''C! True Hollywood Stories'' is the third studio album by American rapper Canibus, released through Archives Music on October 30, 2001. The album is Canibus' first release on an

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

(his first two albums, ''

Can-I-Bus ''Can-I-Bus'' is the debut album by rapper Canibus, released on September 8, 1998 through Universal Records. The album was released after the rapper's success with his LL Cool J diss track, " Second Round K.O.", which was included on ''Can-I-Bus'' ...

'' and ''

2000 B.C. The 20th century BC was a century that lasted from the year 2000 BC to 1901 BC. The period of the 2nd Millennium BC Events * c. 2000 BC: ** Farmers and herders traveled south from Ethiopia and settled in Kenya. ** Dawn of the Capacha Cultu ...

'', were released on Universal Records). The album was named after the television show ''

E! True Hollywood Story ''E! True Hollywood Story'' is an American television documentary series on E! that pulls back the curtain and highlights some of pop culture's most fascinating people, moments and trends. The series offers exclusive interviews with new insigh ...

''. This album sets itself apart from his first two albums by seemingly being a concept album, some songs rapped from the perspective of Stan, the fan from the

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

song "

Stan Stan or STAN may refer to: People * Stan (given name), a list of people with the given name ** Stan Laurel (1890–1965), English comic actor, part of duo Laurel and Hardy * Stan (surname), a Romanian surname * Stan! (born 1964), American author ...

". It can also be noted Canibus' rhyme style and flow resemble more that of Eminem than the style presented on his first two albums, which led to mixed reviews from the public.

Critical reception

''C! True Hollywood Stories'' garnered mixed reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

s. Wise Q of ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

'' said that despite the album's lack of engaging topics and powerful beats, he gave credit to tracks like "Hate U 2/Luv U 2", "I Gotta Story 2 Tell" and "The Rip Off" for finding that right merger of ingredients, concluding that "Lyrically, he is still the top of the field and, with the right feedback and right amount of work, Canibus will be able to receive the respect he deserves." Brad Mills of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

was ambivalent towards the album, admiring the chill vibe used throughout but found the video games beats not working half the time with Canibus' battle flow, concluding that "If you're a die-hard fan, don't expect the MC murderer listeners have grown used to, but don't completely write it off either. An introspective effort." Steve 'Flash' Juon of ''RapReviews'' saw potential in the album's concept but felt it was undone by poor production choices, lackluster humor and failure to commit to parodying the show following lyrical standouts like "R U Lyrically Fit?" and "Box Cutta' Blade Runna", saying that "Canibus sounds like their musical equivalent - showing flashes of the greatness that made him famous but drowning in a river of bad ideas poorly executed over lackluster beats." Brett Berliner of ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

'' heavily panned the album for its middling beats, sub-standard lyrics and complete desecration of Eminem's "Stan" character.

Track listing

Charts

References

2001 albums Canibus albums {{2001-hiphop-album-stub