Cappadonna

One could write a Roots-style epic about Wu-Tang Clan and its countless affiliates, familiars, confederates, and collaborators. If memory serves, didn't Ashley Judd drop a few bars for the Wu in the early '90s, right before Ruby in Paradise? The point is, it's hard to keep track of them all — even prominent contributors such as Cappadonna, the 40-year-old rapper best known for his incidental role in the much-publicized Michael Caruso/FBI informant scandal of 2001, followed by a period of creative self-exile in which he drove a taxi in Baltimore and "walked the streets," Buddha-like, with nary a possession to his name. (Hey, what do you expect from a guy who titled his second full-length album The Yin & the Yang?) Now the Wu's unofficial 10th man is on the comeback trail, having released two discs (The Cappitalize Project and Slang Prostitution) in the past year. Though neither boasts the raw outlaw oomph of his 1998 debut, The Pillage, the new albums do feature enough Staten Island swagger and catchy sample hooks to make for a fun show when the artist (born Darryl Hill) visits Chasers. Warning: Cappadonna isn't a Buddhist in the classic, lotus-chewing sense. On the cover of Slang Prostitution, he's depicted kissing a solid-gold pharaoh bust, which he wears around his neck. Looks like bling and Buddhism are compatible, after all.