Hannicap Circus

Hannicap Circus is the debut solo studio album by American rapper Bizarre. It was released on June 28, 2005 via Sanctuary Urban. Production was handled by several record producers, including Hi-Tek, Mr. Porter, Eminem and Erick Sermon. It features guest appearances from D12, Young Miles, Big Boi, Devin the Dude, Dion Jenkins, Fatt Father, King Gordy, Obie Trice, Raphael Saadiq, Sindee Syringe, stic.man and Torrey Holloway.

Hannicap Circus
Studio album by Bizarre
Released	June 28, 2005
Recorded	2004–05
Studio	Little Big Room Studios (North Hollywood, CA) Area 51 (Detroit and Farmington Hills, MI) 54 Sound (Detroit and Ferndale, MI) Teklab Studios (Cincinnati, OH) FBT Studios (Ferndale, MI) Blakeslee Recording Company (North Hollywood, CA)
Genre	Hip hop
Length	1:09:17
Label	Sanctuary Urban
Producer	Eminem Erick Sermon Hi-Tek J Thrill Mike Chav Mr. Porter PMG Raphael Saadiq Robert "Shea" Taylor Sicknotes Silent Riot Sol Messiah
Bizarre chronology
Attack of the Weirdos (1997) Hannicap Circus (2005) Blue Cheese & Coney Island (2007)
Singles from Hannicap Circus
"Rockstar" Released: 2005

Hannicap Circus is a huge reflection of Bizarre's rap persona and stage presence and yet many of the songs carry important subject matter, a bit of Bizarre's past and talking about the state of hip-hop. The album peaked at number 48 on the Billboard 200, selling 21,000 copies for the first week. It spawned only one single: "Rockstar".

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	44/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The A.V. Club	Unfavorable[3]
The Guardian	[4]
RapReviews	8/10[5]
Rolling Stone	[6]
The Situation	[7]
Spin	C-[8]

Hannicap Circus received mixed reviews from music critics who were less than enthusiastic with Bizarre's brand of humor and drama. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 reviews from mainstream critics the album received an average score of 44, based on 8 reviews.[1]

AllMusic's David Jeffries praised the album for its beats and lyrical content that were more akin to a better produced Insane Clown Posse, calling it "solid, filthy, fun, and everything else that you'd want from a less nimble Kool Keith".[2] Steve 'Flash' Juon of RapReviews found Bizarre's brand of demented shock humor entertaining and is complemented with appropriate production and a cast of equally game featured artists, concluding that "for fans of D12 and/or Hunter S. Thompson, Hannicap Circus is one crazy trip through the mind of a lunatic".[5]

Usman Sajjid of The Situation felt that the material was hampered by the beats and lyricism lacking energy, concluding that "With a moderate effort from D12’s Bizarre, ‘Hannicap Circus’ may have just exceeded expectations of rap listeners not expecting a strong album".[7] Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian said that the album had potential to be a competent horrorcore effort but was weighted down by Bizarre wanting it to be both humorous and dramatic with neither side fully delivering, concluding that "Hannicap Circus is the last thing you'd expect from a fat, shower-cap-wearing, nipple-rubbing son of a bitch: boring".[4] Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club heavily criticized Bizarre for his monotonous delivery over subject matter that fails to gain laughs, saying that "anyone who doesn't find the topics of pedophilia, drug abuse, or incest innately hilarious will find Hannicap Circus rough going".[3]

Soundtrack

"Gospel Weed Song" is featured during the credits of Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.

Track listing

No.	Title	Producer	Length
1.	"Public Service Announcement (Skit)" (featuring Jeff Bass)		0:26
2.	"Intro" (featuring Young Miles)	PMG	1:38
3.	"Gospel Weed Song"	Robert "Shea" Taylor	3:35
4.	"Fuck Your Life" (featuring Sindee Syringe)	Mr. Porter	4:29
5.	"Fat Father (Skit)" (featuring Fatt Father)		1:46
6.	"Let the Record Skip" (featuring Young Miles)	PMG	2:45
7.	"I'm In Love Witchu"	Hi-Tek	2:44
8.	"Rockstar"	Eminem	3:01
9.	"Ghetto Music" (featuring Swifty McVay, stic.man and King Gordy)	Sicknotes	4:33
10.	"Life Styles (Skit)" (featuring Torrey Holloway)		1:22
11.	"I'm So Cool"	Mike Chav	4:18
12.	"Porno Bitches" (featuring Devin the Dude, Big Boi and Kon Artis)	Mr. Porter	4:38
13.	"Crush on You"	Sol Messiah	2:54
14.	"Bad Day"	Erick Sermon	5:08
15.	"I Need a Friend"	Silent Riot	2:57
16.	"One Chance"	J Thrill	4:03
17.	"Hip Hop" (featuring Eminem)	Hi-Tek	4:31
18.	"Doctor Doctor" (featuring Obie Trice and Dion)	Hi-Tek	3:43
19.	"Coming Home" (featuring Kuniva and Raphael Saadiq)	Raphael Saadiq Jake and the Phatman (co.)	3:46
20.	"Nuthin' at All" (featuring D12)	Mr. Porter	4:28
21.	"Scooby Doo (Japan Bonus Track)" (featuring Sindee Syringe)		2:42
Total length:			1:09:17

• Note: On the edited version, all skits were cut and it left only 17 tracks. Also all profanity was blanked on the edited version with the exception of "Fuck Your Life", which allegedly contained backmasking.

Charts

Chart (2005)	Peak position
French Albums (SNEP)[9]	184
UK Albums (OCC)[10]	43
US Billboard 200[11]	48
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[12]	26
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[13]	12

References

1. "Reviews for Hannicap Circus by Bizarre". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
2. Jeffries, David. "Hannicap Circus - Bizarre". AllMusic. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
3. Rabin, Nathan (July 27, 2005). "Hannicap Circus". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
4. Lynskey, Dorian (June 24, 2005). "CD: Bizarre, Hannicap Circus". The Guardian. London: Guardian Media Group. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
5. Juon, Steve 'Flash' (June 28, 2005). "Feature for June 28, 2005 - Bizarre's "Hannicap Circus"". RapReviews. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
6. Hoard, Christian; Ringen, Jonathan (June 30, 2005). "Hannicap Circus : Review". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Archived from the original on July 14, 2007. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
7. Sajjid, Usman. "Bizarre - Hannicap Circus". The Situation. Archived from the original on December 4, 2005. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
8. Spin (July 2005). "Breakdown". 21 (7). Spin Media LLC: 104. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved January 15, 2019. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
9. "Lescharts.com – Bizarre – Hanni Cap Circus". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
10. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
11. "Bizarre Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
12. "Bizarre Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
13. "Bizarre Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 24, 2020.

External links

• Hannicap Circus at Discogs (list of releases)