Capa is a bright spot on the body of domestic rap. Under the creative pseudonym of the performer, the name of Alexander Aleksandrovich Malts is hidden. A young man was born on May 24, 1983 on the territory of Nizhny Tagil.
The rapper managed to become part of several Russian bands. We are talking about the groups: Soldiers of Concrete Lyrics, Capa and Cartel, Tomahawks Manitou, and ST. 77".
In addition to the fact that Capa proved himself to be a worthy rapper, he realized himself as a producer, director, musician, writer, and also the author of translations of feature films.
Very little is known about Alexander's early childhood and youth. In the mid-1990s, the Maltz family moved to Samara. In this provincial town, in fact, Alexander's acquaintance with music began.
The first acquaintance with rap culture happened while listening to Eurodance records.
As a performer, Alexander tried himself in the group "Soldiers of Concrete Lyrics". In 1998, Malec became the direct founder and leader of the group.
The beginning of the creative path of rapper Capa
So, in 1998, Capa organized a group, which he named "Soldiers of Concrete Lyrics." The team included local Samara rappers: DiZA, Bugsy, Nazar, Snike, Shine, Angel, Turk.
And as it is inherent in any musical group at different times, the soloists left the group. In 2003, the team had only two members - Capa and Shine. Later, the rappers presented their debut album "The Gang" to the public.
When creating the collection, Capa was responsible for the musical arrangement and lyrics, Shine was solely responsible for the lyrics. That is why music lovers can hear two solo compositions from him on this compilation.
By 2004, the collection was completed. With the records, the guys went to Moscow to try their luck.
In 2005, the discography of rapper Capa was replenished with a solo album. We are talking about the plate "Vtykal". During the year, Alexander accumulated material for the release of the disc.
The rapper used old texts written in a notebook, creating backing tracks for tracks on samples from music of the 1980s, as well as ethnic music.
After some time, one thing became clear - Capa released a worthy album that would set trends in Russian rap for many years to come.
In 2004, DiZA and Kaka held a Party at the House of Culture. Dzerzhinsky. At this party, Capa noticed promising rappers from the then little-known Cartel group.
In 2006, young people met by chance at the book market. There was the most popular pirate tent with records of domestic and foreign rap artists. Capa offered the guys cooperation.
So, in fact, a new project "Capa and Cartel" appeared. There were parties at the local club and the emergence of quality material. "Kapa and Kartel" went to Moscow.
In 2008, the team released the album "Glamorous ...". In the same 2008, a reissue of the collection "VYKAL" was released.
Departure of Vanya and Sasha Cartel
2009 turned out to be a year of losses. It was in this year that Sasha Kartel left the group. Following Alexander, Vanya-Kartel also left, known in wide circles as DaBo.
The reason for the rappers leaving is the unprofessional actions of the live department of the 100PRO label. Then Sasha-Kartel organized his own project "Underground Gully".
Vanya Kartel considered creativity unpromising, so he went into the construction industry. Capa and his team became the owners of a recording studio in the capital of Russia.
Over the next few years, Capa searched for himself and his style. The rapper became interested in Eastern philosophy and poetry. This inspired him to write a new album "Asian".
In 2010, Vanya Kartel, together with Capa, presented two compositions at once. One of the tracks was called "City", and the second - "I owe money." Capa and Vanya-Kartel (DaBO) began to think about a joint album.
Having connected all the tracks, giving the artists of the 100PRO label the opportunity to participate on it, Capa gave it to "Chief" along with a video clip for the song "City" filmed in Samara, footage for the song "Asian".
As a result, listening to constant discontent from the capital, in 2011, Capa's second solo album was released.
Resuming work with DaBO
In 2014, together with DaBo, Capa presented the album "The Last Judgment". Starting in 2011, Capa and DaBO began writing another album, The Last Judgment.
The collection turned out to be very depressing and gloomy. The album "put a bullet point" on the existence of the "Cartel" project.
The tracks that were included in the mentioned album were created on the personal experiences of the participants. In some way, the songs included in the album "The Last Judgment" are a confession to the "fans".
Fans listened with pleasure to the new tracks of the collection. But music critics "shot" the album. They considered that the songs of the Last Judgment album were suicidal.
The performers recorded the new album at the Samara-Grad recording studio.
Label 100PRO, having received the material, helped the guys shoot several video clips. The quality of the clips left much to be desired. In addition, the label did not promote the record, which led to low sales.
Gradually, the words of Ivan Kartel began to come true. Vanya said: "If nothing works out with this record, I'll tie it up with music." The album turned out to be a flop. Ivan kept his word and left.
100PRO label scandal
In 2014, Capa looked at his creative path from the outside. The result of personal analysis was the new album Capodi Tutti Capi. Perhaps this is the most lyrical and touching album in the rapper's discography.
In the tracks, Cape managed to show his versatility, development, knowledge of many languages and cultures. This album is a vivid example of the growing up of the rapper and his compositions.
Female vocals and their diversity were appropriate. The musical composition “No More Games”, for which Capa shot a video clip, demonstrated more than ever that the performer has matured, this is irrevocable.
This record served as a "lice test" for the label, with which Capa devoted 15 years of cooperation, being at its origins. The label lived up to all the rapper's expectations.
The organizers of the label could not earn a penny on the album, but the most important thing was that they in every possible way prevented Capa from enriching himself on his work. The track "No More Games" is dedicated to this label.
In 2015, the singer's discography was replenished with the third studio disc Capo Di Tutti Capi. It was 2016 outside the window, no one even suspected that after leaving the label and giving people the album “N. O. F.", the rapper will be aggressive from the same label.
The organizers of the label could not come to terms with the fact that Capa left them. They spread the word that Alexander was a liar and a swindler.
There were rumors that Capa left the label and stole a lot of money. On behalf of the label, the latest record released at their studio was distributed to all electronic platforms.
Hiding behind contracts that did not really exist, the 100Pro label kept the collection for several years. As a result, the plate "N. O. J.” turned into a “sharpening”, which soon hit the organizers of the label right in the heart.
Until that time, Capa tried to keep himself from commenting on the current situation, he decided to slightly open the eyes of fans and journalists to the current situation.
He said that the organizers of the label are miserable rats. Alexander turned to AVK Prodoction, on behalf of the company posted the album already in 2018.
ST project. 77
Project "ST. 77" started with the musical composition "We play cities", which was released back in 2009. This track is a kind of experiment of Capa and Raven. The latter was very far from rap culture.
Capa and Raven tried to combine two musical directions at once in the experimental track - rap and chanson. The performers wanted to "gather" as many "fans" as possible from different cities.
As a result, the song was called "We play cities". But the track was sold only on the hands of friends, for a long time remained in a private collection.
In 2018, the user posted the song on the network and reminded everyone who forgot about Cap that such a rapper is still alive. Music lovers began to compare the track with the Bad Balance song "Cities, but it's not."
But Capa's composition was more rigid. Then it was decided to return the project “ST. 77".
The next track "Jamaica" was positively received among fans, both rap and chanson. Capa tried his vocals for the first time on the chorus, and he did it pretty well.
"ST. 77" included several EP albums: "Taiga" and "Jamaica". After the release of the third album, Capa decided that “ST. 77" must be closed.
In 2015, Capa met Sasha Kartel at one of the music festivals. The guys remembered the past and decided to create a new project. Capa began to create a new logo for the group, deal with its repertoire and come up with a name.
9 themes were chosen for the compositions, for which Capa and Sasha jointly wrote music and lyrics, recording all this at the new Basement studio. The joint album of rappers was called "Taboo".
2019 has been just as productive. It was this year that the singer's discography was replenished with the album Decadence and St. 77". The album contains 11 tracks in total.
In 2020, Capa, together with the Cartel, presented the musical composition "My Manitou". A little later, a video clip was shot for the track.
