Rip the Jacker
Encyclopedia
Rip the Jacker is the fifth studio album by rapper Canibus
, released on July 22, 2003, through Babygrande Records
.
(of the group Jedi Mind Tricks
) produced the track "Liberal Arts" from Canibus' fourth album Mic Club: The Curriculum
(2002), Babygrande Records
CEO Chuck Wilson raised the possibility of Stoupe producing an album. Before enlisting in the U.S. Army, Canibus recorded his vocals before any production and then sent the a cappella
s to Stoupe. Canibus claimed that he wrote the lyrics on a "stained dinner table in Hell's Kitchen
". In 2003, he stated that the album consisted of his most complex rhymes to date and it "describes our civilization through the eyes of a modern day lyricist/poet". Due to his military obligations, he did not hear the songs in the final format until a week after the album's release when he purchased a copy at Best Buy
. Although he released future albums, Rip the Jacker was intended to be his last. As a concept album
, the record represents the third "personality" of the rapper: "Prof. Emeritus Rip The Jacker", the others being "Dr. PhD Canibus" and "Germaine Williams" (his real name). Canibus explained the alter-egos:
, the album frequently samples golden age hip hop
tracks. Canibus is characterized for his "deep vocabulary, scientific concepts, battle rhymes and descriptive imagery" throughout the album. Stylus Magazine
s Kilian Murphy wrote that:
wrote that Canibus provides "incredibly sharp lyricism" and "has adopted a more technical approach to his rhyming since the 1990s." HipHopDX called Rip the Jacker Canibus' best album and praised the "lyrical dexterity" which can be "matched by very few". Entertainment Weekly
s Jonah Weiner described the rhymes as "high-flown and delivered with gruff scorn -- but inane". URB magazine writer Steve Juon of RapReviews.com ranked it the best album of 2003 and said it may be Canibus' "first album of perfection".
Kilian Murphy of Stylus Magazine
praised the record for its "pleasing level of instrumental detail and liquidity". Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club
wrote that Canibus "sounds like a kid who spends his free time reading the dictionary" and that the album is his "strongest, most consistent work to date. A shameless name-dropper, he references Noam Chomsky
, Joseph Heller
, Niels Bohr
, and David Hume
in his dense, challenging rhymes". Samuel Chesneau of The Stranger
called it "easily his best album" which "incorporates a much different sound and a real gothic feel".
.
Canibus
Germaine Williams , better known by his stage name Canibus, is a Jamaican-born American rapper. He is a part of supergroup The HRSMN. Canibus rose to fame in the mid-nineties...
, released on July 22, 2003, through Babygrande Records
Babygrande Records
Babygrande Records is an independent record label based in New York City founded by Chuck Wilson. Babygrande is distributed by the The Orchard, and represented by the Creative Artists Agency in Hollywood.-Discography:...
.
Conception
After producer Stoupe the Enemy of MankindStoupe the Enemy of Mankind
Kevin Baldwin, better known by his stage name as Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind, is an American hip hop producer, DJ, and member of the underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. His production is often the most acclaimed aspect of the group's work...
(of the group Jedi Mind Tricks
Jedi Mind Tricks
Jedi Mind Tricks is a hip hop duo with Vinnie Paz from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Jus Allah from Camden, New Jersey. The group was founded by two high school friends, rapper Vinnie Paz and former producer/DJ Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind...
) produced the track "Liberal Arts" from Canibus' fourth album Mic Club: The Curriculum
Mic Club: The Curriculum
Mic Club: The Curriculum is the fourth studio album by rapper Canibus, released on November 19, 2002 through Canibus' own label, Mic Club Music. It is generally recognized for its scholarly vocabulary and complex lyrics. Much of the production is handled by relatively unknown producers, though the...
(2002), Babygrande Records
Babygrande Records
Babygrande Records is an independent record label based in New York City founded by Chuck Wilson. Babygrande is distributed by the The Orchard, and represented by the Creative Artists Agency in Hollywood.-Discography:...
CEO Chuck Wilson raised the possibility of Stoupe producing an album. Before enlisting in the U.S. Army, Canibus recorded his vocals before any production and then sent the a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
s to Stoupe. Canibus claimed that he wrote the lyrics on a "stained dinner table in Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton and Midtown West, is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City between 34th Street and 59th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River....
". In 2003, he stated that the album consisted of his most complex rhymes to date and it "describes our civilization through the eyes of a modern day lyricist/poet". Due to his military obligations, he did not hear the songs in the final format until a week after the album's release when he purchased a copy at Best Buy
Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
. Although he released future albums, Rip the Jacker was intended to be his last. As a concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
, the record represents the third "personality" of the rapper: "Prof. Emeritus Rip The Jacker", the others being "Dr. PhD Canibus" and "Germaine Williams" (his real name). Canibus explained the alter-egos:
Music
Produced by Stoupe the Enemy of MankindStoupe the Enemy of Mankind
Kevin Baldwin, better known by his stage name as Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind, is an American hip hop producer, DJ, and member of the underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. His production is often the most acclaimed aspect of the group's work...
, the album frequently samples golden age hip hop
Golden age hip hop
Hip hop's "golden age" is a name given to a period in mainstream hip hop—usually cited as being a period varying in time frames during the 1980s and 1990s said to be characterized by its diversity, quality, innovation and influence. There were strong themes of Afrocentricity and political...
tracks. Canibus is characterized for his "deep vocabulary, scientific concepts, battle rhymes and descriptive imagery" throughout the album. Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
s Kilian Murphy wrote that:
Reception
The album received favorable reviews from music critics. Allmusic's Andy Kellman considered the album to have the "best set of productions Canibus has had to work with". C. Brown of AllHipHopAllHipHop
AllHipHop.com is a hip hop news website. It was founded in 1998. At five million visitors a month, it is the world's most popular hip hop website. Essence magazine has dubbed it "the CNN of hip-hop". In 2006, AllHipHop won the Rising Stars Award from Black Enterprise magazine. In 2007, PC Magazine...
wrote that Canibus provides "incredibly sharp lyricism" and "has adopted a more technical approach to his rhyming since the 1990s." HipHopDX called Rip the Jacker Canibus' best album and praised the "lyrical dexterity" which can be "matched by very few". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Jonah Weiner described the rhymes as "high-flown and delivered with gruff scorn -- but inane". URB magazine writer Steve Juon of RapReviews.com ranked it the best album of 2003 and said it may be Canibus' "first album of perfection".
Kilian Murphy of Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
praised the record for its "pleasing level of instrumental detail and liquidity". Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
wrote that Canibus "sounds like a kid who spends his free time reading the dictionary" and that the album is his "strongest, most consistent work to date. A shameless name-dropper, he references Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
, Joseph Heller
Joseph Heller
Joseph Heller was a US satirical novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His best known work is Catch-22, a novel about US servicemen during World War II...
, Niels Bohr
Niels Bohr
Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
, and David Hume
David Hume
David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
in his dense, challenging rhymes". Samuel Chesneau of The Stranger
The Stranger (newspaper)
The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...
called it "easily his best album" which "incorporates a much different sound and a real gothic feel".
Track listing
All songs written by Canibus and produced by Stoupe the Enemy of MankindStoupe the Enemy of Mankind
Kevin Baldwin, better known by his stage name as Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind, is an American hip hop producer, DJ, and member of the underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. His production is often the most acclaimed aspect of the group's work...
.
| # | Title | Samples | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Intro" |
|
0:32 |
| 2 | "Genabis" |
Philip Glass Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with... |
4:12 |
| 3 | "Levitibus" |
The Outer Limits (1963 TV series) The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories... episode "The Borderland" Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy... Jedi Mind Tricks Jedi Mind Tricks is a hip hop duo with Vinnie Paz from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Jus Allah from Camden, New Jersey. The group was founded by two high school friends, rapper Vinnie Paz and former producer/DJ Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind... |
4:00 |
| 4 | "M-Sea-Cresy" |
António Chainho António Chainho is a Portuguese fado guitarist. He has worked with many of the great names in fado music, like Hermínia Silva, Carlos do Carmo and José Afonso, and world music, like Paco de Lucía.... EPMD EPMD is an American hip hop group from Brentwood, New York. The group's name is a concatenation of the members' name "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referencing its members, emcees Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith... Boogie Down Productions Boogie Down Productions was a hip hop group that was originally composed of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, months after the release of BDP's debut album, Criminal Minded. The name of the group, Boogie Down, derives from a nickname for the... Heltah Skeltah Heltah Skeltah is a hip hop duo consisting of members Rock and Ruck . The two are members of New York supergroup Boot Camp Clik, along with Buckshot, Smif-N-Wessun and O.G.C.... Black Moon (band) Black Moon is an American hip hop group, consisting of members Buckshot, 5 ft and DJ Evil Dee . The group were most notable for their debut album Enta da Stage, and their affiliation with the Boot Camp Clik.-Biography:... |
3:50 |
| 5 | "No Return" |
|
4:53 |
| 6 | "Spartibus" |
Eric B. & Rakim Eric B. & Rakim were a hip-hop duo composed of DJ Eric Barrier and MC Rakim .Hailing from Long Island, New York, the pair are generally considered by hip hop enthusiasts to be one of the most influential and innovative groups in the genre... |
4:00 |
| 7 | "Indibisible" |
Angelo Badalamenti Angelo Badalamenti is an American composer, known for his movie soundtrack work for director David Lynch, notably Blue Velvet, the Twin Peaks saga and Mulholland Drive... |
3:59 |
| 8 | "Showtime at the Gallow" |
|
4:41 |
| 9 | "Psych Evaluation" |
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising... episode "Where Is Everybody? Where Is Everybody? "Where Is Everybody?" is the first episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Plot summary:A man finds himself alone walking towards a diner. Inside he finds a jukebox playing loudly, and coffee hot on the stove, but no one else. He inquires for some breakfast, but no... " Mobb Deep Mobb Deep is an American hip hop duo from Queensbridge, Queens, New York, U.S., that consists of Havoc and Prodigy. The duo is "one of the most critically acclaimed hardcore East Coast hip-hop groups." The group is best known for its dark, hardcore delivery, as exemplified by the single "Shook Ones... Psycho Realm Psycho Realm is an american hip hop supergroup started in 1989 by brothers Sick Jacken and Big Duke from the Downtown, Pico-Union area of Los Angeles. The first recorded Psycho Realm song, "Scandalous", was released on the soundtrack of the film Mi Vida Loca in 1994... The Roots The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals... |
3:51 |
| 10 | "Cemantics" |
Ghostface Killah Dennis Coles , better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and prominent member of the Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of Enter the Wu-Tang , the members went on to pursue solo careers to varying levels of success... Big Pun Christopher Lee Rios , better known by his stage name Big Pun , was an American rapper who emerged from the underground rap scene in The Bronx in the late 1990s... M.O.P. M.O.P., short for Mash Out Posse, is an American hip hop duo. The duo, composed of Billy Danze and Lil' Fame, is known for the aggressive delivery typically employed by both emcees. Although they maintain a strong underground following, they are mainly known for the song "Ante Up," released on... Gang Starr Gang Starr was an influential East Coast hip hop duo that consisted of the late MC Guru and DJ/producer DJ Premier. Their style combined elements of New York jazz and hip hop.-Background:... |
3:40 |
| 11 | "Poet Laureate II" |
Kenji Kawai , born April 23, 1957 in Shinagawa, Tokyo, is a Japanese music composer, for motion pictures, anime movies, video games and televised programs. He has contributed to the musical scores for numerous films from Japan and other countries in Asia, working in film genres as diverse as anime, horror,... Fela Kuti Fela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:... |
7:18 |
Singles
| Single information |
|---|
"Spartibus"
|
| "Indibisible"
|
Charts
| Charts (2003) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
194 |
| U.S. Billboard Independent Albums Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels... |
11 |
| U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
34 |
Personnel
Information taken from Allmusic.- Executive producer – Louis Lombard III, Chuck Wilson
- Design – Jeff Chenault
- Mixing – Chris Conway
- Photography – Steve Gilbert
- Production coordination – Charles "Chase" Jones
- Mastering – Emily Lazar, Sarah Register
- Art direction – Luminati
- Marketing – Jesse Stone
- Vocal engineer – Todd Watson