Cancer 4 Cure is the third solo studio album by American rapper and producer El-P. It was released through Fat Possum Records on May 22, 2012.[1] It peaked at No. 71 on the Billboard 200 chart.[2]
Background
The album is dedicated to El-P's friend and fellow rapper Camu Tao, who died of lung cancer in May 2008 at the age of 30.[3] In an interview with Rolling Stone, El-P said, "Camu was a huge inspiration on this record, mostly because he had a huge effect on my life and who I am."[4] He elaborated, "I think that I'm trying to create an idea or illustrate a thought pattern, just because there's darkness that I see and think about, it doesn't mean I've given into it. I think the record is ultimately about not giving into it. For the most part I'm struggling with that darkness throughout the record. When I say it's about wanting to live, I just say that because that's how I feel. When you get hit with death, sometimes as horrible as it is, one of the things that can come out of it is a reaffirmation of how much you don't want to go, and I think that's what happened with me."[5]
At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a score of 84 based on 39 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[7]
David Jeffries of AllMusic stated, "Cancer 4 Cure is about hip-hop like Glengarry Glen Ross was about sales, but these great works transcend their industries, offering solace and inspiration to anyone who would prefer a satisfied mind over a Cadillac Eldorado, or in current terms, an Escalade."[8]
In a more critical review, Dan Weiss of The Boston Phoenix stated that the album "is definitely not El-P's Age of Apocalypse" and that "in fact it's the only El-P production that sounds like it's been made on planet Earth, following hip-hop rules that someone else already defined".[17]
