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Born September 18 1968 in Staten Island New York Cappadonna came to record with the group after a visit to
RZA’sStatenIsland[citationneeded] apartment-recording studio during the recording of Raekwon’s 1995 album Only Built 4 Cuban
Linx.Cappadonnavisited the studio duringthe recording of the song “Ice Cream,” and joked to RZA about him contributing a verseon it;
however, RZA decidedto take him seriously andallowed him to feature on the track. After appearing on “Ice Cream,” hewent on to appear on
another Cuban Linxtrack, “Ice Water,” and becamea close affiliate of the C ...read more
Born September 18 1968 in Staten Island New York Cappadonna came to record with the group after a visit to
RZA’sStatenIsland[citationneeded] apartment-recording studio during the recording of Raekwon’s 1995 album Only Built 4 Cuban
Linx.Cappadonnavisited the studio duringthe recording of the song “Ice Cream,” and joked to RZA about him contributing a verseon it;
however, RZA decidedto take him seriously andallowed him to feature on the track. After appearing on “Ice Cream,” hewent on to appear on
another Cuban Linxtrack, “Ice Water,” and becamea close affiliate of the Clan with severalappearances on (and a co-starring credit on the
front cover of)Ghostface Killah’s Ironman album. In late1996, he appearedon a track for the soundtrack to Don’t Be a Menace[1] alongside
Ghostface, MastaKilla, U-God and Raekwon, and madeseveralprominent appearances on the group’s second album Wu-Tang Forever in 1997,
most notably onthe stand-out leadsingle “Triumph.”
His debut album The Pillage was released in early 1998, one of the first post-Forever releases from the Wu-Tang stable, andreceived
mixedbutgenerally positive reviews. When the next Wu-Tang group album, 2000’s The W, arrived, Cappadonnaseemed to have become an
officialmemberof the Clan; on Wu-Tang Forever his appearances were marked with “featuringCappadonna” (as with other affiliates like
Streetlife &Tekitha), buton The W Cappadonna’s appearances were not marked inthis way (whereas Streetlife’s remained designated as
“featuring”). Healso appearedwith the original members in all thealbum’s publicity shots and cover art, and was given equal billing in Sony
Music’s press kitfor the album.
His second album, The Yin & The Yang, was released in 2001. The lead single “Super Model”, featuring Ghostface Killah,
wasmoderatelysuccessfulbut the album was poorly received.
Cappadonna was absent from the Wu-Tang Clan’s fourth album Iron Flag, released in late 2001. In the year since the releaseof The W,
hehadreportedly become dissatisfied with being in the group, and had also gotten into a dispute with the groupover the revelation that
hismanagerMichael Caruso was a police informant.[2] Whatever the case, he did not appear on thefinished album. It is highly likely that
herecorded with theClan at the album’s recording sessions, but was edited out of thealbum at the last minute (Clan leader and producer RZA
isknown for rearrangingverses and song structures very late in therecording process), as he participated in the photo shoot for the Iron
Flagalbum cover, but was laterairbrushed out (one ofhis legs remains on the cover). In other shots from the same photo shoot, such as
thatwhich appeared on the back coverofRZA’s 2004 book Wu-Tang Manual, he is clearly visible.
For some time after the release of Iron Flag and his hiatus from the group, Cappadonna was forced to resort to morepedestrian means
ofearningincome, and it is known that he was a taxi driver in Baltimore for eight months. Rumors aboundabout his brief change in vocation:
itishypothesized that he did so in order to support himself and his family, whileCappadonna’s own explanation is that “he intentionally gave
upwhatmaterial possessions he had amassed and walked thestreets of Baltimore for 8 months, before returning to the rap game”.
[3]Regardless, hereturned to the music industry shortlyafter, releasing 2003’s The Struggle album. This album featured some Wu-Tang
Clanmembers, and wasreleased on Wuaffiliate Remedy’s record label, although Cappadonna maintained at the time he was not directly
associatedwith the groupitselfanymore. In fact, he later publicly accused RZA of cheating him out of royalties, a charge that RZA strenuously
denied.[4]Differences with thegroup appeared to have been forgotten when he joined the whole Wu-Tang Clan for their reunionconcert at the
Rock theBells music festival inSan Bernardino, California, which was later released on DVD and CD as Disciplesof the 36 Chambers: Chapter
1. Healso appeared with the wholeClan on their early 2006 club tour as well as on theacclaimed Ghostface Killah track “9 Milli Bros.” off his
2006album Fishscale where hereferences his stint driving taxis: “Diggler,AKA the Cab Driver / Drop ‘em off in the middle of fire / Dirty
Island,drag bodies to the Murderland[Maryland] / Knock niggasout hurtin’ my hand.”
During May 2008 Cappadonna signed with Chambermusik Records. Chambermusik Records is distributed via
KochEntertainmentDistribution.Cappadonna’s first release off of Chambermusik is entitled “Slang Prostitution.”
Cappadonna is often referred to as the unofficial 10th member of Wu-Tang Clan « hide |
Similar Bands: Wu-Tang Clan, RZA, Ghostface Killah, U-God Contributors: DikkoZinner, gsmith503, jmh886, GnarlyShillelagh,
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