Chicago's cap D is a renegade -- in more ways than one -- in a culture that celebrates rebellion.
April 13, 2007 (Press Release) --
With his sixth album, the just released "Return of the Renegade," he seeks to distill all of this in straight-up hip-hop music.
"For the first time in a while, I just wanted to make a banging hip-hop record. I didn't want to anything else," he says, noting that on 2002's "Writer's Block" the focus was on storytelling and on 2004's "Insomnia" it was foreign policy.
To assist in his new mission, cap D enlisted the help of artists including Rhymefest, One Be Lo, Iomos Marad and Majestik Legend.
"It's not like a badge you wear, but if you look at all of the guests on there, with the exception of Iomos, everyone is Muslim," cap D says. "I'm hoping people connect the dots and see there are a lot of dope Muslim artists out here."
A devout Muslim convert, cap D says he was first struck by the idea of being a renegade when he learned the root of the word is the Spanish "renegado." This, he says, was the term used in 14th-century Spain for people who had converted to the Islamic faith. The idea that people who are not Christian are renegades remains today, he argues.
"Inside of this society, Christianity is considered the norm, and anything that is not Christianity is considered to be breaking away from that which is 'normal.'"
And so cap D embraces this, even in his professional life as David Kelly.
"As a lawyer who does hip-hop, I'm definitely not the norm. I operate inside of the legal field, at a big firm, to do the work -- hopefully, good work -- but at the same time I don't fit the mold."
He doesn't hide his hip-hop at the office, nor does he force it on anyone. If people are interested, they're interested; if not, so be it.
"I've let people know, but you know, they don't greet me as cap D at the [ofgig."
Sometimes, he says, interested co-workers view him as a conduit to a culture they want to learn more about.
"They'll ask me questions like, 'What do you think about who my son is listening to at the moment?'"
His answer: "Typically, who their son is listening to at the moment is someone I'm not listening to; sometimes, it may be someone I've never even heard of."
You see, cap D is fully a renegade in hip-hop.
As one half of the group All Natural, which he formed Homewood-Flossmoor High School classmate DJ Tone B Nimble in the mid-1980s, and one of the founders of the label of the same name, cap D has long been a part of the Chicago scene.
But he's always been an outsider.
"I never fit the gangster MC, I never fit the player MC, I never fit any of the myriad of things that people say you need to dress like, act like or be like to be an MC."
He also has fully rejected what has come to define hip-hop.
"Being a renegade is just about going against the norm. As a black male, you're supposed to be this.
Source: http://www.msn.com
"For the first time in a while, I just wanted to make a banging hip-hop record. I didn't want to anything else," he says, noting that on 2002's "Writer's Block" the focus was on storytelling and on 2004's "Insomnia" it was foreign policy.
To assist in his new mission, cap D enlisted the help of artists including Rhymefest, One Be Lo, Iomos Marad and Majestik Legend.
"It's not like a badge you wear, but if you look at all of the guests on there, with the exception of Iomos, everyone is Muslim," cap D says. "I'm hoping people connect the dots and see there are a lot of dope Muslim artists out here."
A devout Muslim convert, cap D says he was first struck by the idea of being a renegade when he learned the root of the word is the Spanish "renegado." This, he says, was the term used in 14th-century Spain for people who had converted to the Islamic faith. The idea that people who are not Christian are renegades remains today, he argues.
"Inside of this society, Christianity is considered the norm, and anything that is not Christianity is considered to be breaking away from that which is 'normal.'"
And so cap D embraces this, even in his professional life as David Kelly.
"As a lawyer who does hip-hop, I'm definitely not the norm. I operate inside of the legal field, at a big firm, to do the work -- hopefully, good work -- but at the same time I don't fit the mold."
He doesn't hide his hip-hop at the office, nor does he force it on anyone. If people are interested, they're interested; if not, so be it.
"I've let people know, but you know, they don't greet me as cap D at the [ofgig."
Sometimes, he says, interested co-workers view him as a conduit to a culture they want to learn more about.
"They'll ask me questions like, 'What do you think about who my son is listening to at the moment?'"
His answer: "Typically, who their son is listening to at the moment is someone I'm not listening to; sometimes, it may be someone I've never even heard of."
You see, cap D is fully a renegade in hip-hop.
As one half of the group All Natural, which he formed Homewood-Flossmoor High School classmate DJ Tone B Nimble in the mid-1980s, and one of the founders of the label of the same name, cap D has long been a part of the Chicago scene.
But he's always been an outsider.
"I never fit the gangster MC, I never fit the player MC, I never fit any of the myriad of things that people say you need to dress like, act like or be like to be an MC."
He also has fully rejected what has come to define hip-hop.
"Being a renegade is just about going against the norm. As a black male, you're supposed to be this.
Source: http://www.msn.com
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