Exclusive interview with Shane Capone

First off, I’d like to thank you for givin up some time to let people get a closer look of Shane Capone...

What does Shane Capone bring to the table?

Shane: A non-commercial, non-watered down, raw & uncut hip hop.

How did you come up with your rap name, Shane Capone?

Shane: Well, Shane is my real name and I just put the Capone on it because that's my mentality... a gangster & hustler personified.

Who were your influences gettin yourself in the rap game?

Shane: Man I grew up on this shit, my first cassette that I ever purchased was The Fat Boys and from there Run-DMC, Whodini, Boogie Down Productions shit you name it from the time hip hop started getting outside of New York I was bred into it.

If you could collaborate on a track with 3 other emcees, dead or alive, who would you choose to be rhyming alongside you and who you would have blazing the track?

Shane: That's easy: Myself, Pac, Beanie Segal & Crooked I and who the hell else could handle that track but Dr. Dre! Sounds like a hit to me!

What was the name of the first track you ever spit on?

Shane: The first full song that I ever did was "Gangstarism." That was before the M.O.B. albums but we used it on the first M.O.B. I had alot of "one verse" songs before "Gangstarism" but that was my first full song, if you listen I even say something like: "95' shit" on that track so you know it was older then M.O.B.

If you're going to be stranded on an island and only allowed to bring 3 things, what are they?

Shane: Eva Mendes, Britney Spears & a whole lot of Viagra! (lol)

How did you choose the title, Heated Speech for your upcoming second solo release?

Shane: Because when get pigeon-holed into a "gangsta" rapper people automatically assume that you're not bringing the skillz, so I wanted to name it Heated Speech to say "Look, concentrate on what I'm saying not the image."

What can we expect from Heated Speech?

Shane: Less gangsta, more of everything. I'm trying to show my versatility.

I know you might not want to let the cat out of the bag, but can you tell us any guests that may appear on Heated Speech either on collabin or production?

Shane: Well the usual suspects Hush, 5150, Mic from M.O.B., my new recruit Sick Shoota, I'ma holler at Dime to get on it and I did a few tracks with my boy Haystak from Nashville.

How did you first hook up with 5150 and Bugz and what was it like working with them?

Shane: After the first M.O.B. album Shuge from 5150 called my label asking about working with us and he seemed real cool so we started doing some joints together but this was actually a few years before I met Bugz. Then a few years later Hush was living at my crib and doing alot of production for local cats outta the house and in that time I met Dime, Bugz, Bizarre, Denaun just about all the cats you hear about today at one point was hanging at my house writing to beats or just hangin out playin their latest joints, you know whatever. I got cool with Bugz and had asked Shuge if he knew who Bugz was and that's when he told me that they were actually first cousins... small world huh.

What does Shane Capone like to do when he’s not writing, in the studio or getting his hustle on?

Shane: Man I'm just a regular person, just like any other guy ... I chase women, hang out with the fellaz, wrestle with my 2 bulldogs, go to the shooting range, just try to relax... oh, and make sure I watch The Sopranos every Sunday! But to be honest doing this music thing and other things to make money keeps me busy as hell, I don't get enough time to enjoy everyday shit. One day I'd like to be comfortable (financially) enough to just kick back and really enjoy life before it passes me by, maybe one day when I get chubby and move to Boca. (lol)

Who are some artists in the D now that you’re feelin?

Shane: Well unlike most cats in tha D if someone is talented I'll give em their props. In the last year I heard 2 cats that I thought had good potential: Big Herk & J. Hill. Now I only heard one song from that Hill cat "come across 8 mile" but I thought it was hot and Big Herk I heard his whole album and he has a real distinctive voice and he can spit. Aside from that of coarse my camp: Hush, he got a deal so that's proven & Sick Shoota, Sick is in his own catagory cause he's gonna be hot but no one has a clue, & he'll eat any of these local cats up.

Tell the world who Sick Shoota is who soon will be the newest addition to Rock City’s roster?

Shane: Young, vicious-ass emcee man. He used to be a part of The Cutthroat Click and I met him thru Bravo (Oh... U Shinin') because Bravo was in that group too, and I was impressed with him so I stayed in contact and the label fell under that they was one so now it's time for us to do some big thangs together.

What are your favorite hip-hop albums of all-time?

Shane: Albums? Dog, there are so many Run-DMC "Rock Box" , Whodini "Funky Beats" , NWA "Straight Outta Compton" , Ice-T "Rhyme Pays" , Eric B. & Rakim "Paid In Full" , BDP "By Any Means Necessary" you got me reminiscing. But I have to say (and everyone knows that I am a huge Pac fan) my fav of all time for sure is 2Pac -"Me Against The World" I still bump the mutha fuck outta that album. Shit I remember where I bought it, what I did the whole day after I bought it, that album was everything to me. Not just because it was so great but I had already started rapping myself at that point and the whole rap game was starting to get boring and I was like "fuck it, this ain't for me" and when I heard that album he gave me inspiration to keep doing it because he showed me that you can show more then just one side of yourself on your records, that it was cool to express pain, cool to express more then just a hard image and I've been in this shit since, thanks Pac.

What’s your vision of where Rock City Records/Films will be in 10 years?

Shane: Not sure about RCFilms, because I had a vision for it, but the guy who was gonna do all the directing and filming is a worthless, unreliable piece of shit. So I gotta find a new reliable, hungry film student or something to get it back in gear. For now it's on hold.

Being a co-owner of Rock City Records and doing work with Hush from even as far back as M.O.B., can you say how you first met Hush?

Shane: I met Hush thru Uncle ILL. I told ILL that I was looking for production for this new group I was working on (M.O.B.) and he hooked us up.

Mic Killa is still signed to Rock City, what can we expect from him in the future?

Shane: Mic is family, I mean I grew up around his people and he's alwayz gonna be down with rock City but he doesn't have any projects lined up at this time.

If I’m the genie in the movie "Aladdin" and can offer you 3 wishes, what’d they be?[gotta have some fun]

Shane: How about a supa dupa bad-ass 20 yr. old female that never got any older, the most successful career the rap game has ever seen & my own fuckin island! Top that genieboy!

What’s your favorite track you’ve ever done?

Shane: There's a track that's gonna be on "Heated Speech" called This Life and I just put my heart into that track, it's about this life we led as a rapper, this image that we have to live up to and the overall stress of the game... it's cold man.

Can we expect Shane Capone to show up on any mixtapes before or around the release date of Heated Speech to hype up the album?

Shane: No, no more features until the album is finished.

Lastly, the floor is yours...you can address your fans, any haters, the press and the rest of the world...

Shane: All I can say is that loyal fans are what makes this game worth it, and on the real I've made money at this game so this album's not gonna be about money, it's straight up gonna be for the cats who have stayed loyal to me. Because I've been away for over 2 years and I still get tons and tons of emails asking when I'ma drop again, I get new people buying my past albums on a regular bases, new fans, people who are just getting turned on to my music everyday.... and if I died tomorrow those same fans are the ones who'd keep me alive. Man, that's deep when you think about it and I couldn't ask for more.