Kid Capri will join dozens of Hip-Hop legends for Rock The Bells’ inaugural Hip-Hop Cruise in November. But before he can set sail, he has a lot of other work to finish. He’ll be at the second annual Rock The Bells festival on August 5 alongside LL COOL J, Queen Latifah, De La Soul and several other pillars of the culture. He’ll also be on the road, performing solo shows and producing music for other artists. Needless to say, the Hip-Hop veteran is a busy man. In 2022, he released his first solo album in nearly 30 years, The Love. Looking back, he tells AllHipHop what an incredible experience that was.
“It was amazing to make an album and not have to depend on the new hit producer or mainstream artist for it to be great,” he says. “I did it all myself, produced and written by me. With the help of my daughter Vina Love, reggae artist Mr. Lexx and R&B artist Lovel, I was able to put together a masterpiece album.”
As for working with his daughter, he adds, “She has been making records and videos before she got on my song, ‘Uptown,’ but ‘Uptown’ is her biggest song so far to date. She just put a new song out with Jackboy, so it was natural when she got on the song with me.”
Interestingly enough, Lil Pump’s Eminem diss actually fueled the creation of the album. In December 2020, the “Gucci Gang” rapper randomly targeted Slim Shady in one of his Instagram videos, saying, “Hey f*ck Eminem, you is lame as hell. Ain’t nobody listening to your old ass. You lame as f*ck, b*tch. I woke up on some bullsh*t. I’m back on my f*ck sh*t.”
“That was just one of the things that did inspire,” Capri said at the time. “I got tired of seeing the younger dudes thinking that the older people ain’t capable. Like we ain’t been here building this business from the ground up from day one. Sometimes, it is the truth. A lot of older people, they get out of touch. They don’t want the younger people to come in and do their thing, and it be just back and forth exchange.
“But when I watch Little Pump disrespect a dude that became the Elvis of Hip-Hop, this dude that sold millions and millions of records, created opportunities for so many people and is one of the greatest MCs on the planet, for him to just disrespect him like that, we losing our respect level.”
Kid Capri catapulted to international notoriety in the 1990s as the first DJ to appear on major television networks. Often heralded as “The Guru of Mixtapes,” his impact on Hip-Hop culture rivals that of any early architect.
