![]() ![]() ![]() Kap stayed busy in 2020 with his well-received Castlevania album, as well as a string of singles in anticipation for his newest drop. I want people to see our struggle.Hailing from Indiana, rising rapper, King Kap is one of the most consistent rappers in the underground. “My uncle is illegal and makes a great living,” Kap G says, “but every day when he drives, he worries about getting stopped by police. In any case, visibility is a powerful step toward equality. ![]() We don’t live eight to a house because we like it, we do it because we’re trying to save money and get by day by day.” While supporting first- and second-generation immigrant communities is a surprisingly novel concept for major label hip-hop, Like a Mexican appeals to the city’s entrenched love for trap, with Kap G mostly spicing up stock ingredients with Spanish ad-libs and lyrics like Nachos extra queso/ I’m stacking it like Legos. Kap G says his goal is to subvert stereotypes with his music: “I want people to understand the truth about Mexicans. Kap G’s latest tape, Like a Mexican, is a testament to the label’s support, pulling in original beats from Pharrell, Drumma Boy and Bangladesh as well as features from Young Jeezy, Wiz Khalifa and Texas Latin-rap legend Chingo Bling. It’s about time: while the city has become America’s de-facto hub for club music over the past decade or so, its Hispanic population has been growing, too, multiplying five-fold in the metro area since 1990. The label seems to have devoted real resources to making Kap G Atlanta’s first Mexican-American rap star. and Yelawolf-and he became Kap G’s manager, helping him land him a deal with Atlantic. That track caught the ear of Kawan Prather-an Atlanta record executive who nurtured the early careers of Outkast, T.I. While Kap G’s brother was visiting Chicago, a barber introduced him to Keef’s music the brother tracked down the rising star, who agreed to record a guest verse for Kap G’s song immediately after hearing its twinkling beat. His breakout was 2012’s “Tatted Like Amigos,” featuring Chief Keef, a serendipitous collaboration that started with a haircut, of all things. I ain’t no lazy dude, but I knew I had to do something different.”Īt Tri-Cities High School, Kap G started freestyling over instrumentals from local stars like Gucci Mane and Yung LA, an approach he continues today with tongue-in-cheek flips on Atlanta hits like “Versace,” at one point turning the hook into tamale, tamale, tamale. “They woke up at four in the morning-work, work, work. “I saw how hard my brothers grinded,” Kap G says. Kap G’s father did construction and drove trailer trucks while his mother worked as a hotel maid his brothers punched the clock at warehouses. The family lived there until an older brother joined a gang in grammar school wary of raising their children in a violent environment, they headed east, landing in College Park, GA, the Atlanta suburb that just so happens to have given birth to Outkast, 2 Chainz and Ludacris. The youngest of seven children, Kap G was born George Ramirez in Long Beach, CA, where his parents emigrated in the late ’80s. “It’s very beautiful, but poor,” he says, describing a visit to the family seat. His parents hail from San Marcos, Mexico, a small city an hour from Acapulco. Like many of his peers, the 19-year-old Atlanta newcomer raps like a sad robot with a mouthful of grits, but Kap G’s origin story is starkly different. I be getting pesos, rolling abuelos, Kap G brags on his immigrant-saga single, “Mexico Momma Came From.” Aztec in my blood vessels. From the magazine: ISSUE 91, April/May 2014 ![]()
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