Arts &Entertainment
‘Rise and Grind’ with Mic Capes
Artist hopes his music hits fans not just in their ears, but in their hearts
Bruce Poinsette
Of The Skanner News
“S
tep inside the booth like Super-
man. I’m hip-hop’s new hero,”
proclaims Mic Capes on the title
track of his new mixtape “Rise and Grind”.
Capes, real name Micheal Caples, has
generated considerable buzz around the city
with the new release. The emerging MC,
who has aspirations of being a social work-
er, hopes his music will help inspire others
who grew up in tough situations like him-
self.
One reason he thinks people have taken to
the new mixtape is because of its decidedly
personal tone.
“It’s hitting people how I want it to
hit them,” says Capes. “Not just in
the ears but in the heart and in the
mind.”
“I wanted to be as transparent as I
possibly could at the moment. It
doesn’t feel like there’s some bubble
around you as a rapper and it makes
people feel like they’re not alone in
those same situations.”
Capes says he’s gone through a
number of struggles and transitions over the
last couple of years and he tried to convey
that in “Rise and Grind”.
One of those transitions was as an artist.
Before “Rise and Grind”, Capes was
probably best known for his work with Turf
Noize, and before that, the Turf Bangaz, a
group he formed in high school with his
friend Corey Mason. He says the group
began to grow apart and he decided to go in
a different direction, which he discusses on
the mixtape.
While things have changed for him in the
last two years, transition is nothing new to
Capes.
“I’ve never really had stable ground as far
as living somewhere,” he says. “It’s always
been living with people or the situation at
home is not so stable. You know, drug
issues, evictions, moving schools. There
was still love in the environment but it was
economics.”
Capes first discovered his love for rapping
part of what helped him get through tough
times.
He recorded his first song “Stay Clean”,
as a part of Turf Bangaz, when he was 15
and attending Benson High School. The
song got a big response and let him know
that music could be serious.
Around the same time, he says he was
starting to consider gang life. Capes credits
Benson’s Next Generation of Leaders pro-
gram with helping him decide to take a dif-
ferent route.
The program raised his awareness of
social economics and helped mold him to
be a leader in the community.
Specifically, Capes says men like Karanja
Crews and the late Rob Ingram
were instrumental in resetting
his focus and steering him
away from the gang life that he
says is all too easy to fall into.
Recently, Capes spoke at the
Teaching With Purpose Con-
ference, put on by Crews’ Jour-
ney to Freedom Project. He has
worked in school settings as
part of his effort provide kids
with the same positive influ-
ence that Crews and Ingram gave to him.
These efforts have included work at Open
Meadows Alternative School and the
Caldera Art Camp.
“Basically whatever I do in life, whether
it be music or working, I want to help peo-
ple and inspire people and set them on the
right track and be a resource to kids and
adults that come from the same background
as I do,” he says. “That stuff can get lonely.
You get depressed. You can box yourself in
real quick.”
Capes hopes his collective The Resistance
will also help inspire people through music.
The Resistance consists of Capes, Glenn
“Rise and Grind” is available for
download on datpiff.com and
mediafire.com. Mic Capes can be
reached via twitter
@miccapes_music
in 6th grade while he was in a foster home.
He was already writing poetry and says an
older kid who rapped made him realize he
could translate his talents to emceeing.
Early on, Capes was influenced by artists
like Tupac and DMX, who were known for
introspective music. Their music, he says, is
Page 6 The Portland Skanner October 24, 2012
Mic Capes
Waco and Rasheed Jamal. According to
Capes, the collective will be working on a
project for next summer, following the
releases of solo projects from the other
members.
He says the group’s focus is to use artistic
expression to promote originality.
“The name means resisting what people
expect you to be in society and just being
original and being yourself,” says Capes.
“It’s a big push for people to be themselves
and use their minds.”
The collective also represents the unity
Capes would like to see more of in Portland
hip-hop. He says artists don’t necessarily
have to work together, but they should be
supportive of one another’s talents. Capes
feels like a “crabs in a bucket” mentality is
hurting the city’s music scene, as artists are
all striving to be the first to make it big.
“The first one to get on is going to open
the door for all of us,” he says. “It can’t be
this WWF type thing where everyone is
cool behind the scenes but they talk mess in
the public to generate stuff.
“Just support basically. It makes the ‘Sup-
portland’ real instead of just a word or a
phrase.”