Darryl “Cappadonna”
Hill released his fourth solo album, The Cappatilize Project, in 2008, four
years after his previous effort, The Struggle, floundered about in the
underground. This was quite the downshift from where the man was just a few
years prior: as one of two acts signed to The RZA’s Razor Sharp Records (the
other being Ghostface Killah) that ever managed to release albums, Cappadonna
was moving tons of units (his debut, The Pillage, sold over five hundred
thousand copies in the United States alone), was touring with the Wu-Tang Clan,
and was basically on top of the world.
So what the
fuck happened? Why did he vanish from the mainstream for so long? Short version:
money troubles. Slightly longer version: money troubles caused by The RZA.
Allegedly.
(Although if more than one person has made the claim, there's likely some truth to it, right?)
Perennial weed carrier-slash-gypsy cab driver Cappadonna may have exceeded the expectations of those of his ilk, as he is officially considered to be the tenth member of the Wu-Tang Clan, a late addition spurred by his solid, if not scene-stealing, appearances on tracks by Wu generals Raekwon and Ghostface Killah. Hell, the group's ringleader, The RZA, liked him so much that he helped the man release his debut album, The Pillage, on Razor Sharp Records (a label I understand he recently RZArected (I see what I did there), although the only act signed at the moment appears to be Nathaniel, that crooner that contributed heavily into fucking up A Better Tomorrow). Which isn't a big deal, except for the fact that Cappadonna released his own solo record before Inspectah Deck and Masta Killa, and even has its share of hardcore fans, at least given the weird amount of sudden interest in The Pillage on my blog's page views.
However, as karmic comeuppance for his short-lived success, he gets absolutely slaughtered on his own song by U-God. Fucking U-God. And this was before Golden Arms started taking his pen game more seriously (read: Dopium, The Keynote Speaker).
Fucking 1998 U-God.
I suppose he never really had a chance, though. "Supa Ninjaz", the fifth track on The Pillage, just so happens to contain a verse from Lucky Hands that is, in my humble opinion, the best he's ever done, hands down, no bullshit, followed closely by a Method Man contribution that shines like the goddamn sun, as he promised that his second album "T2: Judgement Day" was coming (it hit store shelves seven months later, albeit with the title Tical 2000: Judgement Day, but he was close, for fuck's sake) while reminding both hip hop heads and critics alike that the dude could be fucking nice when he gave a shit, and Method Man is nothing if not a team player.
True Master's instrumental uses its hard-hitting drums to grab your attention, while Baby Uey and Johnny Blaze chant "rock your body, body" during the intro, which I know sounds dumb as hell when you read it, but trust me, this shit works. Too well, in my opinion: it lulls you into a false sense of security, one which U-God rips to shreds with his opening verse, possibly the first time I ever thought the guy had actually earned his spot in the Wu-Tang Clan.
There is no personal backstory here: I discovered this track during my first listen of The Pillage, which I had picked up from a Circuit City (remember those? I kind of miss them) the day of its release. (I also remember stopping at a Burger King on the way home that day, in case you care about such details.) The Pillage dropped at a time when I felt the Wu could do no wrong: even their misfires had many jewels hidden within them, I wholeheartedly believed as a lifelong stan. Obviously, I was proven wrong with the march of time there, but "Supa Ninjaz" stands firm amongst the better Wu-Tang posse cuts in hip hop history.
Also, I like Cappadonna's verse. Not as much as the others, but the track still bangs.
Do you agree or disagree with this selection? Discuss below.
I have to say, I was pretty excited about the free sticker promised on the album cover of Cappadonna's third full-length effort, The Struggle. The bar code printed on the front is also pretty classy. You would never see shit like that on an album released by a major label. Then again, at this point in his career Darryl Hill was no longer with a major label: hell, his status within the realm of Wu-Tang Clan affiliates was debatable.
After the dismal failure of the shitstorm that was The Yin & The Yang, Cappadonna and Wu-Tang leader The Rza had a falling out: Cappa felt that he was shorted some money, and Prince Rakeem thought that Darryl took left turns too dangerously in his gypsy cab. After bouncing from underneath the Wu umbrella, Cappadonna found himself signed to Code Red Entertainment, the vanity label for Wu-Tang affiliate-slash-enemy of Cilvaringz Remedy, who, rumor has it, only became a part of the Wu because his dad was The Rza's lawyer. No, really, that's the rumor. I didn't make that up.
Cappadonna's third album, The Struggle, was the result of all of this turmoil. Unsurprisingly, there is no work from The Rza behind the boards: it seems that the only Wu-Element that showed any sort of compassion was 4th Disciple, who handed over one of his castoffs in a quiet manner. Inspectah Deck and Raekwon, who also had their own issues with their boss at that time, also made brief appearances in the studio, but the majority of the project features cameos from lower-level weed carriers, some of whom with names that you may actually recognize. Otherwise, The Struggle is essentially as far from a Wu-Tang solo record that anybody can get.
I think it's safe to say that I have extremely low expectations for this shit.
1. INTRO Nope, Cappadonna isn't full of himself at all.
2. CAP IS BACK I highly doubt that the “bitches in the club” and “the thugs over there” (over where? Be more specific, dammit!) gave a flying fuck about the whereabouts of the best-dressed gypsy cab driver in New York. (Well, maybe the “bitches” cared, because that would be one of the safest ways for them to get home after a drunken night out.) Calogero (who?) provides a beat which attempts a celebratory Cappa-as-professional-wrestler-entering-the-arena vibe, but it doesn't gel, and our host sounds as if this was his very first time in the booth. You know, if you're going to continue to capitalize off of the Wu-Tang brand, you may as well actually use some of their trademark sounds and styles. That's advice for all of the Wu-Tang b-teamers out there.
3. ROLE OF A LIFETIME (FEAT SOLOMON CHILDS) This one works a bit better. Calogero's instrumental actually sounds slightly Wu-esque, and Cappadonna sounds so bad that he rounds the bend back into “decent” territory. (My theory is that Cappa used up all of his good ideas in a single verse on Ghostface Killah's “Winter Warz” and, to a much lesser extent, on his own debut The Pillage: how else can one explain The Yin & The Yang?) I'm not saying this shit is actually good, mind you: it's merely passable. Sometimes you take whatever you can get.
4. BLOOD BROTHERS (FEAT LOUNGE MODE) On which Cappadonna transforms the spelling of his rap nickname into a description of pissing into somebody's mouth. I don't even need to tell you about Lounge Mode's guest verse for you to understand that this song is awful, but I will anyway: I wasn't impressed, and I now understand why Rza (allegedly) shorted our host in his paychecks; with this rhyme style, Cappadonna clearly wasn't writing his own lyrics back in the day. (Yeah, I'm starting that rumor.)
5. MAMMA (SKIT) ...
6. MAMMA Cappa's ode to his mother should be a sweet break amidst the wave of misogynistic and violent tales that The Struggle consists of, but I get the feeling that the man didn't have much to say. He repeats the first few bars as a makeshift chorus without any warning, falsely stretching out the track, which still ranks among the shortest on the album. His mother must be so angry that her son felt she only warranted a half-assed tribute.
7. DO IT - PUSH An odd commercial attempt (which reminds me of U-God's “Bizarre”) that doesn't entirely fail, thanks to the Soulfingaz beat, which is better than Cappadonna deserves (save for the randomly placed air horn). For his part, Donna rhymes about absolutely nothing, and he actually left me wishing that U-God would make a surprise cameo. Yeah, that's how bad Cappa's lyrics were. Also, the title sucks.
8. GET AWAY FROM THE DOOR (FEAT INSPECTAH DECK) I used to rank Inspectah Deck as one of the best spitters in the Clan. He was right up there with Gza/Genius and Ghostface Killah (I love Raekwon and Method Man, too, but their actual rhymes couldn't compare to this holy trinity in my book back then). I even liked Uncontrolled Substance when it dropped, probably a lot more than I should have. So to hear him reduced to hook duties with an overly wordy conundrum that makes no sense, while Cappadonna handles all the verses by his damn self, is the sound of a tree falling in the woods when nobody is around to hear it.
9. MONEY, CASH, FLOWS (FEAT CRUNCH LO, LOUNGE MODE, & REMEDY) Given the actual hook, I can only assume that this song wasn't called “Money, Cash, Flows, & Bitches” in the hopes that some unsuspecting parent would, inexplicably, purchase a Cappadonna album for their kid. The shots fired at Roc-A-Fella Records (which I guess is unsurprising, given the title's relative closeness to Jay-Z's “Money, Cash, Hoes”) were an interesting touch, but given the fact that absolutely nobody responded, it's safe to say that Shawn Carter doesn't listen to Cappa and his cronies. Wouldn't it be kind of funny if Hova responded to Cappadonna after reading on a blog that he dissed him back in 2003? I know, right?
10. I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU Cappadonna asking the audience if they remember him from Raekwon's classic song about sucking on the breasts of promiscuous women from many races (also known as “Ice Cream”) was a bad move: you may as well ask them to directly compare The Struggle's Cappa to the days when he actually turned in quality work. Obviously, this song is pretty bad, or else I would have written something else. Cappadonna, I don't even know you anymore.
11. MAKE MONEY MONEY (SKIT) ...
12. SEASON OF DA 'VICK (FEAT LOUNGE MODE) I can think of many reasons of why you two should skip this track, if anybody ever chose to listen to The Struggle after reading this review, but, unfortunately for me, this song isn't actually all that bad. It's certainly not good, but Cappa's second verse was actually kind of clever, and special guest star Lounge Mode wasn't bad, either.
13. KILLA KILLA HILL (FEAT RAEKWON) Cappadonna takes our collective memory of the Wu-Tang Clan classic “C.R.E.A.M.” and takes a huge sloppy shit all over it. Although Raekwon, the sleeping giant (and one of the stars of “C.R.E.A.M.”) spits a verse, you shouldn't be fooled into thinking that this kind of blasphemy is okay. Some things are best left alone, Cappa: rappers should be more creative than this, but we all know how well that's been going as of late.
14. BROKEN GLASS I believe Cappadee (as he refers to himself on here) was trying to record a serious song over this Quasi beat, something informing listeners of the irony of living life when everything and everybody is working against you, but he fails miserably. And then he yells at you for a good ten seconds at the end. Because that's entertaining.
15. POWER TO THE PESO (FEAT LOUNGE MODE, SOLOMON CHILDS, & WIGS) Mizza's instrumental wasn't that bad, and Lounge's verse was actually really good on this posse cut. But someone forgot to inform Oh Donna that he shouldn't surround himself with artists that can all outdo him behind the mic, especially when he's the star of the show.
16. LIFE OF A LESBO This rant is ridiculous and unfocused. First, Cappa seems to be talking shit about lesbiand in general, but then, in the second verse, he brags about fucking them anyway. I'm not sure what he was aiming for here, but if there was a single lesbian who gave a damn about what this jackass had to say, GLAAD would have a fucking field day. Since The Struggle sold less than zero copies, I suppose same-sex pairings are still safe, but listeners should still be made aware of Cappa's ancient views.
17. PAIN IS LOVE (FEAT LOUNGE MODE & SOLOMON CHILDS) It's sad to think that all of these guys believed themselves to be comparable to the Wu-Tang Clan when they spit their verses on this posse cut. Lightning rarely strikes twice in the same spot, unless it's deliberately aiming for Cappa's hat.
18. SHOW (SKIT) ...
19. MY KINDA BITCH I was really hoping for a reimagining of Heather B. and M.O.P.'s “My Kinda N---a”, and, surprisingly, that's kind of what this is. It isn't nearly as good, though. Cappadee runs out of lyrics toward the middle, and starts to repeat himself over this interesting D.A. beat, until he tells us that his kinda bitch is the type of girl who holds his dick for hil when he pisses. Is this something that guys actually want? Because I consider that to be my time. And besides, what kind of girl is going to want to be with a guy who is too lazy to hold his own dick when he pisses? If he can't even be bothered to do that properly, how do you think he's going to treat you?
20. WE GOT THIS (FEAT LOUNGE MODE, PIKE, & REMEDY) No, they most certainly do not, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that they gave it their all. Better luck next time, fellas.
21. STRUGGLE WITH THIS (FEAT KING JUST) For what is ostensibly the centerpiece of The Struggle (albeit one that is inexplicably placed at the end of the album), Cappadonna fails to again with his halted bars that refuse to acknowledge the presence of a rhythm. However, his guest, King Just, completely rips shit, so this isn't a total waste of your time. Still, I expected better. I mean, he essentially named the album after this very song!
“Stuggle With This” leads into the following bonus tracks after a brief moment of silence.
BONUS TRACK 1 After a wack freestyle, Cappadee brings us a song about ending a relationship, one which was, apparently, not good enough to appear within the tracklisting. Strangely, I actually bought the emotion in his voice on here, versus anywhere else on The Struggle. Cappa isn't Ghostface when it comes to emoting on wax (why Ghostface Killah isn't considered an emo rapper these days is a mystery to me, unless it's a race thing, in which case a whole other can of worms has been opened), and the minimalist beat on here is boring as shit, but he gives it his best shot.
BONUS TRACK 2 The final song on The Struggle features Cappadonna actually singing on the hook. While this has happened before (on Remedy's “Girlfriend”, most notably), that's all you really need to know about this track. And, just like that, he was gone.
FINAL THOUGHTS: If you thought that The Yin & The Yang was a piss-poor effort from Cappadonna, then you'll be much more appalled with The Struggle, which makes its predecessor sound like fucking Liquid Swords. Cappadonna doesn't even try on this album, relying on (mostly) predictably bad beats and his guests to carry his performance for him, and that shit just doesn't fly. This is a bloated, self-important, and terrible piece of work, and yes, I realize that very description can be used for most any crappy rap album, but it absolutely fits here. If I were The Rza, I would demand that Cappa stick with driving cabs and stop using the Wu-Tang's name in vain. But that's just me. I can't believe this jackass is actually considered to be the tenth member of the Wu: that shit just blows my mind.
BUY OR BURN? If you've read this far, you don't need to ever listen to this album. Your life is somehow more complete without it. But since most of the HHID readers don't really care about the WU-Tang Clan b-teamers anyway, you probably haven't read this far, so I'll end on a completely unrelated tangent: Has anybody else read how convicted domestic abuser Chris Brown is pissed that some major retailers won't carry his album? And has anybody else noticed that the song he wrote about Rihanna is all about how he can't believe that she broke his heart? Last time I checked, you tried to break her face. You tried to transform her, but it didn't take. Chris Brown can go fuck himself. That is all.
Earlier today, I was driving from work, and one of the local stations that does a "Flashback Fridays" program focused on what they consider to be hip hop. I heard a little bit of D-Nice, Biggie ("Juicy" is standard protocol whenever your radio station decides to play "old school" hip hop in 2008, because everyone who listened to hip hop when "Juicy" was released is now considered old...insert disgusted face here), Das EFX's "Real Hip Hop" (not the Pete Rock remix...insert sad face here), a bizarre remix that I had never heard of for SWV's "You're The One" which utilized an interpolation of GangStarr's "DWYCK" (and even included a Greg Nice sample from that song in the hook, even though it didn't make sense: the sample was the "Greg N-I, Greg Greg N-I, Greg Greg N-I-C-E", which I'm sure we'll agree is actually a pretty interesting vocal sample to clear), and the last song I heard was, of all things, Snow's "Informer". I remember this song being a big hit in whatever year it was released, and I found it hilarious that the lyrics were so indecipherable that MTV eventually had to air a retooled version of its video with the lyrics on screen, in a "follow the bounding ball/karaoke" format. And damned if I have to admit that it was catchy, if not completely stupid.
Why am I telling you this? Because it's all much more interesting than the story behind Cappadonna's sophomore effort, The Yin and The Yang, which is strange in and of itself, considering Cappa somehow inadvertently released the Album of the Century here. Am I being sarcastic? Read on to find out.
Oh good, you're still with me. Before resorting to driving a gypsy cab to pay for essentials like weed, porn, and fresh air, Cappadonna was considered to be a "big deal" around Wu-Tang Clan fans. His debut on Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (on "Ice Cream" and "Ice Water", which together don't mix well) was met with great enthusiasm, and his guest spots all over Ghostface's Ironman cemented his rep as someone that maybe you'll give a second look to if you walked past him on a crowded street and thought he was someone you used to know back in high school but aren't sure and even if it's not it would sure make a funny story to tell your spouse, right? Somehow, he convinced Wu-Tang mastermind/all around genius-slash-arrogant-ass The Rza to release his solo album, The Pillage, before discs from trusted Wu handymen like Inspectah Deck and Masta Killa, and the gamble worked: The Pillage sold over five hundred thousand copies, and not every one of them was picked up by his mother. So Epic, the home of Rza's imprint Razor Sharp Records (which would later go under, as Ghost would soon defect to The House That Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons Built, and Cappadonna is not sufficient enough to be the only guy signed to your label), had what is known in the music industry as a "no-brainer": a second album. This is where The Yin and The Yang comes in.
Now, the back-story around all of this bullshit is that the Wu-Tang Clan turned on Cappadonna immediately following the release of this album, since he allegedly brought in an undercover FBI informant as his manager or something, which certainly did not aid and abet the situation with the Wu B-Teamers running guns in Ohio or some shit. (Allegedly, of course: obviously, there's more to this story, but I'm tired and lazy.) It just so happens that Cappadonna, after chowing down on some Ego Flakes, thought so highly of himself that he was convinced that he could actually make a career without any help from The Rakeem. (Sure, Rza' s name appears as Executive Producer, but so did Shawn Carter's name on Method Man's 4:21...The Day After.) As such, no production from The Rza, who was probably too busy conducting a digital orchestra somewhere anyway. Ironically, The Yin and The Yang features the most diverse Wu-affiliates collaborations I've seen since The Rza's first Bobby Digital album.
And then...
1. THE GRITS (FEAT 8-OFF) 8-Off, who also produced this track, comes off okay enough for a guy that is probably only known these days for that song that pops up on the radio station while you're aimlessly driving through Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto III.
2. SUPER MODEL (FEAT GHOSTFACE KILLAH) I have the feeling that Ghost and Rae only appear on this album because they're the two jackasses that vouched for Oh Donna during the "FBI Informant" incident; this may account for why none of the other core members comes within one hundred feet of this project (although Inspectah Deck somehow sold Cappa a beat...hey, anything to keep the lights on, right?) Don't get too excited, though: Ghostface is only on the hook, but even so, this song doesn't completely suck.
3. WAR RATS This song is the only one that Cappadonna does by himself. Apparently, this was once called "Star Wars", but the title was altered for no real reason; the last time I checked, George Lucas doesn't give a fuck about a "Cappadonna".
4. BREAD OF LIFE (FEAT KILAH PRIEST & NEONEK) How in the hell was Killah Priest blackmailed into participating on a Cappadonna album?! The beat, provided by Neonek, sounds like the instrumental for Killarmy's "The Shootout", except with more instruments layered on top.
5. LOVE IS THE MESSAGE (FEAT RAEKWON) I seem to recall hearing this song at least two years before this album was ever announced. Coincidentally, I've always liked it, but obviously that would be due to the Chef's involvement.
6. WE KNOW (FEAT JERMAINE DUPRI & DA BRAT) I'm sure that even Oh Donna questions the inclusion of this fucking gawdawful horrendous shit storm of a track. In all fairness, Jermaine Dupri co-produced Jay-Z's "Fallin'", which I loved from American Gangster, so he is capable of occasionally bringing some heat to the table. That said: Cappadonna, what the fuck?
7. SHAKE DAT (FEAT JAMIE SOMMERS) Two attempts at a "bounce" track in a row? The hell?
8. BIG BUSINESS (FEAT CRUNCH & SHYHEIM) "I'm going all out/I love trout". I read on someone's blog recently that Cappadonna had been officially offered the tenth slot in the Wu-Tang Clan. Obviously, it can't be due to his "raw lyricism". Maybe he bakes one hell of a pecan pie?
9. REVENGE (FEAT TIMBO KING) The most Wu-sounding song here. I'm sure that the involvement of Inspectah Deck (behind the boards) and Timbo King (from Royal Fam) help matters here.
10. ONE WAY 2 ZION (FEAT CULTURE) Meh.
The following is an unlisted bonus track:
11. SAVE THE CHILDREN (FEAT CULTURE) Better than the last song that features Culture, but don't kid yourself, it's not by much.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Like I said above, Album of the Century. Which is a nice euphemism for "The Yin and The Yang sucks, but doesn't suck balls". Cappadonna's lyricism had already fallen off at this point, so it will be no surprise when I tell you that his rhymes could have been spit by a classroom of fourth-graders with more effectiveness, and yet I would rather listen to this album than to any of U-God's solo work. Why is that, you ask? Well, you, the beats, for the most part, are surprisingly decent, and the guests uniformly outshine the star attraction, even Ghostface, who only raps a fucking hook, for God's sake! Here's a fun project: Someone should delete all of Cappadonna's lyrics (and the entirety of "We Know", because, well, come on), and give the newly decapitated (Ha! I didn't even mean for that to come out funny!) tracks to someone else in Theodore Unit. This might have made for a better than decent debut for Shawn Wigs, for example. And yes, I realize I'm stretching a bit.
BUY OR BURN? Do you have to ask? Burn this shit. Although you could live a long and fulfilling life without ever having heard this album, but that would be your call.
Darryl Hill, known to his birth parents as Cappadonna Fitzpatrick, was groomed by the Wu-Tang Clan to be its unofficial tenth member. A memorable appearance on Raekwon's "Ice Cream" and his scene-stealing twelve-hour-long verse on Ghostface Killah's "Winter Warz" had cemented his deal with The Rza's Epic Records imprint, Razor Sharp Records (which was also home to Ghostface at the time). Cappadonna also enjoyed his time in the spotlight as the primary guest star on Wu-Tang Forever, the double-disc group effort. The stars seemed to align for Darryl Hill, and massive record sales were all but guaranteed.
However, The Rza's five-year plan culminated with Wu-Tang Forever, which came out a year prior to The Pillage, Cappa's first solo outing. As should be expected, The Pillage did not contain wall-to-wall Rza production. Also, Cappadonna seemed to have been adopted by only a few of the other Clan members, namely Rae, Ghost, and Method Man; the other members (apparently) could give a fuck about him. You will notice later in the review that Ol' Dirty Bastard, Gza/Genius, Masta Killa, and Inspectah Deck are nowhere to be found on The Pillage. Combine these facts with the knowledge that Cappadonna's lyrical prowess seemed to have peaked with "Winter Warz" (his Forever contributions were often forgettable), and you have a Wu-affiliate that falls into the same trap as the rest of them; namely, he wasn't good enough to be on the A-team, and since U-God had already filled the role of weed and baggage handler for the core group, there wasn't much else for him to do.
Although it should be noted that Cappadonna clearly had a much bigger budget to work with than, say, Killah Priest or the Wu-Syndicate. But I digress...
1. SLANG EDITORIAL Cappa tries to start the show on the right foot, including much-needed kung-fu samples before the first, True Master-produced song kicks in. "Slang Editorial" was also the first single, and it tries too hard to sould like vintage Wu-Tang. It's not awful, but it comes off sounding like a Wu clone, which there were already plenty of in 1998.
2. PILLAGE (FEAT KILLA BAMZ) Killa Bamz, now better known as Solomon Childs, is in my opinion one of the better Wu-Tang C-teamers.
3. RUN The Rza had produced two different songs entitled "Run": one for Ghostface Killah (and featuring Jadakiss from The Lox) for The Pretty Toney Album, and this one. They don't share the same beat or anything; my guess is that Ghost realized this song sucked and felt that nobody would notice if he "borrowed" the song title for his far-superior track.
4. BLOOD ON BLOOD WAR (FEAT KILLA BAMZ) This is the song most people use to pinpoint the exact moment Cappadonna rhymed himself into obscurity. "Old special ed with the plate in my head / Bad bread, spare life / KKK on the mike / Power like thing of state / What!" I'm sorry, but what the fuck does that even mean? That's a rhetorical question, don't bother leaving comments; this just proves that Cappa, even with the Wu support and the bigger budget, had no real skills on the mic, and decided to string random words together like Kool Keith or Sadat X, or even Ghostface himself. The difference being, of course, that they're all better artists than Cappa could even wish to be.
5. SUPA NINJAZ (FEAT U-GOD & METHOD MAN) This song features, by no small margin, the motherfucking best verse U-God has ever recorded. Seriously. I don't know if U-God had a fantastic encounter with some groupie the night before, or if he was just in a good mood because The Rza hadn't smacked him with a rolled-up newspaper for not dipping his blunts in honey again, but U-God brought it on "Supa Ninjaz". Of course, Method Man out-raps him anyway, but since I mention repeatedly how much U-God sucks as a rapper, I felt it only fair to mention when he's actually great. Oh, and Cappa's on here, too.
6. MCF The Rza gave Cappa five beats, all of which may have been better handled by, oh, let's just say, Inspectah Deck. I mention Deck since he was supposedly the next one from the Clan to put out a solo debut, but for some reason, Rza fucked him over to give the buying public this plastic frisbee otherwise known as The Pillage. Cappa sounds like he's just freestyling in the booth, forcing phrases and ideas together as if trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole. And he sound slike this on every goddamn song. Sigh...
7. SPLISH SPLASH Oh, come on! Just by reading the title alone, you know this song's going to suck.
8. OH-DONNA (FEAT GHOSTFACE KILLAH) Tony Starks murders Cappa on his own shit. Which you should have expected; he is Ghostface Killah, after all.
9. MILK THE COW (FEAT METHOD MAN) Every beat on The Pillage is mixed down just enough to give a hint of grimy Wu-Tang flavor. However, I couldn't imagine any other Wu member rhyming on this instrumental. (Meth sticks with hook duties on here.)
10. SOUTH OF THE BORDER The beat, produced by True Master, is intriguing, but it's just not enough for me. The Pillage may sound great as an instrumental album. (Ultimate Wu plug!)
11. CHECK FOR A N---A Did Cappa just say that he "fuck(s) crazy vagina"? Wow, that was unnecessary. Just like The Pillage in general. Not to show my cards before you finish reading this review, but...
12. DART THROWING (FEAT RAEKWON & METHOD MAN) Johnny Blaze rips his second Pillage verse, and Raekwon brings out the Cuban Linx steez. Cappadonna, in comparison, brings his Fisher Price My First Timberlands out and sticks around for only about 16 bars (if that; I got so bored that I lost count).
13. YOUNG HEARTS (FEAT BLUE RASPBERRY) A good marketing trick many companies use tis to affix a brand name that most people recognize onto a new product, in an effort to bring in new customers. As if the Wu-Tang logo wasn't enough, Cappa brings Wu songstress Blue Raspberry out of seclusion, but that doesn't help this horrible song.
14. EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING (FEAT RHYME RECCA) Meh.
15. PUMP YOUR FIST (FEAT TEKITHA & KILLA BAMZ) Actually, this song features the best Rza track on The Pillage. Solomon Childs sounds great on here; almost makes me hope that he somehow obtains Rza tracks for his eventual solo effort. Tekitha, however, sounds awkward as a rapper, just like she did on the Bobby Digital project. Oh, and Cappa's on here, too, with his "vanglorious darts", which must be his way of saying "shitty rhyme flow".
16. BLACK BOY (FEAT TEKITHA) Why bother? It's not worth your time to hear this one anyway.
FINAL THOUGHTS: The Pillage is the hip hop equivalent of Evan Almighty: a spinoff project from a top-selling group where, even though a lot of the original talent returns to help, can't quite recreate the magic of the original. However, Darryl Hill is no Steve Carrell; Carrell will take his considerable talents into other projects and succeed, as Evan Almighty was just a misstep. Cappa, on the other hand, has just single handedly proven to me that he never deserved a solo record deal (he actually sounds better where he is now, as a sometimes-member of Ghostface's Theodore Unit), and should never have been considered as the tenth member of the Clan. Of course, allegations of bringing in an FBI informant under false pretenses into the Wu's employ wouls lead to Cappa being kicked out and being forced to drive a gypsy cab around New York as The Rza fucked him out of royalty payments anyway, but that's all backstory for another time.
BUY OR BURN? The Pillage is not worthy of your purchase. There are a handful of decent songs here, but they all feature other rappers outshining the main attraction. A burn is recommended, with caution, as the majority of this album sucks; at least, if you like both beats and rhymes, or music in general. If you hate rap music, you make find this album tolerable.
BEST TRACKS: "Supa Ninjaz"; "Dart Throwing"; "Oh-Donna"
