John Cena CD

BAD, BAD MAN CLOSES THE PANDORA’S BOX OF BAD WRESTLING ALBUMS

John Cena - You Can't See Me

Review by Mike Rickard II

During the Rock-n-Wrestling boom of the mid 1980’s, Vince McMahon opened a Pandora’s Box of crap with the release of The Wrestling Album. Like the mythical figure Pandora, Vince McMahon opened a box which he thought contained riches and treasure, and instead released a series of plagues on the world. The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) forged a path of putridity with The Wrestling Album II: Piledriver, which lead the way for WCW’s Slam Jam and the abomination known as Hulk Rules! Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, came Be a Man, the hip hop styling of Randy “Macho Man” Savage. Needless to say, anytime a wrestler has stepped into a music studio, it’s a sure thing that their CD has been guaranteed both a spot at WrestleCrap and a quick trip to the deep discount bin of the nearby music store.

CHEAPER THAN A SLIM JIM

Needless to say, fans were more than a little concerned when it was announced that John Cena was on a rap album (especially given some fans dissatisfaction with the direction Cena’s character has taken over the last year). When Cena first adopted his rap gimmick, fans took a liking to his biting battle raps that he used to mock his opponents before a match. Cena’s edgy raps were so popular that it was only a matter of time before the WWE turned him face. Unfortunately the face turn seemed to dull the edge off of Cena’s raps to the point where some fans were comparing him to the Vanilla Ice persona he’d purposely adopted to get heat when he was a heel.

All doubts should be erased with the release of John Cena’s You Can’t See Me , a CD that features tight lyrics, a variety of rap styles, and competent production, making for an enjoyable listening experience for fans of East Coast rap and Pop rap. John Cena has broken the string of lackluster to downright awful original recordings by wrestlers and recorded an album that holds up well against many of the current rap and hip hop artists. Frankly, it’s not even fair to compare Cena’s work to other wrestlers because it’s like comparing the ring work of Chris Benoit to a best of compilation from Jimmy Valiant, Nathan Jones, Heidenreich, and Christy Hemme. Not only is it a backhanded compliment but you shouldn’t even mention their names in the same sentence.

So how does Cena’s CD compare to the mainstream hip hop and rap CD’s out there today? In a nutshell, remarkably well. However before going into an analysis of the CD, it’s important to point out that this album is by no means all about John Cena. Although the album is being promoted by the WWE as a John Cena’s CD, the truth is that it’s a collaborative effort with his cousin Tha Trademarc. Both artists perform on all of the songs (and are joined on more than a few tracks by veteran rapper Freddie Foxx aka Bumpy Knuckles as well as Boston rapper Esoteric). You Can’t See Me is a noteworthy freshman effort by Cena & Trademarc. It’s not without its faults, but it certainly has a lot to offer whether it’s the various styles experimented with throughout the album, the extremely tight lyrics Cena’s co-written, or the smooth combination of rapping with his cousin Trademarc and veteran rapper Freddie Foxxx.

Listening to the album, John Cena fans will be reminded of the clever raps that made him so popular in the WWE. Cena co-wrote every song on the CD and no matter whether he’s boasting about his game in Running Game, reminding people to take a minute and enjoy life with the ones you love on Right Now, or cleverly chronicling the difference between rich and poor on Just Another Day, you get a true appreciation for his writing. His rhymes are witty and he incorporates more pop culture references than an episode of The Simpsons or a Kevin Smith movie. There are wrestling references as well but Cena keeps them to a minimum and they seem no more out of place than they would on any other artist’s album.

When it comes to rapping, both Cena and Trademarc know how to flow. Their voices sound somewhat similar but there is enough of a distinction to make them complement each other. Cena and Trademarc cover all the bases of your typical rap album which in the immortal words of N.W.A. on Something Like That are: you’re either talkin’ ‘bout the place to be (Beantown), who you are (Know the Rep), what you got (Keep Frontin'), or ‘bout a sucker M.C. (Flow Easy). If you’ve heard Cena on WWE Originals singing Basic Thuganomics, you can tell that he’s no wrestler recording a novelty act but a guy dedicated to the music he loves and who’s willing to work hard at improving his work. There is a noticeable difference between Basic Thuganomics and any song found on You Can’t See Me.

Which isn’t to say that the album isn’t without its flaws? While it is interesting to hear Cena and Trademarc try their hand at different styles of rap and hip-hop, it will be important for them to establish their own style on their next CD. While both rappers do a good job with variety of styles they cover, there’s really nothing on the album that distinguishes it from the multitude of rap and hip hop albums out there (other than the fact that Cena is a rapper as well as a professional wrestler). With You Can’t See Me, Cena proves that he is more than a novelty act. With his next CD, he will need to prove that he is more than just another face in the crowded milieu of rap. The other noticeable flaw on the CD is the production. While there are some catchy beats on most of the songs (Make it Loud, Summer Fling, What Now, and Right Now were my favorites), there’s nothing remarkable about them. It’s a real shame that the clever rhymes spit here don’t have better music backing them up.

John Cena fans will no doubt find this CD to be everything they were expecting and much more. The CD features 17 tracks (including Cena’s new entrance theme the Time is Now) and is available in all its explicit glory or in the Wal-Mart friendly “clean” version. .Fans of rap may find themselves pleasantly surprised when they hear how good Cena and Trademarc are. Cena and Trademarc haven’t developed a new style like g-funk or crunk but they can hold their own. With the right producer on their next album, Cena and Trademarc could really break ahead of the pack and make a name for themselves.

One thing I forgot to mention about Pandora’s Box is that Pandora took one more stab at seeing what was inside (she must have been one curious lady) and found the spirit of hope in it. By releasing hope, Pandora was able to give mankind a certain measure of relief for the terrible evils she had unleashed on humanity. "Hope sole remain'd within, nor took her flight, Beneath the vessel's verge conceal'd from light." - Hesiod (Elton's translation).

Likewise with the release of You Can’t See Me, Vince McMahon has given fans hope that not all original recordings of wrestlers have to be hastily thrown together hack jobs. While Cena’s CD hasn’t made up for the musical trauma induced by Rikishi’s Put a Little Ass on It, it’s a good start.