For North London MC, Capo Lee, music has always been second nature. With a father as a mic man and old skool garage and house lover, a slow jam and reggae enthusiast for a mother as well as a ragga artist as an uncle, it is evident that Capo’s passion for music is indeed one that runs through the family.
Capo’s own personal musical journey began as a pre-teen delving through his Uncle’s CD collection and discovering Hip-Hop through the likes of Dr Dre and Nas; developing his own taste in music. At age 16, Capo took to the decks, mixing on vinyls, DJing on AX Fm with fellow deck master DJ Scope. His first introduction to grime came when his cousin played him a Nasty Crew tape, sparking a new found love that led him to dig further going through more tapes, listening to pirate radio and even making his own tapes. Soon influenced by the likes of Mac 10, Nasty Crew, Begg, Scholar and more, Capo started to take his DJing hobby seriously and began mixing grime. Sacrificing his lunch money to buy vinyls, Capo began holding his own sets at home where he would drop an odd 8‑bar or 16-bar here and there.
Having earned his stripes as a master behind the decks, Capo began to test the waters on the frontline as an MC, participating in various sets from bedrooms to the settings of his local pirate radio station Heat FM, alongside Chip, Scorcher and Black The Ripper to name a few. His new found hobby would find him in the studio once a year, but it wasn’t until the December of 2014 that Capo began to take his career as an MC seriously. Frustrated by the lack of fresh talent in the scene, Capo decided to take things into his own hands and began writing bars again. He went on to hit the studio and make the tune Ain’t The Same which landed a placement on the Grime Forum Compilation after Capo had sent the tune to his friend Kwam. After seeing the positive response his track received, Capo began to build relationships with DJs, attending sets regularly at underground radio stations to practice his skills on the mic.
Capo continued to build a buzz around his name with the release of his take on 666 God before the release of his summer hit Liff which saw him dominate the airwaves, receiving spins on BBC 1Xtra, Rinse FM, Radar and more. The Mystry production that became a viral hit saw Capo Lee position himself as the next big star to come out of the grime scene, becoming one of the most sought for MCs of the year. In no time, Capo Lee became a regular name on line ups, seeing him perform alongside grime legends such as DJ Logan Sama, Chip, Jammer, Flow Dan, P Money and more.
Since the success of Liff, Capo’s distinct flows and undeniable work ethic has warranted collaborations with legendary DJs such as Spooky with their joint EP Welcome to Clartsville and Spyro on the Why Not? mixtape which dropped earlier this year featuring a revolving cast of grime artists. Capo has also collaborated with grime God, D Double E on his trail blazing track Muad and Prez T and P Money on the spinoff of Liff; with his most recent appearance being on P Money’s 10/10 remix alongside AJ Tracey, YGG’s PK, Jammz, Discarda, Coco and Saf One.
Having already kicked off things on a strong start there was no doubt that 2016 was going to be a promising year for Capo Lee. MUD his latest single was just released on RINSE label reaching #1 on the electronic iTunes charts and #50 in the official charts (to date). With an EP produced by Sir Spyro on the horizon, as well as Why Not Part 2, Capo Lee is making it known that he’s here to stay and the throne is his for the taking.
