Going on almost ten years in the game, Kiam Holley’s story has yet to be
told. As one half of the acclaimed Rap group, Capone-N-Noreaga, Capone has quietly seen it all and been through it to match. Growing up in the infamous Queens Bridge Housing Projects, he got the Hip-Hop itch at an early age. Straight from the source’s mouth, “It’s funny, ‘cause Shante basically raised me man. Coming up, being a Hip-Hop fan, I felt good having people I saw on TV right in my backyard. I could see Craig G., MC Shan, Tragedy [Khadafi], Marley Marl, so I felt good.” During the release of
CNN’s The War Report, N.O.R.E. was forced to promote the album by himself, as ‘Pone was locked up on a gun charge.
With the release of their follow up The Reunion, came even more drama. Foxy Brown aired out rival Lil’ Kim on “Bang Bang,” which
caused tension in the streets between all parties involved. One weekend
afternoon, Lil’ Kim and members of Junior M.A.F.I.A. were exiting New York
radio station Hot 97 as Capone and company were entering. Screw faces were
exchanged, shots were fired and Hip-Hop history was written.
As of late, N.O.R.E. has continued to further his solo career, as ‘Pone has been
rarely heard or seen, leaving many to make their own assumptions about
the group’s future. Now with his first solo album Pain Time And Glory in
the chamber, AllHipHop.com caught up with the QB G during his mastering
session. We talk CNN, record executive slime, Hip-Hop police and get an
inside look into what he says went down at the Lil’ Kim Trial. Click here to watch Capone talk about the worst day of his life.
Click here to watch Capone his crew and homey Noreaga.
Capone kicks knowledge about the Hip-Hop Police – check it out here.
AllHipHop.com: What’s new, man? Where you been?
Capone: I been in the muthaf**king hood! [Laughs] Nah, I’ve been in the studio recording. I’ve been working hard on this album. I’ve been really focused on doing this solo album for about three years, but prior to that, I wasn’t focused on doing a solo album. I was basically focused on just getting situated and getting it where it needed to be.
AllHipHop.com: So if you weren’t focused on doing a solo album, what was the focus all this time?
Capone: I was just recording, basically just focused on getting my s**t tight. I was away from the game for a minute. There were still things I wanted to touch and better myself at. So basically I was in the studio just grinding.
AllHipHop.com: During the height of the West coast vs. East coast, it seemed that Queens was the only borough to stand up as a unified body, and y’all did the song “L.A. L.A.” How did that come about? Y’all were throwing cats over bridges in the video.
Capone: Right know you got two ways to get in the game. Know somebody or diss somebody. And we took the diss somebody route because we knew the people we knew, and that was s**t wasn’t getting us to where we needed to be. So it was like, f**k that. Much respect to Snoop, Dogg Pound, that’s my family right now. But at that time, it was like, “Muthaf**ka, how we going to get in the game and get it right?” And the best way that we seen was a opportunity that was thrown at us to do a song for the Bad Boy mixtape. So we said ”s**t, what better song to do than to go back at the West Coast n***as on that tape.” That was the biggest way to make it pop off. So we did the record “L.A., L.A.” Puff heard it and was like, “Nah, I can’t do this.” And I respected it as now, being a businessman and O.G., That’s not the art of war he was playing. So cool, we put the record out ourselves. We pressed up the record thanks through Stretch Armstrong. And we took it like that. That got us in.
AllHipHop.com: Both of CNN’s albums were hot in their own right. Can you get into the making of The War Report?
Capone: S**t, that was a lot of f**king pain and suffering making that album. We got our record deal in December of ‘95. Me and NORE had about 10,000 a piece. We went and bought all the same clothes so we could like a Rap group. Same Avirex jacket, same kicks all types of s**t. That was our first checks from rapping so we were feeling like a Rap group. After that money was gone, then back came the bulls**t. You know $10,000 don’t last long baby, especially when you got family to take care of. Two months later, my house got raided.
AllHipHop.com: By who?
Capone: Police. You know n***as rattin’ in the hood. You know I hold my weight in gold baby, I put my twirk in, I did mine. Even though a n***a trying to get out of the hood, you can’t take the hood out of a n***a. So n***as know I’m still moving accordingly. So they figure the best way to stop my shine, is to get the police involved. Then that happened and I get caught with some guns. I go to jail on February 28th. I get bailed out March 5th. March 12th, my moms die. So it was like she was holding off for me until I got home, so it bugged me out. Mind you, this is all while we were recording the album. So in the middle of June, three of my mans die in a car accident. The next day after that, I got shot. So after getting shot, you know I’m in the hospital a couple weeks, I come home. I go back to the studio. Remember I got locked up in February, so I got a case. I’m going back and forth to court through all this s**t, arm in a sling, f**ked up. On November 19th, I turned myself in to do my bid. The judge told me, “If you want to stay out another two weeks, I’ll give you another two weeks.” I was drunk as a muthaf**ker, I hurled on the court steps. I’m rocking in the court room, mad weed in my ass. I had everything, my shank. Ain’t no s**tting that back out, baby. That’s real G s**t. [Laughs] If you a gangster, you really respect it. This all happened in 1996, and I still managed to keep my head up. I think jail really focused me. Because at the end of the day, I am the only child, no brothers or sisters. All I had was my mom. That was my first time really being alone with out her. My first bid I did in jail, she was there. This one, I was on my own.
AllHipHop.com: So what about The Reunion?
Capone: S**t, I came home man. I came home like a boss. I set that coming home pretty s**t off.
AllHipHop.com: So what’s your favorite CNN album right now? What’s more special to you?
Capone: Ughhh, The War Report. On The Reunion, I was a rapper, The War Report, I was a street n***a. I didn’t really know anything about Rap. I wasn’t growing up to be a rapper. I stumbled upon the s**t. Like I tripped on the deal, like oh s**t sign where? I still had loose cracks in my pocket when I signed the deal! It was hard, but I made the transition. I made the switch.
AllHipHop.com: What’s up with you and N.O.R.E. now a days? Keep all the way funky.
Capone: I keeps it 100% funky, I don’t front. Me and N.O., we family, it’s beyond partners. We could argue all day about records, about music, about whatever it wants. But it all goes down, because we have to see each other. So what y’all may not see on in the personal, y’all might think on record. Will there be another CNN album? You’ll see, because I can’t tell you that. Right now he’s doing him, Reggeatoning it, and I’m doing me. At the end of the day, he’s on his road to success, and I’m on my road. It’s all right for people to do that. We don’t fight, we don’t have arguments, everything is cool. You not gonna hear about me getting on the radio and saying I wrote his verse and s**t. You know what I’m saying? We don’t bump like that.
AllHipHop.com: What lead up to the separation?
Capone: I didn’t want to do the Reggaeton thing like that. He wanted to do that, so that’s basically what that is. I love Reggaeton music, but I feel like I haven’t even made my mark on what I’m trying to do.
AllHipHop.com: You cool on Reggeaton music? How do you feel about him crossing into Reggeaton?
Capone: I love Reggeaton music, n***a. My kids are Spanish, man. At the end of the day, the music is great. Man, I been to Puerto Rico. I been to the hoods in Puerto Rico. I been to the parts of Puerto Rico, that Puerto Ricans never been to. I feel like Reggeaton, it was about time. Everywhere I go that was musically orientated, I think Puerto Rico was the only place that didn’t get their national shot. Jamaican Reggae music just blew up from Shabba [Ranks] hitting the scene. Now so maybe Daddy Yankee and these dudes could take Reggaeton to the level that has longevity like Reggae music and all other types of music that’s not Hip-Hop.
AllHipHop.com: What’s up with your album?
Capone: The album is called Pain Time And Glory. I don’t know what people think of Capone as an artist. I know what people think of me as a n***a in the streets, but when you hear this album you’re going to respect me as an artist. You’re going to feel good in the way the CD [feels] to you and I’m going to feel good in the response Ima get. Every song on the album is an experience on its own. I got Scarface, Raekwon, Peedi Crakk, Akon, Bun B, Devin Da Dude on there, C-Murder.
AllHipHop.com: Can you get into the situation with you and Screw in New Jersey last year?
Capone: I can’t really talk about that situation, there’s an investigation pending on that. There’s basically a situation where we were at a comedy show where s**t got a little bit out of hand. This dude was acting a little shaky. Screw being the type of dude he is, he love his family and he considered me family. And if you’re family, you’re gonna go all out for your family. And he felt that we were in harmful situation, so he stood up. In he event of standing up, the opposition was prepared for the other opposition and my man Screw, rest in peace, got killed.
AllHipHop.com: How has that affected you?
Capone: Yo, that kind of f**ked me up. I’ve seen n***as get killed, I’ve been in shootouts, I’ve been in a lot of predicaments in life, that is one predicament that I can truly say that I hate talking about. I hate talking about that s**t. I can talk about getting shot, loosing my mom, but that situation is one situation that really gets under my skin.
