New York rapper Cappadonna (born Darryl Hill) is a victim of circumstance. The fame achieved by his comrades in the seminal hip-hop group the Wu-Tang Clan never hit Cappadonna—possibly because, despite his senior status, he was not featured on Wu-Tang's classic album Enter the 36 Chambers. Mainstream listeners first tasted Cap's style on “Triumph,” the lead single on Wu-Tang's second album, but for that effort the liner notes listed him as a featured rapper, not a main contributor. By the time he really was up-and-running, most of his peers in the Clan had successful solo careers —GZA's Liquid Swords, Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and Old Dirty Bastard's Brooklyn Zoo—are required listening for those into hip-hop media. Cappadonna's outstanding 1998 debut album, The Pillage, remains a cult classic; he's a hip-hop connoisseur’s emcee.
Cappadonna soldiers on, paying homage to the entrepreneurial spirit that made the Wu-Tang Clan into superstars. The fashion-conscious emcee just dropped his seventh LP, Earyth Wynd and Fyre, and is hard at work on the eighth—the long-awaited sequel to The Pillage. Balancing studio time with touring, he will bring his classic east-coast lyricism to Mickey Finn’s on Thursday, February 21. In conversation New York's underdog emcee seems terminally chill— but then what would you expect from the emcee on “Ice Water?”
That record is still a cult classic. After fifteen years, why release a sequel now?
I'm finally releasing that sequel because the decade that's been past now called for the Pillage II. It's been upgraded to fit what's happening now but it still has that Pillage feel. I incorporate both the mainstream and the underground and come up with one sound.
So we should expect more samples, or keyboard-and-laptop stuff?
We used more or less keyboards mixed with live instruments. All elements on this one, that's the beauty of it. It's not being held back on anything that makes a beautiful sound, whether it be lyrics or a down south wave, east coast wave, or whatever wave. It's going to still sound butter, because I mastered the recipe.
Your tour will have a live band or just a DJ?
[I will] keep it hip-hop, live DJ. Every now and then there might be somebody in a band somewhere that might want to come through, so I'll rock out with them and make it happen just ‘cause I can do it like that. But I'm going vintage dawn with DJ/MC. Scratch, beatbox, all that. Keep it rooted, but at the same time—lets get booted!
Wu-Tang has had better luck than other early 90's groups in connecting with young kids. I was four or 5 when Enter the 36 Chambers came out, and I still know it. My friends know it. Why do you think that is?
I believe that they didn't understand; they didn't get a chance to experience the whole flow of what happened. It was a movement. It wasn't just 'here goes the record, it's hot let's go.' You wanted to know about each individual, you wanted to know the whole story from the beginning to the end. People got that W tattooed on their arm. It was so strong. They didn't get a chance to experience the movement, they only experienced the music. Most were intrigued by the drum.
Are the drums really the whole key?
The drum is the foundation. It all starts with the beat of the heart, that's how you get that iron deity there.
You were involved with RZA before 36 Chambers, but didn't appear on a Wu-Tang record until… Forever, right?
It just so happened we grew up around that same time. It was inevitable that we would work together. I can't say I knew it was going to happen, it's just that… many come but the chosen are few. I just feel like I was one of those chosen to be a part of that conglomerate. To this day I live to uphold what it is that we started with: justice and equality, love, peace and happiness for all humanity.
You're an active member of the Five Percent Nation of Islam, right?
I'm an active member of the nation of one hundred percent. It is basic fundamentals, numbers and alphabets. everything is associated with math, and alphabets. We have the power to add anything up just by looking in ourselves. We take self inventory, that's why we call it knowledge of self. When you have knowledge of self everything around you becomes clearer. That's why Michael Jackson said he had to start with the man in the mirror. But I tell you, there is a struggle in being able to keep looking at that mirror, because when you come outside of that, you get caught up in worldly things, you become a victim of circumstances, a product of your alignment.
The new record is called Earyth Wynd and Fyre. Like the name of the band but you spelled it with y's. Why?
Because ‘Why?’ is the question most asked.
You got me, that's good.
The wisest words are the whys in the dome. I already showed that I'm creating things in the world tangible to the viewer. You understood what I meant though I spelled it differently. And that's the same energy that I'm going to use to gravitate people to higher levels of consciousness.
Cappadonna will play Mickey Finn's Pub, 602 Lagrange St, on Thursday February 21st. Tickets are $10 in advance and $13 at the door. For more info, visit www.innovationconcerts.com
