Cappadonna — Wu-South [mixtape]

In 2005, Cappadonna and J Saki released this twenty-track mixtape, also known as "Wu South" or "Wu South Vol. 1: The Perscription", published by Chambermusik. Uncredited production, guests on basically every track.

The album is introduced by "Here 2 Day": minimal drumming, soul samples, syncopated rhythm, regular delivery by Cappadonna along with the first guest of the album, Rush, who is also the main guest of the project with 9 appearances, practically occupies half the album. This guy spits with energy and conviction following the theme imposed by the main rapper, who pulls out a criminal battle in which he eventually gets lost in his sick vocabulary. The second track is "Homicide Hill" which is nothing but "Role of Ya Lifetime" from his third studio album "The Struggle" (2003): the piece produced by beatmaker Calogero also contains the hook by Solomon Childs, who together with Cappachino the Great is a member of Ghostface Killah's group Theodore Unit, this time however the guest is not credited, unlike the original cut.

Skit, then comes "Clap", a song by Cappadonna where the rapper is joined at the mic by Solomon Childs and Twiz aka Polite of American Cream Team, also destined to become a member of Theodore Unit, but later remained outside the group to then join Raekwon Icewater's group. Chopped and looped samples, loose strings, horns, rough bass, rough piano, poor midtempo drum. Polite enters with energy and tears the beat with a solid and fast execution, his battle goes away, Cappachino Gambino spits hardcore without looking anyone in the face, Solomon Childs closes the piece and then he inserts it in his studio album "The Wake" (2006). The fifth pick is "Born in N.Y.C.", a four-minute freestyle from Cappadonna over dark production with a rough bass, sparse drums, and rusty keyboards.

The title track unfurls over a classic beat that rhymes with the lead rapper, Rush, and his pals Jarmel and Lil' Milz. The Wu-Tang rapper is clearly effortlessly superior to the other performers. Rush stays on the mic to join the Park Hill emcee on the next cut, "Spark That Dutch", where the boys deliver yet another battle over cheap production. Cappadonna joins ODB for "N.Y.C. Stand Up" with an uncredited Ghostface hook. "Bedroom Interview" has a beat so bad it makes you want to beat up your babysitter. Cap rhymes with an uncredited Stanley Steels over this cheap, weak production, and there's also a whiny hook sung poorly by a girl. The guest rapper Rush gets a couple verses on "Bartender", Cappadonna delivers yet another battle over a sparse and bouncy musical carpet.

Skit, then comes a posse, "Get Mine 2005": the track boasts appearances by King Just, Money Grip, Real Life and Rush over an interesting beat, rough bass, creepy strings, malevolent keyboards, dirty midtempo drums. This four-minute track is without Cappadonna for the first time since the tape began. Pick number thirteen "Getaway" is actually "Get Away from the Door" from "The Struggle": over a skeletal, bouncy production from Remedy, who don't do an overly bad job of saving the beat with a dry drum accompanied by harsh hi-hats, pop horns, tight strings and a floating piano line, Don Cappachino delivers bars with a hardcore rapping style along with legit Wu-Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck, here relegated to the hook (Hill was still an affiliate of the supergroup at the time).

"Criminal Mind" sees your favorite rapper face off against another heavyweight of the hip-hop scene, the other famous Wu-Tang affiliate Killah Priest: the Sunz of Man emcee delivers bars first in the track, with a sober and regular style on a production in which he feels at ease, hard drum, robust bass, dark samples, the rhythm is gothic. Brief ragga contribution by KMC, then Cappadonna breaks down the door and enters hardcore, delivering lines like an unstoppable machine gun. A few scratched samples act as an interlude between his stanza and the final one performed by Rush, in what is the darkest and most gloomy cut of the mixtape. "The Pressure", also known as "Eye for an Eye", is another posse where Cappadonna's voice steps aside and leaves room for his friends: Money Grip has the honor of opening the battle, also featuring Real Life, King Just and Rush, the same performers as the other track without the main rapper. I have no idea if the guys were part of a group that was supposed to be launched by this tape and never took off, but that's the impression they leave.

"Killa Hill" loses a "killa" but it's still Cappadonna's track from his official album number two, where on a raw, robust and dark production by Remedy, Cappachino Gambino joins Lex Diamonds, distorting Wu-Tang's "C.R.E.A.M." into his own "G.R.E.A.U." for the hook. "Street Flavor" is structured similarly to "Bartender", Rush returns to have two stanzas interspersed with Cappadonna's contribution on a bouncy and rather discreet rhythm, not bad, but not praiseworthy. To conclude everything there's a track that fans around the world have always been waiting for, two legends together on a dizzying production that could also have been by Remedy, but since there are no production credits I don't want to go out on a limb: dotted bass, tight dry drum, poor samples, repetitive rhythm. Hook sung by an uncredited girl, then 2Pac comes out and delivers hardcore, with energy, inspired, confident and kills this Cappadonna cut, "Coast to Coast", appropriately named. His verse is taken, I don't know with what permission that I really don't believe there is, from that of "Still Ballin'", piece inserted in one of his posthumous albums, "Better Dayz" (2002), in which the icon is in a track together with Kurupt. Rush on the second verse of this version, then Cappadonna comes down with his style and I would like to say that the boy is not bad compared to Shakur, but I can't say that, they are two different things. An outro closes this tape.

Twenty tracks, an hour of material. The mixing, credited to J Saki, is practically non-existent. Rapper Rush is the main guest on the project, appearing on nine of the twenty tracks (four skits), followed by King Just, Money Grip and Real Life with two appearances each. Solomon Childs is also present on two tracks, uncredited. From Wu-Tang come Ol' Dirty Bastard, Shallah Raekwon and Rebel INS (the latter uncredited), among other guests stand out Killah Priest and 2Pac. Some of the best tracks on this tape come directly from "The Struggle", which is widely considered one of Cappadonna's worst works ever and one of the worst albums in the entire Wu-Tang discography. This tape therefore adds nothing to Don Cappachino's solo catalog, except for the fact that the boy joins Shakur on the final cut, with mixed results. 3/10.