Fahd Azam (born April 27, 1976), known professionally as Mr. Capone-E, is an American rapper. He is the owner of the record label Hi-Power Entertainment.

Early life

Fahd Azam was born in the

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

district of the

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

to an ethnic Hazara family. He and his family moved to

West Covina, California West Covina is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located east of downtown Los Angeles in the eastern San Gabriel Valley, it is part of Greater Los Angeles Area, Greater Los Angeles. The population for the city was 109,501 ...

at an early age. He grew up around gangs and became a Sureño. He was incarcerated at 18, and while serving time he decided he wanted to pursue a career in

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

.Archived a
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Wayback Machine

Career

2000–2005: Career beginnings

Mr. Capone-E released his first solo album in 2000 titled ''Mr. Capone E & The Southsiders'' independently through his label Hi Power. This album received a lot of buzz and caught the attention of

Thump Records Thump Records is a record label specialized in various genres of music. Founded by Bill Walker and Al Lopez for $10,000 in 1990. In 1997 Bill Walker became its sole C.E.O. and President. History Thump's success was ignited by the popularity of i ...

. He signed a three-year distribution deal and released his next album ''Last Man Standing'' in 2001. In 2003 Mr Capone E released his third album ''Dedicated To The Oldies'' which he claims sold over one million records through swap meets and discotecas. He went on to release ''Always and Forever'' in 2003, which featured the single "I Like It" with

Nate Dogg Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (August 19, 1969 – March 15, 2011), known professionally as Nate Dogg, was an American rapper and singer. He gained recognition for providing guest vocals on several hit rap songs between 1992 and 2007, earning him the ...

. The album also featured guest appearances from

Kokane Jerry Buddy Long Jr. (born March 10, 1969), better known by his stage name Kokane, is an American rapper and singer best known for his distinctive vocal style and numerous guest appearances, such as on Snoop Dogg's ''Tha Last Meal''. Early life ...

, Mr. Criminal and other artists from his label Hi Power. In 2005 he released the albums ''A Soldier's Story'' and ''Ol Skool Music Vol.1 and Vol. 2'' with Zapp.

2006–2013 Leave from Thump Records, independent releases

Money issues began to surface between Mr. Capone-E and Thump, which ultimately led to unpaid royalties to Mr. Capone-E. He was encouraged to leave Thump based on the number of albums he was selling per release. He left and received all the rights to his music released under Thump. That year Mr. Capone-E released his seventh album, distributed under SMC, ''Don't get it Twisted'', including the hit single "Don't Get it Twisted" ft.

Twista Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (also known as Tung Twista), is an American rapper. He is best known for his Chopper (rap), chopper style of rapping and for once holding the title of fastest ...

, which peaked at #18 on the

Top Heatseekers The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

Album Chart, #25 on the

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' mag ...

Chart and #68 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' R&B/Rap Albums. In 2007, Mr. Capone-E signed an independent direct distribution deal with Koch, and released his eighth album, ''Mr. Capone-E: Dedicated to the Oldies Part II''. It peaked at #17 on the

Albums Chart and #66 on the ''Billboard'' R&B/ Hip Hop Album. In 2009, Capone-E released his ninth album, ''Diary of a G'', including the single " Light my Fire" ft.

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

and collaborations with The Game and Glasses Malone, which peaked at #18 on the ''Billboard'' Rap Album Charts and #24 on the

Album Charts. That year he also did a ring entrance song for the WBA Light Welterweight boxing champion at the time, Amir Khan. He continued to release albums independently over the years, releasing the albums ''The Blue Album'', ''Tears of a Soldier''.

2014–2016: Attempts to crack the mainstream, ''No Regrets'', and ''For Respect''

In 2014, Mr. Capone E started working on two albums, ''No Regrets'' and ''For Respect''. These albums have more of a mainstream sound to his previous albums, collaborating with artists such as

Migos Migos () were an American hip hop group founded in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 2008. The group was composed of rapper Quavo, his nephew Takeoff, and their "cousin" friend Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia, while Offset and Takeoff were bo ...

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Moroccan Arabic, Arabic: IPA pronunciation, æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he immigrated to New York ...

Ray J William Ray Norwood Jr. (born January 17, 1981), known professionally as Ray J, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, television presenter, and actor. Born in McComb, Mississippi and raised in Carson, California, he is the younger brother o ...

, and

DJ Mustard A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals), mobile DJ ...

. To support the albums he released the mixtape ''Los Angeles Times''. The albums were released in 2016.

2017: 12 albums in 12 months

In 2017, he released an album every month. He did this because he felt that he was not active musically over the past few years and needed to release a lot of music to become more relevant.

2018–present: ''Narco Valley'', autobiography, and other ventures

After releasing those 12 albums, Mr. Capone-E chose to focus more on building his label Hi Power and sign more up and coming talent. On March 13, 2018, he made his film debut in ''Narco Valley''. He is also currently working on releasing his autobiography ''Who Am I'' detailing his childhood, his family and ethnicity, and his life and career.

Hi Power Entertainment

Mr. Capone-E founded Hi Power Records in 2000 with the release of his debut album. The independent label launched the career of fellow Chicano rap super star Mr. Criminal. The label originally was only made up of Chicano rappers in his area, but as the label gained more popularity he signed artists like Bizzy Bone and

Layzie Bone Steven Howse (born September 23, 1974), known professionally as Layzie Bone, is an American rapper known primarily for being a member of the group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. He has also gone by the names L-Burna, Lil Lay, and The #1 Assassin. He is ...

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (formerly known as B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e and also referred to as simply Bone Thugs or Bone) is an American hip hop group formed in 1991 in Cleveland, Ohio. Consisting of rappers Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone, Layzie Bone, Krayzie ...

, Lil Flip,

MC Eiht Aaron Bernard Tyler (born May 22, 1971), better known by his stage name MC Eiht (pronounced "MC Eight"), is an American rapper. Many of his songs are based on his life in Compton. His stage name was partly inspired by the numeral in KRS-One's nam ...

, Bad Azz, and

Suga Free Dejuan Walker (born January 17, 1970), better known by his stage name Suga Free, is an American rapper. Biography Suga Free was born in Gardena and moved from Oakland, CaliforniaWhitburn, Joel (2005) ''The "Billboard" Book of Top 40 R&B and H ...

, among others.

Discography

Mixtapes

* ''Los Angeles Times'' (2014) * ''After the Smoke Clears'' (2016)

Singles

Guest appearances

References

External links

*
Mr. Capone-E Interview at Dubcnn
{{Authority control Living people People from the San Gabriel Valley Rappers from Los Angeles Gangsta rappers G-funk artists Sureños American musicians of Pakistani descent American people of Hazara descent Pakistani people of Hazara descent Pakistani emigrants to the United States Pakistani rappers Hazara singers 1976 births 21st-century American rappers West Coast hip-hop musicians People from West Covina, California