 Kapone, what’s going
on?
Nothing much pimpin’.
What part of Memphis are you from?
Well, I live in White Haven, we call it Black Haven but I’ve lived all over Memphis.
I’ve stayed in South Memphis, West Memphis, Orange Mound, all over. That’s why I
don’t just claim one part of the City. I claim it all because I grew up all over the
place.
Now you used to be called Ska Face Al Kapone now you go by just Al Kapone why the
change?
When I started doing shows outside of Memphis that’s when I realized I still had a
lot of work to do because a lot of people still wasn’t up on who I was outside of my
hometown. Every time I went somewhere a lot of people would hear my name and would just
stop and immediately ask me where Bushwick was or what was happening with Willie D. I
would be under his shadow just because of the name.
That’s when I decided to drop the Skaface name and just rolled with Al Kapone. The
whole time I ended up with the name that I didn’t want in the beginning.
Now over the years you have put out some underground bangers that have become
Memphis classics.
Oh yeah, definitely man. I just do what I feel, you know. I ain’t gone lie man; I
love that Memphis sound. And I love that I [played] a part in creating it. And I love the
fact that we got people out here representing it and keep it going on. I stay in the
studio because I love rap music. I love everything about it so I stay in the studio, I
stay recording, and I keep coming up with stuff.
 From
being signed to other labels I learned the mistakes that they had made with my career. I
learned the reason why I didn’t move as fast as 3-6 Mafia, Project Pat and other
groups like 8Ball and MJG. I realized what had happened to me and I learned how to do
records independently. Once I got out of my contract with OTS Records thats what I started
doing just to get back on the right track and the right foot, just to keep going. And in
the process I was able to drop a few knockers, prior to signing with E-40.
Speaking of E-40, tell us how did you hook up with him?
Man, it was pretty much after he had gotten in touch with me for the Southwest Riders
Compilation. After we did that I ended up coming back to the Bay Area to do Memphis to the
Bombed Out Bay Compilation. And that just really came from doing a whole lot of networking
and I had kinda came out here on the Greyhound Bus. I said fuck it I’m going to the
Bay. I ended up hooking up with E-40 again and we ended doing a song out at his crib
called Gorilla Milk. After we did the Gorilla Milk I was just letting him know that if he
was looking for a Southern artist just holla at me. Two months later he gave me a call and
was like you ready to do it? He was saying if I was ready to sign with him, but I
wasn’t sure if that what he was saying. And I was like man, are you talking about
what I think you’re talking about? And he said yeah, are you ready to be with the
team? I was like you damn right, I’m ready pimpin get the contracts ready and
let’s take care of it. And it’s been all love every since then
How do you like being with Sic-Wid-It?
From a business aspect it’s all good. But on a personal level it’s really a
beautiful thing. Outside of the business this is somebody that I can just kick it with
that don’t even have anything to do with music. He's really down to earth like that.
 Okay
now what’s up with you and Def Jam. What happened to that deal?
I’m kinda glad you brought that up dude. It is so serious dude. We [were] finished
with the Going All Out….this was in about late 1999. Naw I take that back it was in
mid 2000. And we had just started giving it to Jive. That’s when the South thing just
really started to take off and Southern music really started to get super hot. That when P
had broke it down and Cash Money had really made everybody started saying the South, the
South, the South. And all the labels were looking for a Southern artist. Def Jam had heard
some of the stuff. I think that this when Scarface had first started as president there. I
think that 40 had let him hear it. From there Face gave it to Kevin Lyles, [who] was going
out of town for the weekend and we ended up coming back and saying dude I love this album.
We need to make this happen. What we got to do?
 We were about to shoot the video in
Galveston, Texas at the Kappa Beach Party. So everything was really going to plan to
release on Jive. When Kevin came back to town, he was man don’t do that yet.
Don’t worry about doing a video yet. Hold off on this that and this. Don’t start
working the single yet. And Def Jam made us feel so confident that they were going to make
things happen that we put everything on hold. We stopped everything. We stopped the
machine from working when we were just getting it to moving.
So I’d say for like the next six months we were negotiating, trying to come up with
something fair for both parties. And of course they were flexing some serious muscles.
They were saying, we’re Def Jam we’re going to make it happen. So 40 was willing
to give up a lot to make the deal go down because he knew that they would do put up the
muscle to make the project happen. But the only thing was that jive had kinda been put a
little bit into the project so we had kinda settle up a little bit with them and
everything was going to become official. At the end of the negotiation period something
went seriously wrong when [Def Jam South] didn’t want to compensate the company the
right way so the deal ended up falling through.
How did that make you feel?
The only thing about that whole experience was that I just felt Def Jam came in at a time
when we was about to make our move and convinced to stop making our move. We wasted a lot
of time and nothing really came out of it. All they did was put my shit on serious delay
so after
those six months it was like damn near the end of the year. You can work no deal and get
the album out real quick like before the end of the year. Okay 2001 coming in and
we’re trying to figure out what the best move to make. Now we’re in a position
where 40 about to do his last album for Jive. It don’t make no sense for my album to
come out on Jive and 40 about to do his last album for Jive and he fixing to move on. So
now we gotta wait until he finish with his contractual obligations with Jive so he can
take the whole label to another major and everything will be on and popping again.
That’s basically the whole breakdown of what happened.
Do you blame Def Jam for the delay?
I ain’t gone lie, I do kinda blame Def Jam for the simple fact that they convinced us
to stop the machine from turning and then they still didn’t make nothing happen after
all of that. The way I look at it is them muthafuckas already got they money, but they
done, god damn it, put me on serious hold. I’m trying to get my money and they put me
on serious hold. That’s the biz. And I’m trying to remain optimistic about the
whole thing.
So what are you up now?
Right now I’m here in the Bay recording some new shit for 40’s new album so I
can keep my name percolating. In the meantime I can keep my little independent projects
going, just to keep my underground fans happy. Because it's been so long since I’ve
released something as a solo artist, I have to release some things just to keep them up.
But ain’t shit stopping. It’s still going down.
 Right now you’ve got some product out
there, right?
Yep, I’ve got the Alkatraz Ridaz, which is a group project with the Taylor Boys and
Sir Vince and J-Dogg. I did that project just to give my underground fans a little
something to keep them going plus give my artists that I’m working with, who I have
been true to and have been true to me something to work with. Then I did this little video
tape call the Memphis Underground, which is documentary of all of the underground rappers
in Memphis that’s got big names. It’s another first that I can claim. Then
I’ve got this compilation getting ready to come out called Memphis Drama, which will
be out in like a couple of weeks. It has a lot of the main rappers in Memphis, plus a
lotta up and coming artists. That going to be a nice little CD that will be dropping in
about two weeks. And we’ve got an Alkatraz Ridaz Chapter 2 coming so we’ve got a
lot of things happening in the meantime until the Going All Out Album.
Can you tell us a little something about Going All Out?
Ah, man it’s serious. The name of the album reflects the whole album. Every song on
the album ain’t just going off on muthafuckas or shit like that, but every song was
done to the utmost. Me and MJG got a pimnping song on there that’s real laid back
called The Pimping in Me. Even though we ain’t going off on nobody and it’s just
so laid back and pimped out, it’s so well done that MJG fans are gone say this is the
kind of shit we’ve been wanting to seem him on. So the title of the album just really
explain the whole mood of the album. I’m putting my all into this.
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