Search - King Kapisi :: Savage Thoughts

The world needs more of this

3rdeadly3rd | Brisbane, Queensland Australia | 06/02/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Now here we see the real hip-hop in action. Well, not entirely hip-hop. Kapisi mixes in a bit of reggae, bit of calypso and a bit of traditional Samoan music - but the result is a very lyrical hip-hop album.Kapisi's flow is very tight indeed, he manages to cover quite serious topics without getting too preachy which is a real talent. He also demonstrates that he has a good amount of talent - always ready to throw in a hook or two into the cuts here.All the tracks here are exactly what both the radio and the real world need. The radio would go for the insanely catchy choruses ("Fix amnesia/of Polynesia/we're trapped in this damn game/for this I feel ashamed") while the hip-hop community would go for his lyrical skills ("OS equal oversised, overstayer, overstretched last names/pack it up pick it up can you pronounce it?"). The balancing act required to do that sort of thing is one which far too many acts have failed in the past.Kapisi also has a dancehall talent. In the tradition of many dancehall acts in the early days of that genre, he has appropriated various hooks to add to his own. "U-Not-Red-I" is a good example of this - the hook in the chorus can also be found in only slightly altered form on Born Jamericans album "Kids From Foreign" - and I suspect that not even this is the earliest appearance of it.The first time I gave this CD a real outing was at a friend's party a few weeks ago. The first track I played was the main single "Screems From Da Old Plantation" - and, after some odd looks at the Samoan intro, everyone (including people who are 100% anti-rap) was getting into it. By the end of the party, everyone was singing "Rewind selecta flow dem mad feel/while we rugged dancehall echos/fa'a pa boom boom/fa'a pa boom BOOM" (or close to it) and it was a real job getting the CD back from the girl who'd "borrowed" it and was playing "Reverse Resistance".Since that time, I've had many people ask if they could burn themselves copies of it - the only answer I've given them is that it's everywhere in CD shops and doesn't cost very much to pick up. And trust me - it's worth it to pay that much for a slice of true talent.Like I said - buy it, don't sleep on Kapisi."

Pacific Beats -Unleashed on the World...

Junglor J. | Wanaka, Aotearoa/ New Zealand | 10/01/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From a tiny country in the South Pacific comes someone who is keeping hip-hop right, by keeping it real.
Bill "Kapisi" Urale has blended an area of many moods and ideas into 74 minutes of GOODNESS, which isn't easy. From the local boy planting his crops in DA ULA, to the drum'n'bass kicks of U-NOT-REDI, "Savage Thoughts" gives you an album of incredible complexity, and you find yourself running out of superlatives to describe such a sublime debut album.
Kapisi, in his own words, represents for all pacific peoples- from Hawaii to Aotearoa and back to Aitutaki in Samoa so make no mistake, the messages brought up here deal with the issues facing the South Pacific at the moment and for the future (Greed stained facts about the original man).
With the cutting and scratching by ITF Turntable Champ DJ Raw, guest vocalists Teremoana Rapley, Tha Feelstyle and Juse, innovative programming by Mr. Cuba and The Submariner, not to mention the instrumental skillz of Ned Ngatae, Manuel Bundy and Sam Konise and you have the cream of Aotearoa/New Zealand Hip-Hop.
If you want to get away from the meaningless rap coming out of the States and into the meaningful rap coming out of the Pacific, then check out these lyrics from my favourite cuton the album, HIP-HOP'S GOT ME.
"War is a daily task, test to overcome
Last whim is inner stories never been sung
Blowing up is inevitable, cos i believe if i strive
My stuff will get live airplay on no commercial
airway- it aint nothin'
You will never understand coconut intellect
On the Technics
Only some can and i stay true... i stay true..."

I can't remember an album I have enjoyed so much for so many reasons, and if you want to listen to Pacific consciousness in lyrics, perfect melodies, wicked scratching, as well as fat bass beats- then come to New Zealand, but if you can't... then buy Savage Thoughts."

Nesian Hip Hop Teacher

spirit_goddess | Aotearoa | 01/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Talofa lava!King Kapisi is simply an intellect with a heart of hip-hop. His songs "U-Not-RedI", "Screams From Da Old Plantation" & non-album tracks "Reverse Resistance" & "Sub-Cranium Feeling" are pure uncultivated originality and bliss.He's simply staying true for the brothers & sisters across the airwaves.Tofa soifua."