Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

Capleton - File

STAR: So how de fia man come een at dat time? 'Cause de fia man was right afta Def Jam.

Capleton: Yeah, but de fia did deh deh a bun all, de time, y'nuh. 'Cause memba, Light Up De Chalice an all a dem ting deh a fia y'nuh. De fia did always a bun. A jus, y'nuh (STAR interjects 'yu directly start sey fia'). Yeah, me start sey fia.

STAR: Why at dat particular time an why de fire?

Capleton: Well, it is de message, it is a vision, an' if yu check back all de ancient one, Spear, Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, all a dem man deh, a fia dem bun.

An jus' we a strengthen de works or de pattern whe de ancient dem set, yu know wha' ah mean. I'm jus' like a reminder, yu know wha' a mean? It need to be ignited at de time, 'cause dem did feel Rastafari outta de ting an it did get a way. Yu memba?

STAR: So people did tek on to de fia as yu start?

Capleton: No! Yu know people nah go tek on to fia as it start! Wen de fia jus' start, y'nuh it was a likkle controversy y'nuh. People start sey dem man deh bun up dis, an' dem man deh bun up dat, how yu fi bun money an yu spen' money, how yu fe bun house an live inna house, how yu bun cyar an yu drive cyar?

But dem neva overstan' in terms of de bunning! Dem neva realise we did really a bun the love of it, how people worship materialistic tings an' put it ova humanity. So we would a see people more valuable dan de material, 'cause de house can bun dung an' yu buil' a new one. De cyar can write off an' yu can buy a new cyar. Yu understan' whe me a sey. But life a nuh suppen whey yu can go order roun' de counta.

STAR: So at de time wen it was de controversy, yu did feel at any time like de career woulda go dung?

Capleton: No.

STAR: Yu neva 'ave no doubt?

Capleton: No, we don' deal wid doubt an' 'if' an' 'but' an' 'maybe'. An' wen yu know what you doin', an' we don' sey believe because belief is still a form a doubt, dem sey belief kill an belief cure, but wen yu know de works, wen yu get de vision an de inspiration from Jah, yu nah go really 'ave no fear.

So me know dis call for an explanation. We haffi go explain an' let de people know what we are saying, what we mean when we sey burn, or what we mean when we sey fire. An' it is not on a destructive level. De fia is all about motivating yusself in terms of uplifting yourself, in terms of fighting against injustice an inequality, manipulation, deat' widdout dignity, an' de whole works.

An' also mek dem know dat de fia come tru word an' it come tru soun'. De fia come tru me being myself. Me nat stoopin' to de imitation in Babylon. Me not accepting de strippin of de royalty an' sey yes, it is all good. But de fire gives me more courage an give me more urge, y'nuh, urge me more to be me an defen' me. An don' hol' on to illusion an' mythology an fantasy, but de real natural ting whe we suppose to hol' on to. 'Cause nature speak reality. Nature no tell lie. So whatever nature sey, a dat me a work wid.

STAR: So yu explain.

Capleton: We explain. We gi dem it pon a biological terms, in terms of Shedrak an Mishak, in terms of Isaiah, in terms of Moses saw Jah inna de burnin' bush. De whole works, we gi dem it. Biologically, yu know where a woman cannot conceive unless certain amount a fia buil up in har temple.

Even de breath whey yu breathe, if yu no have certain amount a fia inna yu, yu cannot breathe that breath. Den we gi dem it geographically, in terms of de Earth itself haffi emerge from de equator or de creator. An de core, de crus' de mantle, a de reign a fia a govern dat. (Chuckles) Yu know wha a mean? Yu ovas wha me a sey?

An den we gi dem pon a natural aspect, in terms a de sun is de hottes' element, an if de sun no shine no rain no fall no plant no grow, we no ave no energy fe humanity. So people start get inna demself now. Stop being ridiculous an start overstan now, wha we really a sey now. So every man get de chance fe come bun crazy fia (STAR says 'afta dat). Yeah. An me give tanks fe dat. So is like, is a gateway like.

STAR: Yu did feel a sense a triumph when dem start get it? When yu start see de crowd (Capleton says 'yeah!'). Yu did feel like dem finally get it? (Capleton says 'yeah man!).

Capleton: Yeah man! Fe real! Dem ovas man. De explanation. Cause me a sey if a man don' know im jus' don' know. So wen me tell de people dem now an dem overstan' an de people dem check it an de people dem no stupid eida.

STAR: Yu did expec' people fe actually start carry literal fia an cardboard come a stage show come burn when yu perform an ting?

Capleton: No! No. Me know a man wi carry im lighta.

STAR: But some man did start carry some big cardboard.

Capleton: Mek me tell yu wha' 'appen wid de cardboard now. Mek me show yu 'ow de cardboard ting come een now. De people bring de cardboard ting fe sleep, 'cause yu know yu 'ave some artiste whe borin'. So, derefore, people lie dung an a sleep now.

So wen you come on inna de mornin' now or whatever time you come on at a certain owa, like 3, 4 o'clock, 5 o'clock, dung inna de morning desso, all a dem people whe a sleep, dem wake up an see everybody wid dem torch an dem lighter, dem get jealous! Den go light dem cardboard! (Capleton is laughing as he speaks). Den wi all heap it up an mek one big bonfire. Me deh a Israel, me mean Israel, dis is in Israel, an inna de back a de venue, inna de miggle, dem 'ave a bonfire!

STAR: Israel? So is not a Jamaica ting den.

Capleton: No. Is all ova de worl'. Dem kinda gains' it certain way, y'nuh, but people represent.

STAR: There was a time when dere was a Bible ting, a burnin' ting a gwaan roun' dat. Dat did affec' yu? Any at all?

Capleton: In terms of affec' me, it coulden affec' me. People will say all kin' of negative tings. Fe me, critics play a great part inna de ting, whedda good or bad. It still motivate me to write great songs.

Tomorrow: We wrap up with some odds and ends which bring us forward to the now, among them, Capleton and his throne at Sting, his highly individual and striking sense of fashion and One Third going 'pon top a tings'.

Yesterday, we looked at Capleton's Def Jam years, which ended with the I-Testament album, released in late 1997. (Interestingly, his then short locks were shown on the previous Def Jam album, Prophecy, but from I-Testament onwards, they have been covered). Afterwards, he moved to VP Records and released three albums, including the Grammy-nominated Reign of Fire, and is currently working on a fourth. Between Def Jam and VP Records, though came a fiery manifestation. Did someone say, moooore fia?