Kicking it with old friends and making new ones at the July Law and Order event. Presided over by a gavel-wielding “judge” to maintain order, provocative questions are asked as “ice-breakers” to enable people to know about others and themselves. It sounds serious, but it’s really fun.
Johnny G’s Creole Kitchen is a new restaurant on Beale that opened this spring. I haven’t tried it yet, although my best friend Tune says it’s good. They certainly have a cool sign!
“It’s what Austin is known for on the urban side of things,” says Mr. Greezo of the League of Extraordinary Gz. He’s talking on the phone about Texas Relays weekend, the annual spring athletic event that brings thousands of people from around the state to Austin, many of whom happen to be young African-Americans looking to socialize.
This year, his group is participating in the inaugural Texas Legends Showcase, an event that aims to cater to the urban audience the Texas Relays draw. The showcase, which opens tonight and continues Friday, Saturday and Sunday, includes everything from a freestyle rap contest to a nightly entertainment roster heavy with recognized rap talent from Houston and Austin.
Eight members deep, The League of Extraordinary Gz is an amalgamation of three solid local hip-hop groups, C.O.D., Dred Skott and SouthBound.
They blend gritty street poetry with club bangers and startlingly soulful playas anthems tightly laced with Southern harmonies so seductive you might miss some of the borderline offensive subtext.
We hit Greezo up for his thoughts on the ATX hip-hop scene, SXSW and what to expect from this weekend’s performance.
Music Source: You’ve been on the Austin hip-hop scene for a minute now, how have you observed it evolving?
Mr. Greezo: This year is probably the best year for the Austin hip-hop scene. As far different representations, now it’s better than it’s ever been.
How would you compare the local scene to Houston or Dallas?
I believe that Austin has the potential to be bigger than those scenes as far as talent alone. But what Austin lacks that those other cities have is the casual fan. There are people in Austin who are really dope that do music but it seems like the majority of people who know about them are other artists. It’s not too many casual fans who know about the League of Extraordinary Gz versus in Houston (people) who know about Chamillionaire or Slim Thugg. I believe a lot of it has to do with this city’s reputation as the live music capital, aka musicians play music, as opposed to hip hop. So you can be an indie rock group in Austin and have four or five thousand Austin fans who come see you each week and buy your merch and CDs and stuff and you can survive like that, but as far as hip hop goes that’s not gonna happen. I’m not saying that the casual fan isn’t out there because they are; it’s just letting people know that there’s legitimate hip-hop artists here who have talent and who are professionals about this so we can be taken in a professional light.
How was your SXSW showcase?
Aw, man it was awesome. Those are the times that let me know that Austin has potential, because we’re a local group, we’re not signed, but we packed out our venue. We got good reviews. It was a lot of our fans, but it was a lot of new casual fans that came and saw us perform and that was really good as far as letting me know where we can go.
What can people expect from your show on Saturday?
We’re definitely gonna do music for the Texas Relays crowd. We’re gonna party and we’re just gonna have a good time. When people come to our shows they can expect a lot of energy. They can expect a lot of jammin’ music. They can expect a lot of pretty girls in the crowd. It’s a good atmosphere and a good party and they can definitely expect it not to be any sort of bs going on. We let people know off the rip, leave that at the house. Don’t bring that negativity to what we’re doing. And it’s always successful.
The Texas Legends shows are all at Easy Tiger, 709 East Sixth St.; cover is $20 a night. The League of Extraordinary Gz play Saturday night on a bill with Houston’s KB from Street Military.
Al Kapone f/ 211, Kingpin Skinny Pimp & SMK “Down Muthafuckas” (1992, Alcatraz Productions)
The story of of Alphonso Bailey, better known as Al Kapone (and prior to that, Ska-face Al Kapone), is in many ways the story of the rise of Memphis rap music over the past two decades.
Fittingly, Kapone’s career began at what has been defined as the “big bang” moment of Memphis rap: the release of Radical T’s Radical But Critical, the first record from the bubbling scene to be distributed nationally, in 1991. Kapone, credited as “MC AL”, appeared on the opening track entitled “Two Rapping Young Brothers”, his pitched drawl evoking a southern Eazy E. (The record would also launch the career of Eightball, as well.)
The following year, Kapone broke out on his own, easily settling into the uncompromising rhyme style popularized by his contemporaries from Compton, on Street Knowledge Ch: 1-12. The LP, powered by a decidedly g-funk sound and gangsta rhymes, was characteristic of underground rap beyond New York City at the time. However, it also possessed a weirdness beyond its rebellious spirit, exemplified both in sample choices by SMK — the distorted electric guitar stabs in “For Ya Bad Ass Kids” is more Def Jam than Ruthless, while “Down Muthafuckas” features a disembodied, new wave-y voice for the chorus — and in the bizarrely sentimental “Concerto For A Dead Brother”, a 0:53 instrumental played on a harpischord, which closes the record.
In 1994, Kapone put out two full-lengths, one on his own Outlaw Records, entitled Pure Ghetto Anger, and another on the independent Basix Music, who also put out records by Kingpin Skinny Pimp and The Barkays, entitled Sinista Funk. Both records were well cut g-funk, heavy on the low-end bounce and lyrical aggression, but standout due to Capone’s smooth hustler ethos and early “buck” tendencies, such as on Ghetto Anger’s ”Round After Round”.
Sometime after the release of 1995’s Da Resurrection, Kapone signed a deal with Gangsta Pat’s legendary On The Strength Records, but his career seemed to stall. However, in 1997 Kapone was contacted by E-40 to contribute a track to the compilation he was working on with B-Legit, called Southwest Riders, and the seeds of a friendship, and later, business relationship, were sown.
“Ain’t Fuckin’ Around” appeared on the compilation credited to “Ska-face Al Kapone” (a moniker he later dropped due to confusion with Scarface of the Geto Boys), and Kapone headed out West to produce his Memphis To The Bombed Out Bay compilation, that was released in 1998 on his own Alcatraz Dope Muzik label. The compilation fused Kapone’s long-standing affinity for g-rap with the source material, and featured appearances from Cellski and DJ Squeeky. After the release of his compilation, Kapone crossed paths with 40 again, hooking up with the Vallejo artist’s Sick Wid It camp, and preparing his first solo record in close to 5 years, Goin All Out. According to Kapone, the record was completed in 1999, but dealings with Def Jam (which ultimately proved fruitless) delayed the record’s release until 2002*.
During the ensuing years, Kapone returned to his independent roots, pushing his own talent, the Alcatraz Ridaz, and a series of mixtapes called Memphis Drama. He also hooked up with Kingpin Skinny Pimp and The Jerk for Memphis Untouchables in 2003. However, it was until two years later, in 2005, when mainstream success found Al Kapone.
At the time, Craig Brewer, a filmmaker and director, was developing a movie that focused on the life of a Memphis hustler trying to build a career in rap music (seemingly in response to the surge in popularity of southern rap music among the mainstream rap audience). Brewer attempted to reach out to DJ Paul to have him contribute the lead single to the “Hustle & Flow” soundtrack, but instead mistakenly ended up talking to Kapone, who he confused for the Three 6 producer. Upon learning of the mistake, Brewer asked Kapone to submit tracks for the score, anyway, and three of Kapone’s records make the cut, including the film’s buck anthem, “Whoop That Trick”.
The massive popularity of the film and its soundtrack opened new doors for Kapone, including a writing partnership with Lil Jon that resulted in “Snap Yo Fingers” as well as appearances on E-40’s first post-Jive record, My Ghetto Report Card, and the soundtrack to Brewer’s next film, “Black Snake Moan”.
Following (and often driving) the trajectory of the Memphis underground, Kapone began with a relentless work ethic, and word-of-mouth, trunk-to-trunk distribution, before elbowing his way into the spotlight. From the inflection point of Radical But Critical, through cassette culture, and onto chart success and silverscreen immortality, the tale of Memphis rap simply can’t be told without Al Kapone, and very likely, would look quite different without him.
-SM
*During this negotiation period, Kapone did contribute a verse to the track “Doin’ The Fool” on 40’s Loyalty and Betrayal.
Back in the summer of 1991, when I was hanging out with a lot of fellow UT-Martin students who lived at Gainsville just outside of Mason, a local festival gave me the excuse to be down on the Lower End taking pictures. I had almost forgotten that I had them. I even got a picture of the legendary Club Tay-May, which burned to the ground not long after.
UPDATED: Tay-May was the big club in Mason, and had existed in several different locations, the last one being the one pictured here. Since it could hold hundreds, it routinely featured artists like Johnnie Taylor and Little Milton, and was rumored to be the place where Rufus Thomas invented the Funky Chicken! I will always be sad that I never went inside it.
