Cappo – “ITO” review

Nottingham, East Midlands, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Cappo concluding the CAPStone trilogy with his 10th studio LP. Known for being 1/2 of Oblique Strategies & 1/3 of VVV, he also has all 9 of his previous full-lengths as well as 8 extended plays & a mixtape under his belt over the course of his career spanning a quarter of a century. Coming off both the S.T.A.R.V.E. (Striving To Achieve Real Values Everywhere) EP & his previous album Houses however, ITO looks to complete the 15 month saga.

The self-produced title track opens up taking some instrumentally kinda has a psychedelic rock vibe to it taking about becoming a scholar reporting from a foreign ground whereas “White” takes a groovier approach to the beat building a step-by-step booklet for others to get their hands on. Sam Zircon gives “Perquod” a cavernous boom bap atmosphere that I really dig making sure weak links are broken off the chain & forgotten leading into “Red” produced by King Kashmere talking about him setting shit ablaze.

“Greene” nears the halfway point of ITO discussing how lyrics keep his mind full & his body solid over some pianos while “Frost” kicks off the 2nd half hopping over a spaciously drumless instrumental looking to leave a set of 4 walls. “Gold” embraces a higher form of lexicon over a funky Dr. Zygote beat while “X” likens himself to the late Malcolm X himself in the sense of being a dangerous force & talks about the fact that he never migrated.

The oldest AEW TNT Champion, former ROH World Tag Team Champion, ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Champion, NWA World Tag Team Champion, 3-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 2-time WWE United States Champion, 5-time WWE tag team champion & 7-time WWE Hardcore Champion Dustin Rhodes gets referenced at the beginning of “Z” sampling “Where I’m From” by JAY-Z while the synth-laced “Berry” talks about leaving something behind when he dies. “Glaze” spends the final minutes of ITO staying committed to metronomes.

Taking the abstract themes & temporally linear narrative that respectively made S.T.A.R.V.E. (Striving To Achieve Real Values Everywhere) & Houses so impressive to me, ITO combines aspects of both it’s predecessors acting as a conceptual thread that links together each piece of the CAPStone trilogy & Cappo gives the audience their own choice of either listening to it as an introduction &/or a conclusion to this arc spanning over an entire year in addition to his ripping the series’ strongest set of production to shreds with his deep lyricism.

Score: 4/5

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Cappo – “Houses” review

Here is the 9th studio LP from Nottingham, East Midlands, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Cappo. Known for being 1/2 of Oblique Strategies & 1/3 of VVV, he also has all 8 of his previous full-lengths as well as 8 extended plays & a mixtape under his belt over the course of his career spanning a quarter of a century. S.T.A.R.V.E. (Striving To Achieve Real Values Everywhere) came out 8 months earlier conceptually building itself around the idea of isolation & Houses looks to mark a new chapter in the CAPStone trilogy.

The self-produced “Ghosts” asks whether one would blame him for his flaws or stay with him if he bared his soul whereas “Lyfe” produced by Sam Zircon discusses laying wide awake after lying to himself & hibernating. “HMRC” recalls a letter he got from His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs when he was in the middle of cleaning his kid’s room just before “Neutral” drumlessly talks about needing a minute or 2 so he can weigh the options he has.

“Funeral” moves on from there explaining that the more we move backwards, the more we’ll dwell upon it leading into “Unborn Seed” pens an open letter to an embryonic sibling to our protagonist’s children who would’ve looked similar to either his son or daughter. “Will We?” ends the 1st leg of Houses on some psychedelic trap vibes combining hi-hats & a pitched vocal sample suggesting to say how you really feel when the chance comes while “Sessy Lu” talks about trying to keep tabs of wheee he came from.

The 2nd half of the album continues with “Undigested Sweetcorn” incorporating a woodwind instrumental discussing him being free to focus on his intellect without any mental burdens getting in the way of it & after “Forces” talks about trying to shake off the pessimistic negatives he’s experience throughout his life, “Sprt Lvls” brings some ominous keyboards in the picture looking to move quickly due to him running out of time.

“Solitaire” pushes further towards the conclusion of Houses returning to the boom bap talking about prioritizing his own steez & him not co-signing anyone for money while “Lay Your Head Down” talks about him accepting that he & a polar opposite will forever be strangers to each other. The closing track “While You Sleep” brings Sam Zircon behind the boards 1 last time assuring a loved one who’s asleep that he’ll always be there for them.

Houses leaps 2 decades forward from it’s predecessor telling the story of a working-class early-middle-aged father of 2 struggling to come to terms with the societal restrictions, conformities & benefits of fatherhood in addition to making some commentary on the state of contemporary British society as opposed to continuing S.T.A.R.V.E. (Striving To Achieve Real Values Everywhere)’s portrayals of alienation informed by other depictions of the issue.

Score: 4/5

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Cappo – “S.T.A.R.V.E. (Striving To Achieve Real Values Everywhere)” review

This is the 9th extended play from Nottingham, East Midlands, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Cappo. Known for being 1/2 of Oblique Strategies & 1/3 of VVV, he also has all 8 of his previous EPs as well as 8 full-length studio LPs & a mixtape under his belt over the course of his career spanning a quarter of a century. Kong the Artisan had fully produced Canon several months earlier & has been S.T.A.R.V.E. (Striving To Achieve Real Values Everywhere) since, handling a majority of the beats by himself.

“Jar” opens up with this cavernous instrumental with some pianos comparing life to a sample & talking about how he used to bottle up his dreams back then whereas “Drip” atmospherically describes a power struggle he’s been feeling within himself. After the “Terrence III: Void” interlude, the self-produced “Wi(n)dow” embraces a boom bap sound needing a clean break from all the bullshit leading into the “Terrence II” interlude.

Kicking off the 2nd half, “Strongbow” brings some creepy piano chords in the picture talking about only being at peace when he’s asleep just before “Slow Poison” produced by Sam Zircon describes becoming acquainted with the night. After the “Terrence” interlude, the outro “Writeful Owner” concludes S.T.A.R.V.E. (Striving To Achieve Real Values Everywhere) asking how he’d look giving up everything to a wolf in sheep’s skin.

Using books like Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison or movies such as Jacob’s Ladder for inspiration, Cappo conceptually builds the inaugural entry of the CAPStone trilogy S.T.A.R.V.E. (Striving To Achieve Real Values Everywhere) around a working-class man’s mental health rapidly declining caused by an addiction to drug & alcohol along with the breakdown of a long-term relationship emphasizing the realization of isolation inherently being equally pervasive & collective as it is individual.

Score: 4/5

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