If you aren't familiar with Group Bracil and their label, check out our review of 'Happiness, We're All in This Together', their debut compilation, here. The latest project to come from the underground imprint is a full-length, physical release of Capriisun's album A Fleeting Now. An enigmatic figure, Caprii has quietly carved a respectful following through his, for better use of the term, 'lo-fi', hard hitting hiphop. based in Oregon, the rapper finds himself over our shores fairly regularly, gigging and collaborating with some of our finest beat and wordsmiths.
On A Fleeting Now, the Lee Scott collaborator hones in on his flow, weaponising his wordplay to attack the vintage samples and pastel instrumentation in his soothing tones. The rapper's snappy, but equally subdued, delivery makes AFN an easy, but equally engaging listen. Each track melts into one another, thanks to coherent production from: Omar Bmar, Tides, Nine Two, Idntrmbr and Floyd Evans. We were lucky enough to have Caprii answer some burning Qs we had for him about the album, his love for the U.K.... and his favourite Caprisun flavour. Read up and listen to A Fleeting Now below.
For those that don’t know, who is Capriisun? Get the people knowing about you and your music.
Whaddup, damn that’s a tough question. That’s like asking what is a soul? where do
tornadoes come from? What is the purpose of house plants? Haha nah just kidding! Um
I dunno I’m CAPRII, CAPRII is I… jus’ been sharing my art with the world for a couple
years now and it’s been bless so far! it all helps me lead a meaningful life honestly. As
far as my music goes, I just try and make what feels right to me. Go peep that haha!
You’ve been here, there and bloody everywhere over your life. How has living in Oregon, Peru etc affected the music you make?
Yes, I’ve lived in a few different places throughout life and traveled a fair amount. My
parents worked in Peru when I was younger, so I was fortunate to be able to see some
beautiful things growing up. I would say travelling is one of the best things I’ve done in
life. The fact that I’m getting to see more of our world because my music is reaching
people in different parts of the planet is wonderful. That’s my goal in life. I met some of
the best people I know because of this artform so it’s important to me. Ironically at
home I pretty much stay put. Oregon is a lovely place and I’ve lived here since I was
younger, but the local rap scene is pretty quiet. All good tho we have the internet, so I
get to pop out in spots where I’m more embraced. It can get very boring just staying in
one place also, so traveling is dope. I do like living here though, I’m never overwhelmed
and get to make what I want and just kickit.
And so, how did your bond to U.K. hiphop start? It’s nice to see someone from across the pond really acknowledging what we have over here.
Man, honestly, I just put music online when I started to take it more seriously. Early on I
would just freestyle with homies. One of my friends had a mic and idk just started fuckin
with SoundCloud a lil bit later on. That’s when SoundCloud was lit! haha 2016 days. I still
fuck w SoundCloud heavy despite the fact that less people check it out these days. But
any way a lot of uk heads reached out from back then and just formed mad links. I’ve
said this in some other interviews lately, but I lived in London for a bit when I was a kid.
Went to school in Islington for a year or something haha. My dad is from England and
we still got a bunch of fam in uk. Coming back 20 years later on some rap shit is sick!
When you are making music, what is essential for your productivity? For example, Ex-Footballer, England international and Newcastle legend Peter Beardsley would have a cup of tea and a mars bar at half time - what, if anything, gives you the buzz to push on and create?
Honestly what makes me wanna write more than anything is just hearing some good
drums w nice swing on em. Good sample choice is crucial as well. I’m a fan of heads like
tuamie, olasegun, wun two, Alchemist my G’s slipz and omar bmar. The homie
morriarchi as well. There are a lotta dope producers out there honestly.
Tells us about A Fleeting Now. How do you feel this tape compares to JUN!PER 2?
I think there are similarities between A Fleeting Now and j2, in that omar bmar snapped
on a lot of the production on both tapes, so there is some consistency in beat selection.
Both projects got vinyl releases, but j2 was recorded here at home. A Fleeting Now was
recorded mostly in England. I think the main differences are the way the music is being
presented. There are more people on group bracil, so there is a greater push for my
tape to do alright in terms of sales. If my record flops, there can be strain on the next
folks set to drop in the queue. As a result, I have had to do more to promote A Fleeting
Now. In the past I’ve just put the music out and haven’t had to promote things as much.
Was a Fleeting Now in the works for a while, or was it an LP that came out of a burst of creativity in lockdown?
I started working on A Fleeting Now a little less than a year ago. I had one or two bits
recorded before I left home late 2019. It was very casual when I started it out, I didn’t
know it was going to turn into a full release until later on. I basically took a trip to visit
my sister who lives in Spain around new year or something and wrote a couple verses
here and there but didn’t have a studio while I was staying there. When I came to
England to play some shows in February, I stayed in Brighton with my homie slipz and
worked on another tape with him and verbz and was able to record those solo joints I
had written during my stay as well. One day while I was in London, I played the tape for
morri, and we decided to make it a full release on the label he runs, group bracil. We
ended up going to Barcelona shortly after to film the video for the celeste track. The
whole thing was very spontaneous which inspired the title later on.
Despite the array of producers you have on here, it feels like there is a lineage between the 11 tracks, which is a credit to your beat selection. How did you go about choosing the instrumentals for this record?
In the simplest way possible, I just chose the beats that stood out to me. I work with a
lot of producers who may have listened to my music for a few years, so they are often
able to send me beats I end up liking.
With your affiliations to the U.K., is there anywhere you’ve been that particularly resonates with you? What about that city do you rate?
I liked Brighton, because of the skatepark “the levels” haha. I would go skate in the
mornings for a couple hours before working on music later on while I was staying there.
The levels is a fun park, so I enjoyed that a lot about my stay.
What’s your top 1 Capri Sun flavour? Sorry if you’ve been asked this question a lot, it is one that we’d love to know the answer to though.
Haha all good, ya I like the orange flavour the most. I never really drink caprisuns these
days. Been years since I’ve had one honestly. I need to get back on my grind!
To sign off, what message do you have to your fans, or the world for that matter?
Thanks for the support! Big ups!