The HHNLive.com Interview: Capone (CNN)
Originally Posted: 06/20/2006 by: D Shanks
The single, "L.A., L.A.", which featured east coast flag bearers Mobb Deep, veteran rapper Tragedy and his young protégées, Capone and Noreaga became an instant underground hit. The controversial single and video generated much acclaim and anticipation for what this new duo had to offer. During the recording of their now classic debut, The War Report, adversity struck however, when Capone violated parole on a weapons possession charge and was sent back to prison. Noreaga completed The War Report without Capone and became one of the brightest new stars in hip-hop while Capone anxiously awaited his return to the world, his partner and the new opportunities that would fall upon him.
Now a 10-year veteran himself, Capone has seen the entire spectrum of the game. He recently took time out to reflect on his humble beginnings, the legacy and status of CNN, his new ventures and a host of other fascinating experiences and observations.
D. Shanks: Let's take it back to the beginning. You've been away for a little bit and everyone might not know your history. The first time I ever heard of you was when Tragedy brought you and NORE to the Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito show (popular underground Hip hop show on WKCR- FM in NY). That had to be like '94…take me back to that time period.
Capone: That was actually like '95, because I came home in '94. I mean that was an experience in itself…like what dude thinks he's gonna come home to that. And the funny thing was; I wasn't even trying to be a rapper back then. I just possessed the skills to know how to rap but we weren't really going that hard with rap until we got with Trag' and he brought us up there. And that's when Stretch digged us so much that he got down with our movement. Like when we did the 'L.A. L.A.' joint, we was doing that for a Bad Boy mixtape and Puff didn't even want to use it so it was like "cool, where are we going to go from here?". But the record was so strong that we were like "F@#$ it". Stretch Armstrong's pop put up money… shot the video and got the record pressed up…so it was a blessing.
DS: How did you and NORE meet? You and Trag already had a relationship before…
Capone: Yea, Trag is from Queensbridge (Queensbridge Housing Projects). I've known Trag all my life. Me and NORE met in jail on my first bid. I shot the police and went up north and I met him when I went up north. We were both little n@#$as nice in basketball and we were on different sides of the jail so it was like "yo there's this dude from Queens on the other side that's nice." And they were on his side like "yo there's this kid from Queens on the other side…" So it just so happened that for the championship our houses played each other. So we were like "oh what up ...you from Queensbridge'…you from LeFrak…" So I said, "I'm not gonna stick you; you don't stick me" and we both ended up dropping like 40 points and after that we just got cool. From there, we just kept in touch, kept grinding it out. I came home first, when he came home I had it set for him, had some clothes… you know, everything was cool.
DS: So wit' the L.A. L.A. now. What was the atmosphere at that time? I assume you probably weren't even aware of what you were doing but years later we know that was really the only song that stood up for the east coast.
Capone: (laughing) Yea, I would've thought that after we came out with that record that everybody would jump on the bandwagon and try and say "oh I went at them too" but motherf#$%ers ain't even do that. So I was thinking "damn they're gonna leave it up to us to hold it down but it was better that way because that was our claim to fame. And now ten years later, we still here. There's a lot of cats who came out when I came out and they're not here.
DS: Ok, fast forward from that and we have CNN, The War Report, classic album…
Capone: Yea, that was history making that album, people always come up to me in the streets saying "yo can we get another War Report?" I'm like "my dude, I would have to get shot again, I'd have to go back to jail, my mom would have to die again, and I would have to lose three of my 'mens' in a car accident. That's what I was going through during that album. I mean f$%# no you can't get another War Report but you can get some real banging CNN sh$#. Close to it!
DS: Now the dynamic of your group that makes it so crazy is that I can't remember another time in history as far as hip-hop is concerned where a member of the group was incarcerated during the recording process. In other words, he was there for half or a quarter of the recording process and actually got locked up before the album was finished…so it's almost like two albums.
Capone: It's like two albums right?
DS: Yea. That's what cements it as historic.
Capone: Just the story alone of how we made that album makes people want to buy it. There's people who didn't know us back then but know us now and from hearing our story want to buy that album but they can't because it's not out there.
DS: Listening to the album, what I took from it, especially for the shorties…even fast-forwarding past the album to the first NORE album. You were executive producer on the album but you were still up. During that time, NORE becomes a superstar. So it's kind of a "how to" guide, like "my man is in the box. I'm a superstar and he can't enjoy any of the success". In this era especially, where a lot of cats are glorifying prison life and kids think it's nothing to go in and out the box and that it won't have any effect on their life; you listen to that album and you see the effect it can have.
Capone: Yea you see it! That album…I mean everyone right now who has a partner, you don't wish for that to happen but you know if it does happen how to hold it down. It's like Pimp C and Bun B. We laid the blueprint on how to hold your partner down. Bun B did exactly what NORE did for me with Pimp C.
DS: He actually came out to more than he had going in.
Capone: Exactly! That's what I'm saying. When I went to jail I had the clothes I had on my back. No bank account. No nothing. I didn't know if the album was going to flop or be a success. Next thing you know, a year later, things changed. My commissary was fat! I was right!
DS: Ok. Moving past the two NORE solo albums to the CNN reunion joint. That had to be crazy for you. Talk about that time period.
Capone: The reunion album was wild. Recording that album was crazy because I was getting money that I didn't understand. I went to jail broke and I come home and I got a red Lex coupe waiting for me that I can't even drive; I didn't have a license. I didn't even have an ID except for a jail ID. So I got rid of that sh#@! We're doing promotions for Johnny Blaze (clothing line). They're giving us $100,000 cash. That's not money I'm used to seeing as a rapper. It's like "I rap…they gave me this cause I rap". NORE was used to that. Doing shows, getting money, I wasn't used to that so when a n@#&a hand me $50,000 cash cause he wants me to wear some clothes I was like "word…ok cool…let's do it". And then we started the recording process and…my dude...we barely had weed money recording The War Report. The Reunion album we had ounces upon ounces in the studio so it's like "this is what's really good! this is how you record!"
DS: Now at some point during that time you fell out with Tommy Boy Records (CNN was originally signed to Penalty Records, a subsidiary of Tommy Boy Records). What happened with that situation?
Capone: Let me tell you, we thugged to get off Tommy Boy. Ni@#as ordered all types of food. Fifty Big Mac meals, twenty pizza pies, ninety two-liters, everything we could order and just left. And they had accounts with all these people so even though they didn't pay, they took it off their cards so they were heated. The next day we came to the label, they had the police waiting for us. (Laughs) So that's how we got off Tommy Boy. Anybody who wants to know that's how you get off your label. Thug It!
DS: And it was on to the Def Jam situation…
Capone: The Def Jam situation was a wonderful situation because that let me and NORE really experience things we never experienced. Me and NORE never went on tour until we got to Def Jam. When we got to Def Jam, the first whole year we were on there, we toured that whole year. We toured the whole year of 2003. That's because the squad that was there believed in us. Then the whole squad that believed in us left! Lyor (Cohen), Kevin Liles, everybody, gone. So it's like proving yourself to a whole other set of individuals and instead of going that route again…I was like I'm tired of going through this major bullsh@#, this corporate bullsh@# cause I can be broke all by my damn self rather than have a n@#$a tell me, 'I'm not gonna give you any money cause you owe me money'. "Nah n@#$a, I don't owe you sh$@!" So let me get off the label and yall can just have the CNN rights right now but as for 'Pone, I'm gonna do what I gotta do to eat.
DS: So that lead to where?
Capone: Then I went over to Koch. Koch been wanting to f#$@ with me. They just like the way a n@#$a move so I went over there and got a 50/50 venture over there, dropped the Pain, Time and Glory album and now I'm over here doing a 50/50 venture with Sure Shot dropping the mixtape. I'd rather do moves like this than be shelved or be in a predicament where I don't have any control over my destiny. I own my publishing B'! Not too many rappers can say that. Jada and the whole Lox was mad because they didn't own they own publishing. There's platinum, quadruple platinum artists out there that don't own they publishing…don't have no rights to their publishing either. They may have 20% rights to their publishing. So at the end of the day, I'm in the best predicament 'cause let's say this album does 100,000 (copies sold). I can turn around and get a publishing deal and take $300,000 but then my kids is f@%!ed. They're not gonna be able to get any money 'cause that money's going through four or five hands before it gets to them. I rather own my publishing, pay an admin deal (administrator) and have the admin collect my money. That's how DMX does it; that's why he's so caked up! He owns his own publishing and he just has an admin deal. Once you become so big in the game you become smarter and being real smart is not always taking that up front money.
DS: So does that mean that the CNN situation is tied up…?
Capone: The CNN situation is what it is. We'll get to that but it's like trying to rebirth a baby. It's like we were here and now we're back here (gestures with his hands). The people that had us here ain't even there anymore. I don't know none of those mutha#$%kers up there (at Def Jam) you know what I'm saying. That's like if they split the whole Yankees roster in half and just took everyone that's been down with the Yankees for a long time and just sent them some place else. They would lose momentum. They'd lose half of their fans…Imagine if they sent the dude (George) Steinbrenner some place else. The Yankees would be f@#$ed. He's been down with them for like a trillion years. You got rid of Steinbrenner and his man (referring to Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles). Everyone that's left is either trying to bounce with them or wondering like "where the hell we go from here? This dude brought me in, believed in me and gave me ten million and now this new dude comes in and wants to give me five?" Nah…that's the part of the game that I ain't want to deal with.
DS: What's your take on the status of QB (Queensbridge) right now? You got Lake on Death Row, The Mobb on G-Unit…
Capone: Yea…I can understand the Mobb's G-Unit move but I can't understand the Lake/Death Row move. I mean I've known Lake all my life. I grew up with Lake. I was the forefront face for his 41st Side album. That was my chain, my face. I sold that album for him basically, because the whole time me and NORE was on tour that's what everybody was asking me about. "Yo, your 41st Side album was dope", I never once said it wasn't my sh@#. I showed love and I made people buy it. But I just don't understand that move and I feel like there's other people in QB that should be poppin' right now too but my projects are so big and everyone's got their own team. Like just because Nas and Cormega were able to do that song together…yea they grew up together but they move two certain different ways. Cormega had his own team and Nas had his own team and that made them different. It's just hard man. QB's gonna be QB forever though.
DS: What's your take on Nas and Jay?
Capone: That was dope! I think that was good for hip-hop...for the sake that both of their careers were at separate positions. Nas' career was not at its peak and Jay's career was not at its peak. Just because he's president and all that…as far as rap career-wise… his last album didn't do…GREAT. What better way to get back in the four million record sold category than to get the ni@#$ who's in the same category as you but holds more weight than the 4 million record sellers. 'I'm gonna get this ni@#$ who I had beef with…we had the biggest beef in the game…and squash it. But really squash it! Not gonna pull a 50 and Game…we're really gonna squash it because both of us are 34 years old, 33 years old.' 'So what, I'm gonna be 40 sitting here'…because both of them want to be in the game for more years…'so I'm gonna be 45-50 talking about a ni@#$ baby moms.' And now the ni@#$ baby moms ain't his baby moms no more cause his seed's like 14. You got to stop it at a certain point. There just certain sh#$ in life that you just grow out of and I think both of them grew out of the beef and had to stand up as men and say 'you know what? I'm in a position where I can make both of our situations better.' Because as much as Jay is helping Nas, Nas is helping Jay. I mean, give and take, both of them are ill lyrically but we know… (whispering) both of them got ghostwriters.
DS: (Laughs) Actually, we didn't. You just blew that up.
Capone: I'm telling you…right now you have to understand that these ni@#as is getting older. The clock's not turning back for these ni#$as so either they're gonna kiss and make up and now they're gonna raise the bar of rapping…they just raised the bar. Now you got the two best ni#$%s on the same record. How's that gonna sound, both of them on the same record? If they do it right 'cause Jay makes records one style and Nas makes records another. It's gonna be crazy! So now ni#$%s is gonna have to step they game up a notch. If you don't then you're going to miss out because those are the two best dudes in the game and their beef is squashed. That makes it harder for everybody. It's good for hip-hop but it's harder for everybody. 50 (Cent) gonna have to step his game up! Now both of them dudes can come after you. They're business partners now. It's not just that the beef is squashed. They're in business together. It ain't nothing but business. They figured if they were gonna squash the beef let's make it memorable and marketable. But that was just a stepping-stone for hip-hop to let everyone know it can happen. All the beefs can be squashed.
DS: Alright man, plug YOUR project.
Capone: (Laughing) That's wassup man. I love talking about hip-hop homie. Menace 2 Society is the album/mixtape that's out right now. I got NORE on there. I got DR Period. Just Blaze, Kev Kyze, TWiNZ. He produced the single, 'King of NY'. It's crazy! It's straight street! About 17 joints on there, nothing you ever heard before. You know, I just put in work. Yall can check me out on www.ptgent.com and www.myspace.com/caponefromcnn . Holla at me! I'm here! Watch out for the movie, Pain, Time and Glory, coming soon.
DS: You mentioned the single, 'King of NY'. What does that title mean to you?
Capone: It means everything to me man. I got shot in NY. I got locked up in NY. My moms died in NY. I did my first show in NY. I stood up for NY. I mean…that all says I shouldn't have to say no more. I put my blood, sweat and tears into NY and I'm not saying that I'm the king and there's no one else in it. It says it in my hook 'there's bigger fishes in it but I'm the star for one more minute.' I'm holding my spot down. I respect everybody else who's claiming the throne or whatever but I have my own reasons. Dudes think 'cause they rap or they sell a bunch of records they're the king. No! You have to put work in. Have you ever popped a n@#$a? Have you ever seen your own blood? Have you ever laid in a pool of your own blood? I have! In NY…on the floor shot. I put my work in…in NY. There's a whole lot of dudes who know me for other than rapping here. I love NY. So I'm going to be the king of my kingdom.
DS: Well speaking of the King of NY, you spent time early in your career on tour with BIG (Notorious BIG). Talk briefly about that experience.
Capone: That was ill because I was listening to Hot 97 and I was like 'yo I gotta meet this ni@#a.' He was so serious with his. So being the dude I was, I went to Hot 97 and waited for the dude to come downstairs. That's why me and Lil' Cease is still cool to this day even through all the bullsh@#. He was there…BIG came downstairs with Cease and D-Roc. I stepped to the ni#$a like 'yo my name is Capone…I'm from Queensbridge… I wanna spit for you'. So I spit for him and he was like, "whoa that's enough…that's enough", 'cause I was going hard on him. He was like, "give me your number my ni@#$". I gave him my number, D-Roc gave me his but I never got a chance to call or whatever. Long story short, Nas, Mobb Deep and Keith Murray had a few spot dates together in the South. So the Mobb was like "come on Capone, come on the road." Now we're down in the Carolinas and I hear that BIG is going to be out there. BIG was flying out there from Cali. So now we're all in Nas' hotel room and BIG comes in and hollas at Nas. Yo the first thing he said after he said wassup to Nas was "yo, you know this dude named Capone from QB?" Now Nas didn't know I could rap because I wasn't on it like that back then. Nas is like "Capone?" BIG's like "yea, little skinny ni#$a, dark skin…" Nas says, "only dude named Capone I know is son right there" and points to me. So I turn around when I hear my name called and BIG's like "that's dude right there. That's my ni@#a! You not f#$@ing with him?" He had Nas messed up like "what do you mean f@#$ with him? This dude don't rap, he shoots people." So after that, BIG had dudes so amped off me that I went in the studio with Mobb Deep. This was my first time ever in the studio. It was me, the Mobb, Ghostface and Reakwon. You know that joint they did (starts rapping the words to 'Right Back at You' off The Infamous LP), I rapped on that. I was supposed to be on that but I sucked. I can admit that! I heard myself and f#$@ing took myself off the track (laughs). I didn't show up. But anyway, BIG from that day respected me. Plus when he seen that I was really with dudes, he called me and all that. He was pressing me to get down with Junior Mafia like, "yo you'd be the only Queens ni@#$, that would be ill." I was hesitant like 'ahhh, I don't know.' Then I went out of town hustling and that's when I bumped into Trag. But the ill thing is that BIG really wanted to f@#$ with me. I would've been that extra member of Junior Mafia. Oh and I skipped a part! We went to the club later in North Carolina and the whole club flips on BIG and Nas. BIG and Nas leave and me and Cease is left in there to fight the whole club. Me and Cease is back-to-back son! And, rest in peace, my man Twin (Gotti from Imfamous Mobb). We get outside and dudes is popping at us. It was crazy! All because of Nas and BIG! Those are my BIG stories. I only got two but they're real good ones.
DS: Tell us again about your projects on the table right now and anything coming in the future.
Capone: Okay…The Pain, Time and Glory movie… that should be out, if not the end of this year then the beginning of next year…that's going to be definitely out. I'm working on this album, trying to finish my album. I'm concentrating on this music, that's about it.
DS: Any last words for your people?
Capone: Oh yea, It's Capone…Pain, Time, and Glory specialist. QB representa! All day everyday you know how I do it. Go kop that Menace 2 Society mixtape! Pain, Time and Glory (the album) is in stores now and remember the websites, www.ptgent.com and www.myspace.com/caponefromcnn . Check me out!
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