December 17, 2014
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East County
Beaverton
Alberta
North Portland
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Mic Capes is among a group o f local rappers that are making S t Johns a c e n t o r ^ f t h e S h ^ h ^ S S .
photo by M ike
Hip Hop Renaissance
M ike B ivins
P ortland O bserver contributor
by
B ivins /T he P ortland O bserver
St. Johns rapper
refines his craft
We sit at the St. Johns Starbucks and rapping, and figured he would try his hand at
Capes, 25, tells me his story. Growing up, he it. Ever since, he’s been working to refine his barber shop on Northeast Alberta Street.
St. Johns is a unique slice of north Port had a turbulent childhood. He went to five
You can get a good glimpse of what the
craft.
land with its own history and a distinct feel different elementary schools, and frequently
three bring to the table on Cape’s song ‘The
Counting
Tupac,
Nas,
DMX
and
Scarface
that you can’t get in other parts of town. moved from house to house, motel to motel,
Resistance’, also featuring Jamal and Waco,
as
his
biggest
influences,
Capes
spends
his
When you step off a bus caught downtown as well as being in a foster home.
and conveniently located on YouTube with
time
performing
at
local
venues
such
as
an hour earlier to find yourself in St. Johns
He also battled epilepsy from the 4th to the Mississippi Studios either solo, or with local over 5,000 views to date.
We are briefly interrupted by a passerby
you really feel like you are not even in Port 7th grade, until one day he made the decision
hip-hop
contemporaries
Glenn
Waco
and
land anymore. That unique look and feel
to stop taking the medication and has been Rasheed Jamal— collectively known as The who recognizes Capes. I joke with him about
being locally famous and he attests to get
probably has a lot to do with the fact that up symptom free ever since, “I chalk that one up
Resistance.
until 1915 St. Johns was its own city.
ting accused of that frequently.
to God,” he says.
“W
e’re
a
collective
man,”
he
explains.
Today residents like Mic Capes are mak
As I can tell from the childhood stories,
Capes started putting his thoughts to
We do our solo thing, but we also come Capes’ road to putting out his first album
ing St. Johns a center of the local hip hop
words with poetry in the fifth grade as an
scene. I travelled the hour on Trim et’s#4 bus outlet forexpressing himself. Eventually, he together as a unit and do music.” Interest Rise & Grind has not been easy.
ingly, Capes initially connected with Jamal
to speak with him.
observed another foster kid in his home while getting his haircut in Terrell Brandon’s
continued V on page 15