Back in the late ‘90s, Canibus seemed destined for stardom. He started his career appearing with Redman, DMX, and LL Cool J, which soon led to a beef with LL, sparking his breakout hit "Second Round K.O.," produced by Wyclef and featuring a cameo from Mike Tyson. His rugged, no-holds-barred delivery and dense, hyper-lyrical style was a refreshing change from the increasingly corny “shiny suit” rap of the era, and his debut album Can-I-Bus was eagerly embraced by fans around the world. After some ups and down, he’s returned to the music, and has been cranking out increasingly strong material on the independent level ever since. C of Tranquility is his tenth solo album, and quite possibly his best yet, with 15 tracks of grimy but intelligent verses backed by ferocious beats from DJ Premier ("Golden Terra of Rap"), The ARE ("Merchant of Metaphors"), and Domingo ("Pine Cone Poem") among others.