Capital Punishment (Big Pun album)

Capital Punishment
Studio album by Big Pun
Released	April 28, 1998 (1998-04-28)
Recorded	1997–1998
Genre	East Coast hip-hop hardcore hip-hop Latin hip-hop gangsta rap
Length	71:53
Label	Loud Terror Squad
Producer	Big Pun (also executive) Fat Joe (also executive) Ju-Ju Rockwilder Knobody Dahoud Nomad Mike Zulu Domingo Frank Nitty Younglord L.E.S. the Infinite Arkatechz Minnesota dead prez V.I.C. RZA Danny O & EQ Showbiz
Big Pun chronology
Capital Punishment (1998) Yeeeah Baby (2000)
Singles from Capital Punishment
"I'm Not a Player" Released: August 7, 1997 "Still Not a Player" Released: March 28, 1998 "You Came Up" Released: August 22, 1998

Capital Punishment is the debut studio album by American rapper Big Pun, released by Loud Records and Fat Joe's Terror Squad Productions, being the first release on the latter label. Released on April 28, 1998, it is the only album released during his lifetime, as he died two months before the release of his second album, Yeeeah Baby .

It is regarded as a hip-hop classic, described by Black Thought of the Roots as "super groundbreaking" upon release. ^[1] The album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 charts and number one on the Top R&B Albums chart for two weeks, eventually becoming the first solo Latin hip hop record to go Platinum. ^[2] It was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1999 Grammy Awards, but lost to Jay-Z's Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life .

Background

In 1995, Big Pun met fellow Puerto Rican and Bronx rapper Fat Joe in 1995. He would make his debut on Fat Joe's second album, Jealous One's Envy , on the eleventh track, "Watch Out".

In 1997, Big Pun began recording songs for the album. The album was preceded by two singles: I'm Not a Player , and its remix, Still Not a Player , which would prove to be the commercial breakthrough for both Pun and the songs' producer, Knobody, peaking at No. 57 and 24 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. ^[3]

Release

The album was released on April 28, 1998. The album was a commercial success, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and topping the R&B/Hip Hop Albums charts. The album would be certified gold in Canada and platinum in the United States, becoming the first solo album by a Latin rapper to go Platinum.

Clean version

A clean version of the album was released. It has 22 tracks, with both skits, "Taster’s Choice" and "Pakinamac Pt. I", removed (due to sexual content and violence), and the skits "Pakinamac Pt. II" and "Uncensored" retitled as "Pakinamac" and "Censored".

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[5]
Entertainment Weekly	B+ [6]
The Indianapolis Star	[7]
Los Angeles Times	[8]
Q	[9]
RapReviews	9.5/10 [10]
Rolling Stone	[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[12]
The Source	[13]

The album has received generally positive reviews since its release. The Indianapolis Star said that "as a character, Punisher often falls into routine street posturing but the personality is as solid as big body that accompanies it." ^[7] Entertainment Weekly stated: "Everything about this Bronx-bred Puerto Rican rapper is generous, his 400-pound girth, his multiple rhyming within each line, and his talent for spewing out verses without stopping for breath." ^[6] Q wrote: "Displaying huge lyrical prowess and the requisite 'sensitive' side...[the album] established Pun as a serious rival to Biggie Smalls and something of a ladykiller to boot... Outrageously good." ^[9] The Source determined that "he'll rhyme every possible word in a line because he wants to be twice as nice... Capital Punishment's all about execution." ^[13] Rap Pages concluded that "Big Pun is at his best with all barrels firing bullets lacing the air like embroidery on grandmama's quilt." ^[14]

Legacy

Rolling Stone included Capital Punishment on its list of "The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time", at 128. ^[15]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"			0:33
2.	"Beware"	Christopher Rios Jerry Tineo	JuJu	3:15
3.	"Super Lyrical" (featuring Black Thought)	Rios Tariq Trotter	Rockwilder DJ Iroc (scratches)	3:28
4.	"Taster's Choice" (skit, not included on the clean version)			1:20
5.	"Still Not a Player" (featuring Joe)	Rios Jerome Foster	Knobody Dahoud (co.) Nomad (co.)	3:56
6.	"Intermission"		Mike Zulu	0:21
7.	"The Dream Shatterer"	Rios	Domingo	3:33
8.	"Punish Me" (featuring Miss Jones)	Rios Frank Pimentel	Frank Nitty	4:15
9.	"Pakinamac Pt. I" (skit, not included on the clean version)			1:35
10.	"You Ain't a Killer"	Rios Richard Frierson	Young Lord	4:14
11.	"Pakinamac Pt. II" (skit)			0:57
12.	"Caribbean Connection" (featuring Wyclef Jean)	Rios Frierson Wyclef Jean	Young Lord	3:24
13.	"Glamour Life" (featuring Cuban Link, Triple Seis, Fat Joe and Armageddon)	Rios Felix Delgado Sammy Garcia Joe Cartagena John Eaddy Leshan Lewis	L.E.S.	4:43
14.	"Capital Punishment" (featuring Prospect)	Rios Richard Perez Michael Dewar Collin Dewar	The Infinite Arkatechz	4:20
15.	"Uncensored" (skit) (featuring DJ Funkmaster Flex)			2:12
16.	"I'm Not a Player"	Rios Kenny Gamble Leon Huff	Minnesota	3:41
17.	"Twinz (Deep Cover '98)" (featuring Fat Joe)	Rios Joseph Cartagena	Big Pun & Fat Joe	3:49
18.	"The Rain & the Sun" (Interlude) (featuring dead prez)	Rios Clayton Gavin Lavonne Alford	dead prez	1:49
19.	"Boomerang"	Rios Cartagena Vic Padilla	V.I.C.	3:35
20.	"You Came Up" (featuring Noreaga)	Rios Stinson	Rockwilder	3:54
21.	"Tres Leches (Triboro Trilogy)" (featuring Prodigy and Inspectah Deck)	Rios Albert Johnson Jason Hunter Robert Diggs Eric Barrier William Griffin, Jr.	RZA DJ Roc Raida (scratches)	4:19
22.	"Charlie Rock Shout" (skit)			0:26
23.	"Fast Money"	Rios	Danny O & EQ	3:48
24.	"Parental Discretion" (featuring Busta Rhymes)	Rios Rodney Lemay	Showbiz	4:33
Total length:				1:11:53

"Still Not a Player" is edited on all pressings. The original uncensored version can be found on the promo single.

Sample credits

• "Intro" samples a dialogue clip from the 1994 film Fresh .
• "Beware" samples "Theme for the Losers" by Henry Mancini, "Shook Ones Part I" by Mobb Deep, and interpolates "Hot Potato" by Naughty by Nature.
• "Super Lyrical" contains vocal samples from "One More Chance / Stay with Me (Remix)" by The Notorious B.I.G., "It's Logic" by Canibus, and dialogue clips from the 1985 film Rocky IV .
• "Still Not a Player" samples "A Little Bit of Love" by Brenda Russell and interpolates "Brazilian Rhyme (Bejio Interlude)" by Earth, Wind & Fire.
• "The Dream Shatterer" samples "Funk & Wagner" by Don "Sugarcane" Harris.
• "Punish Me" contains a vocal sample from "Not Gonna Be Able to Do It" by Double XX Posse.
• "You Ain't a Killer" samples "With a Child's Heart" by Michael Jackson.
• "Caribbean Connection" samples "Ready or Not" by Johnny Osbourne, "Moshitup" by Just-Ice, and "It's All About the Benjamins" by Puff Daddy.
• "Glamour Life" samples "The World Is a Ghetto" by George Benson.
• "I'm Not a Player" samples "Darlin' Darlin' Baby" by The O'Jays, "Singers" by Eddie Murphy, "Darlin', Darlin', Baby (Sweet, Tender, Love)" by Steve Khan.
• "Boomerang" samples "Le Bracelet" by Alain Goraguer.
• "You Came Up" samples "Don't Ask Me" by Ramon Morris and interpolates "Hail Mary" by 2Pac.
• "Tres Leches (Triboro Trilogy)" samples "Las Vegas Tango" by Gary Burton, "The Start of Your Ending (41st Side)" by Mobb Deep, "Method Man" by Wu-Tang Clan, "I Ain't No Joke" by Eric B. & Rakim, and "Guillotine (Swordz)" by Raekwon.
• "Parental Discretion" samples "Hydra" by Grover Washington, Jr.

Personnel

Credits for Capital Punishment adapted from the album liner notes.

• Armageddon – featured artist
• Denise Barbarita – assistant engineer
• Carlos Bess – mixing
• Big Pun – executive producer, primary artist
• Black Thought – featured artist
• Busta Rhymes – featured artist
• Sean Cane – A&R
• Chris Conway – mixing
• Cuban Link – featured artist
• Dr. Dre – producer
• Dahoud – producer
• Danny O – producer
• dead prez – producer, featured artist
• Domingo – producer
• "E" – mixing
• EQ – producer
• Fat Joe – executive producer, featured artist
• Funkmaster Flex – featured artist
• Paul Gregory – assistant engineer
• Che Harris – A&R coordination
• Daniel "PhotoChop" Hastings
• Troy Hightower – mixing
• Tom Hughes – assistant engineer
• Ken "Duro" Ifil – engineer
• Wyclef Jean – featured artist
• Inspectah Deck – featured artist
• Joe – featured artist
• Ju-Ju – producer
• Jugrnaut – producer
• Knobody – producer
• Ola Kudu – creative direction
• Adam Kudzin – engineer
• L.E.S. – producer
• Matt Life – executive producer
• Laurie Marks – A&R coordination
• Mike D. – A&R
• Minnesota – producer
• Miss Jones – featured artist
• Nastee – engineer
• Frank Nitty – producer
• Nomad – producer
• Prodigy – featured artist
• Prospect – featured artist
• Roc Raida – scratches
• Rockwilder – producer
• RZA – producer
• Schott Free – A&R
• Tony Smalios – engineer, mixing
• Triple Seis – featured artist
• Showbiz – producer
• Soundboy – engineer, mixing
• Kevin Stone – assistant engineer
• Nikos Teneketzis – mixing assistant
• Kieran Walsh – engineer
• Gregory "Gold" Wilson – assistant engineer
• Ted Wohlsen – mixing
• Trauma – producer
• Young Lord – producer
• Leon Zervos – mastering
• Mike Zulu – producer

Album chart positions

Year	Album	Chart positions
		Billboard 200	Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums	Top Canadian Albums
1998	Capital Punishment	5	1	11

Singles

Year	Song	Hot 100	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	Hot Rap Singles	Rhythmic Top 40	Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
1997	"I'm Not a Player"	57	19	3	-	7
1998	"Still Not a Player"	24	6	13	5	1
	"You Came Up"	-	49	43	-	-

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [16]	Gold	50,000^
United States (RIAA) [17]	Platinum	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

• List of number-one R&B albums of 1998 (U.S.)

References

1. Espinoza, Joshua (April 27, 2018). "Black Thought Reflects on the 20th Anniversary of Big Pun's 'Capital Punishment'". Complex. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
2. "Gold & Platinum - Big Pun". RIAA. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
3. "Interview with Knobody". HitQuarters. September 27, 2005. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
4. Huey, Steve. "Capital Punishment – Big Pun". AllMusic . Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
5. Christgau, Robert (2000). "Big Punisher: Capital Punishment". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN   0-312-24560-2. Archived from the original on January 10, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
6. Mukherjee, Tiarra (July 17, 1998). "Capital Punishment". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
7. Miley, Scott L. (May 17, 1998). "Big Punisher". The Indianapolis Star. p. I8.
8. Baker, Soren (June 7, 1998). "Big Punisher, 'Capital Punishment,' Loud/RCA". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on March 18, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
9. "Big Pun: Capital Punishment". Q . No. 165. June 2000. p. 123.
10. Juon, Steve "Flash" (February 20, 2001). "Big Punisher :: Capital Punishment :: Loud Records". RapReviews. Archived from the original on January 10, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
11. Mao, Chairman (May 6, 1998). "Big Punisher: Capital Punishment". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
12. Ex, Kris (2004). "Big Pun". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p.  71. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
13. Alvarez, Gabriel (June 1998). "Big Pun: Capital Punishment". The Source . No. 105. pp. 159–160.
14. "Big Punisher – Capital Punishment". Rap Pages. September 1998. p. 120. Archived from the original on January 22, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
15. "The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. June 7, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
16. "Canadian album certifications – Big Punisher – Capital Punisher". Music Canada.
17. "American album certifications – Big Punisher – Capital Punishment". Recording Industry Association of America.