John Cena & Tha Trademarc's

[swan 0]

"John Cena & Tha Trademarc's "You Can't See Me" (Sony) opens at No. 15 with sales of 43,000, marking the first chart appearance for the hip-hop act and professional wrestling champion."

 

http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/article_...t_id=1000926813

[Slickster 0]

Wow. That is surprising (in a good way) and probably just what WWE was looking for. Does anyone know if the "Bad Bad Man" video is in the rotation on any music video channels?

[Jericholic82 0]

Wow. That is surprising (in a good way) and probably just what WWE was looking for. Does anyone know if the "Bad Bad Man" video is in the rotation on any music video channels?

unsure of that but I havent seen it while flipping the channels. and I havenet heard it on the radio yet either, but who knows? My guess is that the record will drop further down and eventualy dissapear. like the previous wwe cds

[humongous2002 0]

This is very impressive for a wrestler with a rapper's gimmick, as long as the wrestler is over with the fans he could sell his turds and the fans would still buy them.

[Guest thebigjig]

That's pretty damn impressive

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Not really.

 

WWE Originals moved about 48,000. There seems to be about 50,000 WWE fans who buy anything the WWE sells.

[AlaskanHero 0]

Just out of curiousity, how many people have listened to the CD? Either by downloading the tracks or buying it? From what I've listened to, it's not bad. Not bad at all.

 

Oh and John Cena and Trademarc had a little segment on BET Now yesterday.

[Da Maintenance Man 0]

Just out of curiousity, how many people have listened to the CD? Either by downloading the tracks or buying it? From what I've listened to, it's not bad. Not bad at all.

 

Oh and John Cena and Trademarc had a little segment on BET Now yesterday.

I downloaded the album a week ago and it's pretty good (this coming from a avid hip-hop fan). I like how he kept the album straight hip-hop all the way through and didn't use it to rap about calling out JBL and shit like that (kinda like Savage did).

 

I don't really see Cena blowing up like 50 Cent or anything. I go to a lot of hip-hop forums and such and basically the only thing that's stopping them (other hip-hop fans) from taking Cena seriously as a rapper is:

 

1.) He's white

2.) He's a wrestler

3.) They think he has a ghostwriter

 

That's just how I'm reading it though. He seems to be hit or miss among some hip-hop heads.

[cabbageboy 0]

Hey, Cena's CD debuted higher than the recent Limp Bizkit album, so apparently people take him more seriously than Fred Durst at this point.

[claydude14 0]

I'm a fan of hip hop and I downloaded it and actually have found myself enjoying a majority of the tracks. I prefer Trademarc's flow but Cena actually has some tight verses himself. I think I read somewhere that he bought the production from his own wallet so it wouldn't be generic Jim Johnston WWE beats. So that helped legitimize it, plus he's got Bumpy Knuckles who trained him for like 2 years before they recorded. He didn't like Cena at first but after spending time with him he saw that Cena actually has passion for hip hop. So it's actually pretty legit for a WWE release. What hurts it of course is that it's a WWE release, as Da Maintenance Man said. Most people don't take him seriously and think he's ghost written on some hip hop boards. There was a poll at Allhiphop.com's forums where it was Cena Vs. Eminem; and it was pretty close. That's mainly because a lot of posters over there still hate Em for dropping the N line in that old track or whatever.

 

So yea, I'd say if you like hip hop at all it's worth a download at least. I might pay $10 for it, but I got the leak so I never got around to going into a store for it.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Can I get some references to what those above would consider to be "good" hip hop, because I've heard some of the album and it was horrible and I wouldn't consider myself a big hip hop fan.

[The Decemberists 0]

You're just not down wit da kids in tha hood, Rudo

[Carnival 0]

Isn't he buddies with 7L and esoterrible? They probably handle the production end of it.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I guess I'm just an old fool, who's so cool.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Rudo, could you actually, for once, follow the message board rules and explain WHY you thought the CD was horrible instead of just stating it as fact, as if anyone has to listen to you?

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

The beats sounded like they belonged in 1994, which is odd because Cena is trying to keep the 80's alive. And the thing is, it wouldn't even have been a good album in 1994. It's like it rained on Illmatic and what you have on the CD is the run-off sewer water. The lyrics aren't particularly good, the subject matter is silly -at least for me it is-, and his voice and pacing just doesn't really cut it for me. It's almost the complete opposite of the kind of hip hop I'm listening to now, and the opposite of the current style of hip hop that is out there. I think a lot of people had low expectations where a pretty shitty album surprised them, because they expected it to be really shitty with wrestling-inspired lyrics and content.

 

I actually expected more out of Cena, because "Basic Thuganomics" and his current theme, while not all-time-classics, seemed somewhat inspired and were a little different than what the mainstream is poppin out. That's what Cena should have been trying to do, and with a better producer he could have done it. I think if he hooked up with Buck65, the album would have turned out much differently, and IMO it probably would have been better. Buck65 would have brought an actual quirkiness to it, rather than the manufactured quirk that they tried for in the bad bad man video. I don't know if Buck65 is a great producer, I just know that his sound would have been better fitting for Cena. In the end, Cena just played it safe trying to make a "passable" hip hop album. I would respect his efforts more if he tried to give his album a distinct sound, rather than taking a style and sound 10 years past its due date and putting his voice on it.

[Carnival 0]

Buck65 sounds familiar. I think they talked about him on an espisode of Degrassi.

[Guest KOR420]

i think the esoterydactyl ghostwrote basic thuganomics,either that or cena was just trying to imitate his flow,i bought the cd,because bumpy knucks is ill,its surprisingly decent

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Buck65 is Canadian, I believe his underground fame came in the mid-late 90's but I can't confirm or deny anything. He is probably most notable for "The Centaur" which features the rhyme: "I have plenty to say but nobody listens, because my cock is so big and the end of it glistens". The suggestion isn't because I'm a big fan, because I'm not (though I have liked what I have heard from him), it's more because the sound and style (which has changed over the years, but has similar traits throughout) he brings would be better suited for Cena.

[Carnival 0]

Ahhh that explains it. If he's from canada, he was on Degrassi, they played a clip of a song and it sounded like the absolute worst thing i've ever heard in my life.

 

The Rhyme was horrible and his voice was bad, he was just talking, there was no flow to it.

 

But then again it was only a 20 second clip of some random song.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I'd reply, but I'm strill trying to wrap my mind around why you'd be watching Degrassi in the first place

 

I'm not going to defend Buck65's work, but I will defend him as being someone who could have done a better job on Cena's album than the current producer. Which is to say, Cena would have benefitted from a different style of hip hop.

[Carnival 0]

I'd reply, but I'm strill trying to wrap my mind around why you'd be watching Degrassi in the first place

Cuz i fuckin love it! Yes, I'm serious.

 

And i didn't mean to diss him just cuz you like him. I only heard a 20 second clip, but it just stuck in my mind cuz it was so shitty.

 

No need to defend him, i know nothing about him or his music.

 

But if you would like to discuss Degrassi....well I have a wealth of knowledge in that department.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I hate Degrassi with a passion. All of its incarnations. Fucking Canadian Melodrama, it's the worst kind of television!

 

Dude, I'm ashamed to be a Buck65 fan, and the guy usually gets praise and shit so there's no real reason to be, but the song that introduced me to him wasn't particularly "good", but I still dug it ("Wicked and Weird" btw). But White Rappers nowadays need to be quirky and shit to set themselves apart from the black guys, and I don't see Cena as being that. I don't think most white rappers can get away "My game is tight, check out all my bling, I'll fuck you up motherfucka" because white guys tend not to have the same sort of confidence that black guys do to pull it off. Call it the Eminem Syndrome, or whatever, but I think that's the case with Cena. To me, he's a sheep trying to put on wolves clothing.

[Carnival 0]

Personally I mark for white rappers. Thats pretty much all i listen to.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Degrassi is fucking awesome.

 

Rudo, I actually agree with your other comments, however. Keep 'em up.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

It never occured to me that 2 of the members of the West Texas Rednecks from WCW are dead (Curt Hennig and Bobby Duncum Jr), but I was thinking how much this JBL vs Cena fued could have used them coming out to "I Hate Rap".

[Guest jac52]

i agree that cena is a poor poor rapper. His slow pacing and hollow lyrics make me cringe i'm surprised 48000 people bought it, should be filed in the pop section. The fact he had to train with someone says it all

[swan 0]

Correction.......

 

It went to #47.

 

I assumed it dropped and didn't bother to look at the Top 50.

Edited June 2, 2005 by swan

[swan 0]

The album dropped to #50 this week.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

For those keeping score, it dropped out of the top 100 in it's 3rd week.

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

Hey, Cena's CD debuted higher than the recent Limp Bizkit album, so apparently people take him more seriously than Fred Durst at this point.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

Thus my faith in humanity is restored somewhat.

 

 

I Dled a bunch of tracks from Cena's CD and I would say it a good for a debut. I hope he keeps plugging away at it. Creative stuff. He likes playing with the words and he didn't cater it to the masses (i.e. little kids). Well done. Good luck overcoming the wrestler tag though.