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They say that necessity is the mother of all invention and everyone is product of their environment and upbringing. For the MC, Producer, Film-maker, independent businessman and all round Hip Hop advocate known as Kapabal, both of the above statements definitely ring true.
Self-made and self-motivated, Kapabal first encountered Hip Hop culture at the tender age of seven while growing up in the Upper Hutt and Stokes Valley regions. The grandson of Leonard Wyatt, the man who introduced live jazz to the greater Wellington area alongside his band The Ambassador Society, music always resided within Kapabal’s veins, and upon first hearing Tupac in the nineties he felt its unique presence stirring within him. It was a change of mood that would eventually lead to a life dedicated to Hip Hop.
Despite writing down little raps throughout his childhood, Kapabal only really started taking MCing seriously back in 2000 while performing and recording as a member of Upper Hutt’s Souljah Squad. As life went on the crew slowly drifted in different directions and out of necessity Kapabal began producing his own backing beats while working towards becoming a solo artist in his own right.
Releasing his self produced, engineered and recorded debut album The Abal One in 2002, Kapabal moved copies over two years through a hands-on, street level marketing campaign, and in the process educated himself on all facets of music production and the music industry.
Over the last five years, Kapabal has been living, learning, growing and working towards his sophomore album Before Now (released 1st of December 2008). No stranger to struggle, loss, heartbreak and pain, Kapabal has seen far more then you would expect. Unlike most though, he chooses to make positive from negative and won’t look back or lose focus, always giving thanks for Hip Hop, the music and culture that made him who he is; the music and culture that made him a man.
Dealing with a divergent range of subject matter in his lyrics, Kapabal explores the themes of love, loss, personal development, self-belief, everyday hustle, the struggle for success, and the negative aspects that come attached as un-escapable flipside of all of the above.
In the beat department, he comes through with bass-heavy, drum-powered synth floor thumping cuts, and as well as his own original compositions draws on an eclectic catalog of work produced by Tyna, MaK NeO, Spectak, Mister K.A(USA) and more.
Outside of rapping and beat-writing, Kapabal (alongside his business partner T.Mo) is the producer, director, host and film editor of the Street Heavy DVD series. Aesthetically sculpted in a manner similar to American Street Hip-Hop DVD magazines, Street Heavy is committed to exposing grassroots Hip-Hop culture in Aotearoa; volumes one and two are available in shops now.
Educated, upskilled and developed through Hip-Hop based empowerment, Kapabal’s message is simple. Don’t wait for things to come to you, get out there and make it happen. Whatever you want to do, you can do it yourself, and you can be yourself while you are doing it.
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