Tag: Onoe Caponoe

Onoe Caponoe – “Concrete Fantasia” review

This is the 5th full-length studio LP from London, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Onoe Caponoe. Introducing himself in the early 2010s off his debut mixtape Central Control as well as Willows Midnight Gallery & Holy Mountain, it wasn’t until The Staircase to Nowhere caught the attention of High Focus Records & made his full-length debut for the label with Voices from Planet Cattele during my senior year of high school. Spells from the Cyclops would continue Onoe’s evolution & Surf or Die has become the most celebrated work of his yet, coming off fighting the Invisible War for some Concrete Fantasia.

Zdechły Osa appears during the intro “Purple Haze” stylistically taking inspiration from the Memphis scene dropping bilingually hardcore lyricism in both English & Polish just before “Slayaz / Elf Island” lets off a rapid-fire flow until “Não Podes Fugir Do Teu Destino” by Hareton Salvanini gets sampled during the 2nd half. “Fifi (Mermaid Lagoon)” featuring Lil B goes for a boom bap vibe instrumentally thanks to Telemachus so they can spin out their minds together while “House on the Hill” works in this addicting flip for a 3 minute horror film of multiple different genres.

“Pet Cemetery” gives off an experimental trap atmosphere swinging his sword under the moonlight glow just before “The Cheshire Cat” shifts gears back in boom bap territory except there’s a groovy twist to it referencing Alice in Wonderland, asking why stay chase rabbits when they always fall down the darkest hole doing so. “Wipeout” treads the experimental trap waters once more dismantling anybody on the mic who has no game compared to him while the tread/hip house 2-parter “Afro Samurai / Quest”contemplates one another similarly to night & day.

After the “Cat Kingdom” interlude, “Magic Carpet” officially kicks off the 2nd half of Concrete Fantasia promising to make this woman his while the 2nd single “Pinnochio” featuring Jehst documents the many highs &inevitable lows of running the roads on an ill-fated quest to become a real boy. “The Horsemen” likens his pen-game to the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse while the 5th & final single “Ice King” combines cloud rap & plugg to talk about being colder than crystal storm on the twilight tundra.

“Cat in Oz” makes for a jazzy lead single finding himself unable to get sleep because of the witches outside his house while the 4th single “Heaven’s Gates” explores the spaces between reality & the spirit realm. “Outsiders” fuses cloud rap & boom bap for a shimmering lurker’s anthem but once “Psychosis City” suggests those who don’t know him to keep it lowkey, “Age of Aquarius” officially sends things off with a compositional outro clocking at almost 5 minutes in length.

Offering an alternate space for his fans to escape whilst still commenting on the highs & lows of city life, the newest entry of Onoe Caponoe’s discography sticks out to me as the greatest thing he’s done since Surf or Die & makes another example of why he’s amongst the UK’s finest hip hop artists today. The production creatively fuses the sounds of cloud rap, boom bap, jazz rap, experimental hip hop, trap & plugg for an hour long ride inside the mind of High Focus’ lyrically abstract enigma.

Score: 4/5

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Onoe Caponoe – “Surf or Die” review

Brand new album & the 3rd overall from London, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Onoe Caponoe. Introducing himself in the early 2010s off his debut mixtape Central Control as well as Willows Midnight Gallery & Holy Mountain, it wasn’t until The Staircase to Nowhere caught the attention of High Focus Records & made his full-length debut for the label with Voices from Planet Cattele during my senior year of high school. Spells from the Cyclops continued Onoe’s evolution & had me hoping Surf or Die.

After the introductory skit, the first song “Suicide City” begins with a mix of Bionic from the London Posse & early Pro Era kicking flows over a nostalgic boom bap beat whereas “Red Planet” goes for a more cloudy Memphis trap vibe inciting an intergalactic mosh pit. “Ms. Universe” feels instrumentally reminiscent of A Tribe Called Quest’s late 90s output telling the woman he’s been seeing that he can make the stars shine while “Blood Moon (City Hunt)” shifts treads the trap waters again discussing 169 coming through the back door.

“Valentine’s Massacre” returns the boom bap after the compositional “Carnival of Souls (Hypno Pop)” piece abstractly referencing the murder of seven members & associates of Chicago, Illinois’ notorious North Side Gang just before “Graveyard Funk” shows off a bit of a Bone-Thugs-n-Harmony influence with a Memphis twist to it. “Behind the Wall of Sleep” talks about the good living forever & bad croaking whenever their time comes leading into “Chop ‘Em Down (Mosh of the Dead)” featuring L-Zee Roselli ending the 1st half of Surf or Die with an aggressive crunk gangsta rap fusion.

After the “Last Bittersweet Moment” instrumental intermission, “Heathers” smokily recalls a woman he met during the summertime & getting far away from people together while “Spaceship Funk / Cat on the Roof” talks about being swerved out in our solar system ahead of the spoken word outro during the 2nd half. “Raincloud” brings some jazzy piano chords in the fold speaking hearing voices in the back of his head like the Harry Potterfranchise antagonist Voldemort while the trap-flavored “Phone Call” produced by Telemachus talks about stepping out engulfed in flames.

“Crazy Cat Coffee Party” takes inspiration from jazz rap once again flexing that he’s been high in the sky & there being nobody higher than him generally while “Yellow Brix” confesses to being afraid of changing. “Lost the Love” smoothly samples “Running Out of Time” by Rexy realizing his mind’s true potential & the final song “Cymatics” prior to the “Black Sun (Love’s Key)” outro jazzily leaves a trail of flames behind when it’s time for him to go off.

Capturing the turbulence within Onoe Caponoe’s life these past couple years, I have no doubts of Surf or Die being heralded as the greatest LP in his entire discography & amongst the top 5 projects throughout High Focus Records’ most for years to come. The prominent experimental hip hop direction of Spells from the Cyclops ventures further out in favor of boom bap, jazz rap, cloud rap, Memphis rap, trap & sound collage getting a lot more lyrically abstract than what he’s done previously.

Score: 4.5/5