Capital Punishment (album)

Capital Punishment
Studio album by Big Pun
Released	April 28, 1998
Recorded	1997–98
Genre	Hardcore hip hop East Coast hip hop Latin hip hop Mafioso rap
Length	1:11:53
Label	Loud Terror Squad
Producer	Various Big Pun (also exec.) Fat Joe (also exec.) Matt Life (exec.) Ju-Ju Rockwilder Knobody Dahoud Nomad Mike Zulu Domingo Frank Nitty Young Lord L.E.S. The Infinite Arkatechz Minnesota dead prez VIC RZA Danny O & EQ Showbiz
Big Pun chronology
Capital Punishment (1998) Yeeeah Baby (2000)
Singles from Capital Punishment
"I'm Not a Player" Released: October 14, 1997 "Still Not a Player" Released: March 28, 1998 "You Came Up" Released: August 22, 1998

Capital Punishment is the only album released by rapper Big Pun during his lifetime, released on April 28, 1998. The album received critical acclaim, peaking at #5 on the Billboard 200 charts and #1 on the Top R&B Albums chart for two weeks. It was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1999 Grammy Awards, but lost to Jay-Z's Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life. Capital Punishment would be the only album released in Pun's lifetime. Capital Punishment is regarded as a classic because of Pun's technical efficiency and wordplay. It was also the first Latin hip hop record to go Platinum.^[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllHipHop	[2]
Allmusic	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[4]
Q	[5]
Rap Pages	[5]
RapReviews	(9.5/10)[6]
Robert Christgau	[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
The Source	[9]

• Entertainment Weekly (7/17/98, p. 85) - "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." - Rating: B+^[4]
• Q (6/00, p. 123) - 4 stars out of 5 - "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....funk and fun aplenty....Outrageously good."
• The Source (6/98, p. 159) - 4 Mics (out of 5) - "He'll rhyme every possible word in a line because he wants to be twice as nice....Capital Punishment's all about execution."
• Rap Pages (9/98, p. 120) - 4 (out of 5) - "Big Pun is at his best with all barrels firing bullets lacing the air like embroidery on grandmama's quilt." ^[5]

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 Dana Stinson Tariq Trotter Sean Combs Christopher Wallace Norman Glover Chucky Thompson Reginald Elis	Rockwilder	3:28
4.	"Taster's Choice" (skit)			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)			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)	Rios Frierson Wyclef Jean	Young Lord	3:24
13.	"Glamour Life" (featuring Fat Joe and Terror Squad)	Rios Leshan Lewis	L.E.S.	4:43
14.	"Capital Punishment" (featuring Prospect)	Rios Michael Dewar Collin Dewar	The Infinite Arkatechz	4:20
15.	"Uncensored" (skit) (featuring 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 Calvin Broadus Andre Young Collin Wolfe	Big Punisher 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"	Rios Stinson	Rockwilder	3:54
21.	"Tres Leches (Triboro Trilogy)" (featuring Prodigy and Rebel-INS)	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

Sample credits^[10]

• "Intro" contains an excerpt of the film Fresh
• "Beware" contains samples of "Shook Ones" as performed by Mobb Deep and "Theme for Loser" as performed by Henry Mancini
• "Super Lyrical" contains samples of "One More Chance" as performed by the Notorious B.I.G., "It's Logic" as performed by Canibus and excerpts from the film Rocky IV
• "Still Not a Player" contains samples of "A Little Bit of Love" as performed by Brenda Russell and an interpolation of "Don't Wanna Be a Player" as performed by Joe
• "The Dream Shatterer" contains a sample of "Ride of the Valkyries" as performed by Richard Wagner
• "You Ain't a Killer" contains samples of "With a Child's Heart" as performed by Michael Jackson and "Summertime" as performed by Kool & the Gang
• "Caribbean Connection" contains a sample of "Ready or Not" as performed by Johnny Osbourne
• "Glamour Life" contains a sample of "The World Is a Ghetto" as performed by George Benson
• "I'm Not a Player" contains samples of "Brazilian Rhyme (Interlude)" as performed by Earth, Wind & Fire and "Darlin' Darlin' Baby (Sweet, Tender, Love)" as performed by the O'Jays
• "Twinz (Deep Cover 98)" recycles the instrumental from "Deep Cover" as performed by Dr. Dre & Snoop Doggy Dogg
• "Boomerang" contains a sample of "Le Bracelet" as performed by Alain Goraguer
• "You Came Up" contains a sample of "Don't Ask me" as performed by Ramon Morris
• "Tres Leches (Triboro Trilogy)" contains samples of "Las Vegas Tango" as performed by Gary Burton, "I Ain't No Joke" as performed by Eric B. & Rakim, "The Start of Your Ending (41st Side)" as performed by Mobb Deep, "Method Man" as performed by Wu-Tang Clan and "Guillotine (Swordz)" as performed by Raekwon
• "Parental Discretion" contains samples of "Hydra" as performed 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
• Cus – mixing
• 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	-	-

See also

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

References

1. "Gold & Platinum - Big Pun". RIAA. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
2. AllHipHop review
3. Allmusic review
4. Entertainment Weekly review
5. "Big Punisher - Capital Punishment CD Album". Cduniverse.com. 1999-08-24. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
6. RapReviews review
7. Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
8. Rolling Stone review
9. Alvarez, Gabriel (June 1998). "Review: Capital Punishment". The Source: 159–160.
10. "Fat Joe Reveals Details on The Darkside, Vol. 2 Mixtape, New Album". Xxlmag.Com. September 21, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2012.