Taking revenge against those who have cast doubt on his solo career,
Revenge Is A Promise (also known as R.I.P.) signifies Capone’s [click to read] third
studio album, as well as his first solo venture through Bay Area-based SMC Records. Just months after Capone‘s long-awaited reunion with N.O.R.E. came as Channel 10 [click to read], the duo releases a pair of solos. Despite an impressive guest-list, the lesser acknowledged lyricist of the duo has an album with lots of theme, just short on originality and substance.
Capone’s strong suit on Revenge Is A Promise is his illustrative
storytelling. Sampling Duran Duran’s “Come Apart,” “Fallin’ Apart”
reveals an introspective account about Capone’s street ties, which have
resulted in a series of dire consequences, as well as a rollercoaster of
emotions. A similar saga of hardship is discussed on “Lonely,” which
daringly samples Bonnie Tyler’s 1983 platinum hit “Total Eclipse Of The
Heart.” With a more upbeat tone, “Rock Star” conveys an alluring tale
of a drug dealer traveling from small town to small town, achieving Rock star status. On “Witness,” Capone tells a short yet frantic
portrayal of a perceived 6 A.M. Federali drug raid. Paranoid, ‘Pone
and his female accomplice flush his cocaine and hide other
incriminating items inside the safe, only to discover that the
individuals knocking at the door were two Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Eventually finding himself in a standoff against the shield on “Take
Me Alive,” Capone fearlessly takes the cable man hostage with a
double-barreled shotgun.
While the album serves as a considerable mixtape, Revenge Is A Promise
lacks the polish of Pain, Time & Glory [click to read]. Although the extent of
Noreaga’s involvement as an executive producer is unclear, it is
certain that R.I.P. is a lateral move from his disappointing sophomore
effort, Menace 2 Society [click to read].
Optimistically, this album should declare R.I.P. to Capone’s slump as
a lackluster solo artist, and symbolize the rebirth of an emcee, whom is
undoubtedly capable of producing better.
