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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	1:06:45
Label	Sanctuary Urban
Producer	Bizarre (exec.) Jeremy Geffen (exec.) Max Gousse (exec.) Mathew Knowles (exec.) Eminem Erick Sermon Hi-Tek J Thrill Jake and the Phatman Luis Resto Mike Chav Mr. Porter Raphael Saadiq Ruk Shea Sicknotes Silent Riot Sol Messiah TNyce
Bizarre chronology
Attack of the Weirdos (1997) Hannicap Circus (2005) Blue Cheese & Coney Island (2007)
Singles from Hannicap Circus
"Rockstar" Released: June 20, 2005

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, stic.man, Sindee Syringe, and Torrey Holloway.

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
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The A.V. Club	Unfavorable
The Guardian
RapReviews	8/10
Rolling Stone
The Situation
Spin	C−

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.

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". 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".

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". 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". Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club heavily criticized Bizarre for his monotonous delivery over subject matter that fails to gain laughs, saying "anyone who doesn't find the topics of pedophilia, drug abuse, or incest innately hilarious will find Hannicap Circus rough going".

Soundtrack

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

Track listing

Credits adapted from Discogs.

Notes

• signifies an additional producer.
• signifies a co-producer.
• 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.
• Dion provides additional vocals on tracks 7 and 18.
• Mr. Porter provides additional vocals on track 12.
• Shaphan "MAESTRO" Williams provides additional vocals on track 13.

Charts

References

1. ^ "Bizarre - Hannicap Circus (2005, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
2. ^ "Reviews for Hannicap Circus by Bizarre". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
3. ^ Jeffries, David. "Hannicap Circus - Bizarre". AllMusic. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
4. ^ Rabin, Nathan (July 27, 2005). "Hannicap Circus". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
5. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (June 24, 2005). "CD: Bizarre, Hannicap Circus". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
6. ^ Juon, Steve 'Flash' (June 28, 2005). "Feature for June 28, 2005 - Bizarre's "Hannicap Circus"". RapReviews. Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
7. 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.
8. ^ Sajjid, Usman. "Bizarre - Hannicap Circus". The Situation. Archived from the original on December 4, 2005. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
9. Spin (July 2005). "Breakdown". Spin. 21 (7). Spin Media LLC: 104. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
10. "Bizarre - Hannicap Circus (2005, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
11. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (pdf ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 30.
12. "Lescharts.com – Bizarre – Hanni Cap Circus". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
13. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
14. "Bizarre Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
15. "Bizarre Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
16. "Bizarre Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 24, 2020.

External links

• Hannicap Circus at Discogs (list of releases)

• 2005 debut albums
• Bizarre (rapper) albums
• Albums produced by Eminem
• Albums produced by Hi-Tek
• Albums produced by Mr. Porter
• Albums produced by Erick Sermon
• Albums produced by Raphael Saadiq
• Sanctuary Records albums