaiming, “Yo dogg, get to know me first.” This is what set off the feud.
