Al Kapone

A veteran of Memphis’ hip-hop underground, rapper Al Kapone spent more than a decade in obscurity before Hustle & Flow took his career to a new level. Efforts like 1995′s Da Resurrection and 2002′s Goin All Out Da Resurrection — an album “presented” by E-40 — earned Kapone a loyal following amongst the hip-hop faithful and top names like Eightball, Bushwick Bill, and David Banner would appear on his underground mixtape series Memphis Drama. In 2005 he broke through when three cuts he wrote — “Whoop That Trick,” “Hustle & Flow (It Ain’t Over),” and “Get Crunk, Get Buck” — became key tracks on the Hustle & Flow soundtrack. A year later he got a co-writing credit on Lil Jon’s hit “Snap Yo Fingas,” and then in 2007 he landed on Eightball and MJG’s album Ridin' High. In 2009 he announced plans for a new project influenced by Memphis’ rich musical history and featuring live musicians. ~ David Jeffries