Cappadonna
Photo: MTV News

We've heard the RZA drop lines about the study of mathematics in several of his verses, and now he's using numbers to dispute Cappadonna's claims of being jerked in business dealings with the Wu-Tang Clan. He says that if Donna has any disputes, he can go back and look at the books.

"According to my lawyers and the people on my team over these years, they say I've been one of the most foolish businessmen in the game because I treat my artists too fair," RZA said Wednesday, defending himself. "I'm supposed to be sitting on mad, mad mega[millions] 'cause these n---as all rob each other in this game. I don't rob my n---as. In all reality, the way you gotta get on in this business is you gotta rob the next mutha----a, but that's not my mentality. That's not my heart."

Last month Cappadonna opened up to MTV News, saying that he had only received one royalty check his entire career and that Wu-Tang never paid him for his guest spots on their various group LPs and solo projects (see "Cappadonna Opts To Be Homeless, Drives Cab To Support Fam"). RZA disputed the allegations, saying that Cap earned at least $500,000 while signed to his Epic imprint, Razor Sharp, from 1995 to 1998. After 1998, RZA said, Cap was signed with Sony Music.

"Any dollar that came to us for Cappa, he received," RZA said about the man he says he still considers a friend. "If anybody owes him money, it's Sony. Sony's his record company; check on Sony for it. If you talking about the Wu-Tang Clan albums, those were courtesy appearances and he got paid upfront for them. That was a courtesy to him, not a courtesy to us. We let him shine [on the albums], but we paid him for that. He didn't just rap, it was like, 'Homie, here's a stack of cheese.' "

RZA said when he first heard about Cap's claims of being treated unfairly, he called his former rhyme accomplice and Donna denied the story. But when he heard it from the horse's mouth a few days ago when Cap was on the New York radio show "The Wendy Williams Experience" promoting an appearance MTV2's "The Wrap," RZA was a little upset.

"He was saying that he was driving cabs and all that sh-- and I wouldn't even share that business," RZA scoffed. "Whatever you going through in your struggle, son, that's your struggle. You made your own mistakes. Nobody made no mistakes to mess up my n---a. [Cap] made his own decisions, and the decisions he made wasn't proper, that's all.

"If he's homeless, that sh-- is f---ed up," RZA added. "It's enough of us in the crew that have love so if he's in a bad situation he can easily reach out to somebody if his pride ain't covering his eyes. He reached out before to my people like, 'Yo, I need a quick 10 [grand].' It's a recession now since 9-11, so it probably got tight around the belt. He probably didn't prepare for this."

Prepared or not, Cap makes no apologies for his current lifestyle.

"Now I do whatever I gotta do, man," Cap said earlier this week in Baltimore. "If I have to snatch a pocketbook, if I gotta go to the store and rob some milk for my babies, then that's what I gotta do. I'mma do whatever I gotta do, bite whoever I gotta bite, eat whoever I gotta eat to get mine."

For now, Donna has put the mask and gloves on the shelf and isn't resorting to cannibalism, either. He's still working as a gypsy cab driver in Baltimore.

"It's called hacking out here," he explained. "I was telling [my passengers] my name is Hack Love from the Heavens Above, but they get in the car and say 'Cap.' "

For as little as $10, Cap will give you a round-trip ride to some locations, even if you're doing wrong. "Crackheads is picking me up, taking me to people's houses," he said. "They hit the houses up, come out with TVs. But it's like, 'Where you going? Pawn shop?' Good. I can get paid."

Cap's new LP, The Struggle, is slated to drop sometime this summer.

To see Cappadonna at work as a cab driver, tune in to MTV2 on Sunday. He'll be featured on the latest episode of "The Wrap," which premieres at 9:30 p.m.

• Wu-Tang Clan
• RZA
• Cappadonna

Cappadonna
Photo: Sony

NEW YORK — We've heard P. Diddy and Fabolous rhyme about trading it all for their soulmates, but Staten Island rapper Cappadonna has literally lived up to the mantra. Eleven months ago, Cap, who was on the outs with his wife, gave up many of his worldly possessions and decided to take pilgrimages on the pavement.

"I was actually living in the street," the lyricist, who has lived in Baltimore for the past four years, often working as a cab driver, said Tuesday. "It was by choice. But it was more of my way of rebelling against the materialistic world."

At the time of the conflict, Cap and his wife had let business difficulties hamper their marriage, with many of their problems stemming from disagreements about her role as his manager.

"I think it put a little strain on the relationship," he said. "My wife is very intelligent and on her job, but it was causing a little bit of tension. At the same time, when we were working together, I'm trying to instill the law of discipline in her. [Like,] 'I am the man and I am the ruler of this foundation.' "

The couple did not see eye-to-eye about what Cap thought was the best way to make their marriage stronger.

"I said [to] leave all the materialistic stuff behind and strengthen the foundation of our relationship," he explained. "It can't be based upon money, fortune and fame. It has to be based upon knowledge, wisdom and understanding. I told her, 'Let's leave the house, let's move away for another start.' She didn't want to do that. I said, 'Well, I'm going to go move into the street as a bum. You keep the Cadillacs and Benzes, the houses and all of that.' I gave away [most of] my clothes and all my jewelry. I resorted to the bitterness of the sidewalk. For eight months I [was] walking around, really in a bum state of mind. I came from nothing. For me to go back to nothing, I'm still in my element. The average rich person, for them to go to nothing would probably be their cause of death. "

Fortunately for Cappadonna, he and his wife have since reconciled and he is back at home. But even before he decided to live like a pauper, the former Wu-Tang affiliate wasn't exactly raking in a king's ransom from his proceeds as a rapper.

Despite having two solo albums, a greatest-hits LP and appearances on several Wu projects since 1995, Donna says he's only collected one royalty check in his entire career. His "raggedy" contracts with the RZA's Razor Sharp Records and publishing company was one of the many reasons Don says he did not pop up on Wu-Tang's 2001 LP, Iron Flag, even after receiving a nod to replace the then-incarcerated ODB on 2000's The W.

"Through the course of time, we've never really been in each other's lives like best friends," Cap, whose history with many Clan members traces back to preschool, said of his dealings with Wu-Tang. "Outside of music, us 10 guys never say, 'Yo, let's go to a flick' or 'Can we just hang out today? Let's go to park.' I haven't gotten a call from nobody in the Clan since I don't know when. Nobody ever called me like 'Yo, what's going on, what's really good? How are your triplets doing? How are you doing?' It ain't that kind of world." (Although he maintains this sentiment, Cap did mention that he's been in contact with Raekwon and ODB within the past year and that Inspectah Deck appears on his new album).

Cap's world these days includes getting the word out on his two new albums. He's already released one to the underground in Los Angeles, a joint venture with reggae artist Mad Lion called Love Is Love, and has the aptly titled solo LP The Struggle scheduled to come out in August. Despite his musical aspirations, however, Cap still holds down his day job as a cab driver.

"It's not only a good way for me to get a little bit of extra money, it makes me one with the people," he explained of his side occupation. "I hear a lot of different stories in the cab. I done had a lady and her daughter trying to get at me. Some kids come in there and try to jump out my cab. I don't have no boundaries. I'm not dealing with pride and selfishness and other things that limit us from accomplishing what we want to accomplish in life. I go for the gusto. They've got the expression, 'Be all you can be' in the Army. I'mma be all I can be in the world. I'm a master of anything."

• Cappadonna

RZA
Photo: MTV News

Even as most of the members prep solo records and Method Man suggests some group therapy is in order, the Wu-Tang Clan will manage to crank out an album by year's end, group mastermind RZA promises.

RZA said Tuesday that the Clan will follow up last year's The W with an album of "back-to-basics, raw Wu stuff" in December. However, Method Man recently told a far different story.

"It's not gonna happen," he said. "Right now we're going through a little internal sh--, bullsh--. ... When you have so many mouths to feed and then the sales aren't what they used to be, you know, things happen. Right now we're all working together to build a family structure back again. F--- a album. Let's be a family again. "We gotta bring the friendship back, the unit back, before we can even attempt to go in the studio and make another album." Columbia Records has penciled in December 4 as the album's tentative release date. Though RZA said the group will record new material over the next few months, Wu-Tang have more than an album's worth of songs left over from The W sessions, as well as material recorded with Ol' Dirty Bastard while he was on the lam last fall. ODB is currently in a New York jail awaiting sentencing on crack-cocaine charges (see "ODB Sentencing Postponed Until July.") ODB's studio work while a fugitive from the law also enabled him to turn up on RZA's and Ghostface Killah's solo albums.

He joins Meth, GZA, Masta Killa and Goodie Mob's Big Gipp on RZA as Bobby Digital: Digital Bullet, due August 28. The LP is RZA's second album as the techno-age superhero Bobby Digital. "Show U Love" will serve as a club single, while "La Rumba" will be released to radio and have an accompanying video.

Method Man is in the midst of recording his third solo LP with Wu producer Mathematics, Dame Grease, Yogi and Quran, the latter of whom tracked Meth's "Break Ups 2 Make Ups," his Def Jam publicist said. The effort, which Method Man at one point planned to title Tical O: The Prequel, is his first solo LP since 1998's Tical 2000: Judgement Day. Ghostface Killah is finishing up Bulletproof Wallets in Miami, according to his A&R rep. Other than Dirty, the follow-up to last year's Supreme Clientele features guest spots from Raekwon, Meth and Carl Thomas and production by RZA, Alchemist and Ghost. GZA is recording his third solo effort, while Raekwon is set to drop the follow-up to 1999's Immobilarity, on October 9. No details were available on either album at press time.

Cappadonna released The Yin and the Yang in April.

• Wu-Tang Clan
• RZA
• Method Man
• Ol' Dirty Bastard
• Ghostface Killah

Method Man
Photo: MTV News

After regrouping for The W, the Wu-Tang Clan is about to fire another round of solo albums, as at least six members of the New York rap mob are in the studio or heading that way.

Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Masta Killa, Cappadonna and U-God are all expected to release albums by year's end.

First to drop will be Cappadonna's The Yin and Yang, due March 27. The record features production work by Jermaine Dupri, Alchemist, Neonek, Goldfing, and Wu-Tang Clansmen RZA and Inspectah Deck, according to Capp's Epic A&R representative. The first single will be "Supermodel," featuring a guest rap by Ghostface Killah. Feisty rapper Da Brat also drops in for the Dupri-produced "We Know." Other song titles include "Star Wars," "Love Is the Message," "The Grits," "Cut in Class," "Bread of Life" and "Revenge." Raekwon and Ghostface Killah initially planned to record a joint disc, but they're now each tracking a solo album.

Ghost is recording the follow-up to last year's Supreme Clientele in a variety of locations, including New York and Florida. The tentatively titled Cuban Linx II: Bulletproof Wallets will feature production work by RZA and appearances by additional Clansmen. The first single will likely be the club track "Good Times." Raekwon recently began recording his third LP in a Manhattan studio, a Loud Records spokesperson said. The album may share the same Cuban Linx II title as Ghost's disc, but with a different subtitle. Cuban Linx II, which refers to a type of gold chain, is a takeoff on Raekwon's 1995's album, Only Built for Cuban Linx. Method Man will head into the studio after he finishes filming a movie called "How High" with Redman, his Def Jam publicist said. The tentatively titled Tical 0: The Prequel is expected to feature production work by RZA and guest rhymes by Redman. It is Method Man's follow-up to 1998's Tical 2000: Judgement Day. Masta Killa, the only member of Wu-Tang who has not yet released a solo album, is expected to put out his debut later this year. Meanwhile, U-God should have his follow-up to 1999's Golden Arms Redemption ready by late summer, Priority Records said.

Jailed Wu-Tang MC Ol' Dirty Bastard recorded four or five songs with RZA and Wu-Tang affiliated producer John the Baptist while he was a fugitive late last year. Those songs are not scheduled for release any time soon, ODB's Elektra spokesperson said.

The Wu-Tang Clan released its third collective LP, The W, in November. The Wu Tang Records label will issue Wu Chronicles Chapter 2, featuring various Wu collaborations and six unreleased tracks, on April 24.

• Wu-Tang Clan
• Method Man
• Raekwon
• Ghostface Killah
• Cappadonna

Eve won New Artist of the Year (Solo), one of only five awards given out before fighting brought the show to a halt.

PASADENA, Calif. — An outburst of violence that police and witnesses said involved rap artists brought the second annual Source Hip-Hop Music Awards to an abrupt end Tuesday night, only an hour into the show's taping.

Local police shut down the event at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium after several fights broke out in the crowd and 75 audience members stormed the stage, Lt. Paul Gales said.

"It was out of control," Gales said. Wu-Tang Clan rapper Cappadonna said the trouble began with "just a normal fight. It wasn't as big as it seemed, but at the same time, it creates conflict amongst everybody because it starts a chain reaction because negative energy feeds off negative energy." Organizers had not decided at press time whether they would restage the awards, according to event spokesperson Larry Winokur. The show, which is put on by The Source magazine, was scheduled to air Aug. 29 on UPN.

The melee started about 8 p.m., shortly after a videotaped tribute to late hip-hop artists was shown. Audience members pelted police with CD cases and bottles as authorities tried to quell the skirmishes.

Police said there were no arrests or injuries. Gales said he did not know which rappers allegedly were involved.

Several eyewitnesses said Bone Thugs-N-Harmony rapper Krayzie Bone was hurt in the incident. "He was busted up pretty bad," said a photographer who asked not to be named. "He wasn't getting any help." After police evacuated the estimated 2,500 attendees from the venue, stunned artists and fans streamed out of the building. Many rappers refused to discuss what happened inside the auditorium as they milled around backstage.

"I can't speak on that right now," said Artist of the Year (Solo) nominee Snoop Dogg, who was standing stoically near a tent, surrounded by a tight circle of bodyguards. "My head is in another place right now." Rising St. Louis rapper Nelly, the current king of the Billboard 200 albums chart, said he saw very little.

"I buzzed out off there," he said. Some attendees expressed concern that the incident will be viewed as a reflection of hip-hop rather than a result of a few individuals causing trouble. "It's a sad day for hip-hop," said 32-year-old Bilal Allah, who works with the Wu-Tang Clan. "This is gonna be a serious blow. My biggest concern is the spin the media's gonna take on it." Winokur said organizers "deeply regretted" that the show was cut short. "It's unimaginable that the act of a few people ruined a night of music for the many people who came here," he said. "This was an evening to celebrate music and celebrate hip-hop culture. This just simply went awry." Winokur said organizers had staffed adequate security for the event.

Cappadonna said he hoped for "a justification for this whole mess right here, so then maybe somethin' good will come out of it." "Brothers still can't get along," he said. "Brothers gotta hold hands for a while, man. Stop poppin' each other like that, or else we ain't never gonna get nowhere." Shortly after the awards ceremony began, gangsta rapper DJ Quik was involved in a scuffle outside the auditorium, after a member of his posse traded blows with another attendee. DJ Quik was handcuffed and briefly detained but was released without being charged, Gales said.

Only five awards were given out before the show was canceled. Eve, the night's only female rap nominee, received New Artist of the Year (Solo), while Redman and Method Man shared the Life Performer of the Year award.

Eminem accepted the Music Video of the Year award for his collaboration with Dr. Dre on "Guilty Conscience" (RealAudio excerpt). Dr. Dre and Ice Cube picked up the night's top honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award.

"When they told me I was receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, I said, 'Damn, I'm only 31,' " Ice Cube said as he stood next to Dr. Dre onstage. "But when I look back at the work Dre and I have done in the last 15 years, it is a lifetime of work."

• Eve
• Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
• Krayzie Bone
• Cappadonna
• Snoop Dogg

Common, De La Soul, Cappadonna, Black Moon, Doug E. Fresh, Kool G Rap, Rass Kass, and Sporty Thieves were among the artists who convened in New York City last weekend to record a track railing against police brutality.

Inspired by the shooting death of African immigrant Amadou Diallo at the hands of New York Police officers, the artists gathered at New York's Sony Studios to record "Hip Hop For Respect." The single is the outcome of a call placed by Mos Def and Talib Kweli of Black Star to respond to crimes against humanity.

"Seeing the people on television getting arrested," Kweli told MTV News,

Because of the widespread response, Black Star has decided to expand the idea of a benefit single to an album, allowing artists who could not make the recent studio session an opportunity to participate in the project. Proceeds from the single will benefit a foundation with an anti-police brutality mission.

• Black Star
• Cappadonna
• Common
• De La Soul

An arrival date has reportedly been set for the debut offering from the first female members of the extended Wu-Tang family.

According to "Billboard," the Deadly Venoms, a quartet of female MCs, will deliver their first album on September 22 on Protect Ya Neck/A&M Records.

As we previously reported (see "Deadly Venoms Emerge From The Wu-Tang Family"), the record also will feature Wu's Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Cappadonna, Inspectah Deck, and Raekwon guest. Production is courtesy of Rza and Storm. The Venoms are also contributing to Kurupt's "Kuruption" due September 1 on ANTRA/A&M, and will have a hand in the next Method Man record on Def Jam.

• Wu-Tang Clan
• Deadly Venoms
• Method Man
• Ghostface Killah
• Cappadonna

Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, More At Cuban Linx II Listening Party At Santos Party House

• Raekwon
• Ghostface Killah
• Cappadonna