From “Thuganomics” to the Top: John Cena’s Unexpected Path in Hip-Hop
Before being recognized as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, John Cena faced challenges in the world of wrestling. Despite being considered the future of WWE in the mid-2000s, he struggled to connect with the audience. The solution came unexpectedly on a bus during a European tour, where his freestyle skills impressed his colleagues, giving rise to “The Doctor of Thuganomics”.
This new persona revitalized his career, taking him to stardom. But Cena’s freestyle on “SmackDown” wasn’t just a gimmick; it was an extension of his true identity. “He was a kid who liked rap, and then he became a wrestler,” commented his friend Esoteric.
These improvisations led to the album “You Can’t See Me”, released on May 10, 2005. The album fused Cena’s ability for witty rhymes with an underground production. It debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200 chart and generated its entrance theme, “The Time Is Now”, which is still used 20 years later.
“His intentions were pure, and when he had the opportunity to merge the two, he went for it,” Ryan said. “John is a hip-hop purist; he masters Gang Starr, Hieroglyphics, Black Moon, EPMD, Wu [Tang Clan], all the good stuff.”
Esoteric
John Cena’s “The Doctor of Thuganomics” character fue más que un simple truco.Cena committed to collaborating with underground hip-hop artists he admired. This led him to partner with lesser-known artists who had cult followings.
Bumpy Knuckles, whose real name is James Campbell, was key to this project. The New York rapper and producer recalled his meeting with Cena before he appeared on New York’s Hot 97 radio station. Campbell, who didn’t know Cena’s new WWE persona, was pleasantly surprised by his rapping rhythm. After exchanging numbers, they both built a relationship that extended to the creation of Cena’s album.
Cena had an interesting motivation for making an album. At the time, WWE had generic rap music that Cena didn’t find convincing or a proper representation of the music he liked. “Maybe I can make better music than the generic rap music they’re making for me in Connecticut [WWE headquarters],” Cena said in a 2024 interview. “At the time, WWE was a rock ‘n’ roll company. They didn’t have any depth field for hip-hop. I listened to my own music and remembered thinking, ‘I can do better than this'”.
And so, the seeds of “You Can’t See Me” were sown.
The Producer Behind the Success: Jake One and “The Time Is Now”
In the early 2000s, producer Jake One was looking for his big break in music. Although he worked with renowned artists, his most recognized song came from a CD of beats he gave to a professional wrestler for his debut rap album. “I had no idea who John Cena was,” said Jake. His manager informed him that Cena wanted to use three of his beats. However, the producer received $30,000 for three beats. One of those tracks would become a cultural phenomenon.
On March 17, 2005, Cena debuted his new entrance song on “SmackDown”, “The Time is Now”, produced by Jake One. Although the song has generated much more money than Dutton received, the producer is grateful to be part of a crucial moment in Cena’s career.
“It’s one of those things that refuses to go away,” Dutton said. “I may have songs that have gone platinum or been played more, but, in popular culture, nothing comes close to ‘The Time is Now.’ I hear it everywhere, and that’s the coolest thing.”
Jake One
The producer admitted that, although it is common not to know the artists he works with, he is surprised not to have met Cena.
“You Can’t See Me”: More Than a Song, a Legacy
“You Can’t See Me” is more than “The Time Is Now.” Cena, along with Trademarc, delivered a 17-song album full of bravado. Unlike the rap performances of “Macho Man” Randy Savage, where the music felt inauthentic, Cena exuded the elements of the culture, from the four-finger rings to his witty rhymes and his ear for production.
“[Hip-hop] was a part of me,” Cena said. “When I was able to show that on television, it resonated with the audience… I was raised in the ‘Boom Bap’ era of the East Coast. I love wordplay. I love poetry. It’s what I based my character on.”
During the creation of “You Can’t See Me”, Cena collaborated with several pillars of the underground rap scene. Murs, a regular of the California underground hip-hop scene, collaborated with Cena on the remix of “H-U-S-T-L-E” in 2004, before Cena released his album. Murs met Cena at a mutual friend’s apartment. “Cena was sitting there,” said Murs. “It wasn’t a fancy place, but here was a WWE superstar just hanging out on the couch. We talked for a while and really hit it off. I asked him if he wanted to be on the remix of ‘H-U-S-T-L-E’, and he said yes. He didn’t charge for his appearance and got the verse back to me in 48 hours. I think he might have gotten in trouble [for not asking WWE for permission] for the song. But he was serious about making this happen.”El rapero y productor Bumpy Knuckles apareció en cuatro canciones con John Cena en “You Can’t See Me”.Campbell, who appeared in four songs, played an important role in the making of Cena’s album. But Cena wouldn’t have gotten very far if he hadn’t passed the rapper’s “Industry Shakedown” smell test.
“I wasn’t just rapping to rap,” Campbell said. “I was immersed in the culture, but I still wanted to learn. His desire and his eagerness to be authentic, to stay authentic, and to be seen as authentic in hip-hop was real.”
In addition to working on songs like “Flow Easy” and “Bad, Bad Man”, Campbell and Cena spent a lot of time together, from riding motorcycles from Long Island, New York, to Boston, to meeting influential hip-hop figures like fashion designer Dapper Dan, or simply listening to and talking about music.
“I took him to the neighborhood – yes, John Cena was coming out of the neighborhood – and I had him introduce me at S.O.B.’s before my show in New York. I kept him close to the things I did and the places I went,” Campbell said.
But what Campbell stands firm on is that he never wrote a verse for Cena.
“Everything I did with John Cena was rapping on records with him and being his comrade in making sure he was seen as a real hip-hop and not what I think the WWE thought of the culture,” Campbell said.
Ryan, who appears in the album’s ode to Boston sports teams, “Beantown”, said the final product exceeded the expectations of a professional wrestler looking to make a hip-hop album.
“He had a voice, a delivery, and wrote his own rhymes like everyone else,” said Ryan. “If you didn’t know he’s a 17-time world champion, he’d sound right at home with the kind of hip-hop we create. After all, he was influenced by the same artists as us, and his dedication to whatever he sets out to do is immeasurable.”
The album received moderate acclaim, with RapReviews rating it 7.5 out of 10:
“You Can’t See Me may have been a well-planned and carefully calculated marketing strategy, but at the same time it screams the passion of a man who loves to rap as much as he loves wrestling,” the review said. “For that reason, you haters can stop hating, because Cena’s time really is now.”
Unfortunately, that time has already passed.El rapero de Boston Esoteric trabajó con John Cena en su álbum de rap en 2005.
The Farewell to the “Doctor of Thuganomics” and the Enduring Legacy
Two decades after the release of “You Can’t See Me”, that version of Cena is almost unrecognizable. Although the characteristic denim shorts are still intact, the rude rhymes and brash personality have faded, giving way to a more polished and wholesome version of the wrestler. “Here, I had a personality that stuck to the people who watched, but then, slowly, the people who watched changed and more children and more families started coming to these events,” Cena said in the WWE documentary series “Ruthless Aggression”. “I said this is it. We’re changing right now. I remember going to [former WWE CEO Vince McMahon]’s office and saying, ‘I have to stop rapping'”.
And that was the end of Cena’s “Doctor of Thuganomics” version and the beginning of “Hustle, Loyalty, Respect”. Today, Cena says he doesn’t consume hip-hop music like before. Since then he has “moved away” from the culture and has focused his attention on activities such as acting.
Now, at 48 and nearing the end of his career in the ring, Cena has traded his retro t-shirts and freestyles for Hollywood suits and scripts. But make no mistake, “You Can’t See Me” will remain a triumph and a crucial moment for Cena’s career. And although he is no longer immersed in hip-hop, Cena will always remain authentically hip-hop.
“I don’t think WWE ever told him to act like hip-hop, I think John showed up like that,” Campbell said. “They just let him do his thing until the time came when the product and the audience were changing and he had to do something different. He started playing the game, and he did it well, like something legendary. You can’t question his hip-hop authenticity with me. Nobody can tell me anything bad about John Cena.”
