I really don't think Canibus was ever gonna be what they thought he was gonna be. Bad album or not, if you look at the landscape in 98-99, who was he gonna be hotter than? DMX?
JAY-Z ?
Master P and No Limit ?
Look at his subject matter there was really no spot for him anyway. The beef and wack album just sped up his end imo.
He didn't need to be hotter than anyone, but he could've had a wild successful career.
Back at the time, damn near all of the labels were in a bidding war for dude. He spent a couple years paying his dues and doing mad features and mixtape freestyles to get his buzz going and it worked. Everyone thought he had next. He just needed the music to go along with his potential. But he turned down Def Jam, Interscope and all the labels that were pushing the best Hip Hop at the time and decided to get down with Wyclef and sign a deal directly with UMG, who didn't even have a Hip Hop department.
Subject matter wasn't an issue. Underground MC's were selling the most records ever during '96-'99. There was a lane for every kind of MC back then. If he had the right people around him, and if he wasn't calling his own shots and trying to manage his own career while beefing with legends, it would've turned out different for him.