Commercial rap music, often times formulaic, lyrically limp, and,definitely mentally toxic,is spreading over the
airwaves like gangrene and the only way to stop the mortal contagion is to cut it off and head underground. There you will find a secret coup
"L.A., L.A. big city of dreams.
"Everything in L.A. ain't always what it seems
you might get fooled if you come from out of town
Cuz we're comin' from Queens and gets down..."
-Capone-N-Noreaga: Chorus from L.A., L.A.-their answer to tha Dogg Pound's New York, New York.
"We made L.A. L.A. because we want to show that this East Coast\West Coast beef is stupid," says Capone. Noreaga finishes his partners
thought, "We're not anti-west, we're just pro-east. We're proud of our hometown even though every day is a struggle."
Bad seeds bear bad fruit, so it's been said; however, that's not true in this case. Kiam "Capone" Holley and Victor "Noreaga" Santiago,
nicknamed after two of the most prolific gangsters to ever fill minutes on news programs, claim that it was their harsh environments coupled
with their thirst for the all-mighty dollar, that turned them into criminals, not their hardworking parents. Reaching adulthood in Queens, NY is
something to celebrate if you're from Capone's set in Queensbridge or Noreaga's homestead in Lefrak. "People die young in my
neighborhood, but I'm alive to talk about it in my music," says Capone, who at this moment is nursing a bullet wound for being in the wrong
place at the wrong time. Capone explains, "Ain't no hope of getting a good job if you come from my neighborhood. I owe everything to my
Moms for keeping me alive for trying to keep me on the straight and narrow. God bless her soul. She worked hard as hell to put food in my
mouth and clothes on my back, and was the only person who understood me. I do this rap thing for her. She enjoyed my music way before
anyone else was feelin' "my vision."
Noreaga, whose parents recently relocated to the happy suburb of Federal Way, Washington, saw the groups vision materializing around the
same time as Capone's mother did, "A few years ago, I saw success for me and Capone. My parents tried to keep me outta trouble, but I
had to learn things my way. They moved away from the madness, but I couldn't leave New York. I love it here, and part of the reason why our
music comes across as real, is because it is real. We lived through the experiences you'll hear on the album. This album saved me. It healed
my mental wounds and I hope it does the same thing for the shorties who will be hearing it. They don't have to learn lessons the hard way like
I did."
After realizing the full potential of their strictly non-fiction writing ability, before outgrowing the sampling stage, both regulators of rhyme vowed
to change the course of their lives. Capone remembers, "We met in jail almost four years ago and hit it off, though I don't wanna go out like
the mobster Al Capone, I like how he operated. If he was alive today, he would probably appreciate our song "Blood Money," because it
talks about getting paid any way a brotha can. He was a criminal, but he had a lot of strong qualities, and listeners gotta remember the fact
that I can get wit his positive side without following the negative. He was a leader and an organizer. "Illegal Life" talks about things that could
have happened during Capone's rule."
Noreaga, a world history buff, reveals why he chose to name himself after a drug lord possessed by greed- a ruthless extortionist who
committed murder, laundered money, and wheeled and dealt with George Bush on the D.L. "The man was brilliant. Unlike him I don't plan to
use my brain for criminal activities. I don't plan to go back to jail. I'm using the knowledge I learned through reading books on every subject to
make my life better in this prison without bars. The ghetto is a prison. America is a prison. We grew up in prisons, and now we gotta learn
how to live long lives and how to deal with the bars existing inside our minds." The struggle is captured through their debut album, War
Report. You will find a secret coup of Guerrillas spinning Capone-N-Noreaga's contemplative, self-written debut. This revolutionary project,
audible anti-whack serum, is capable of curing the aches and pains caused by tauntological lyrics and tired-assed beats. Punks, marks and
suckas need not apply. The journey is an interesting recitation of pre-apocalyptic nightmares set to hard as mortar beats. All of which are
produced by Tragedy, Charlemagne, Buckwild, Lord Finesse, EZ Elpee (Junior Mafia) and the team of Nashiem Myrick & Sean "Puff
Daddy" Combs.
Tragedy, who got the group their production deal through his own 25 To Life Records, says songs like "Stick You" show off the group's
obvious talent, "Not only can these two tell stories in a way that mesmerizes listeners, but they got rhymin skillz as well. Where weλre from,
we either got to stick somebody up, or they'll stick us up. It's that simple. That's how we came up with the lyrics for "Stick You". Living in
America today is like survival of the fittest. It's all about money. We're not bad guys, we're just survivalists."
