Years before N.O.R.E. would become a bonafide podcaster with Drink Champs or help make Reggaeton a popular musical genre in the states, Victor Santiago Jr. was half of the Queens-based rap duo Capone-N-Noreaga. Though both rappers were from Queens (different neighborhoods), they didn’t meet until 1992 while serving time at Greenhaven Prison in New York. The two bonded over their Queens connection, a shared love for hip-hop, and illegal activity. After being released on parole and encouraged by Intelligent Hoodlum, aka Tragedy Khadafi, the duo recorded a demo that eventually led to their deal with Penalty/Tommy Boy, where they’d release their 1997 debut album War Report.

During the War Report recording sessions, Capone would get sent back to prison for violating his parole, leaving N.O.R.E. to pick up the pieces and finish the album without his partner in crime. This might explain all the guest appearances that pop up on War Report. Along with the guest appearances, a slew of hands would receive production credits, including Marley Marl, Buckwild, Havoc, Lord Finesse, and Tragedy Khadafi (who also served as the album’s executive producer). Though War Report’s sales weren’t impressive, it did peak at number four on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Charts and twenty-one on the US Billboard 200, and it received positive reviews from the critics (The Source gave it four mics at a time when the publication still had some credibility). But more importantly, the streets approved, as many consider it a seminal body of work, aka a classic.

I haven’t listened to War Report in almost twenty years, and other than “L.A. L.A.,” I don’t remember much about the album. Hopefully, this will be a pleasant rejogging of my memory.

Intro – Most hip-hop album intros are useless, and War Report’s isn’t much different. Capone-N-Noreaga, aka the last of the Mohicans (Capone is so dramatic), kick things off by listing all their homies that “Jake” has snatched off the streets and locked up, which has N.O.R.E. looking to “revolt the revolution” (what does that mean? Your guess is as good as mine). Uselessness aside, I did enjoy the dusty, grey-tinted piano riff that supports the duo’s nonsense.

Bloody Money – Noreaga finds himself rolling dolo for the first song of the evening. EZ Elpee places a frigid piano loop over sleepy drums for N.O.R.E. to puff out his chest and celebrate the illegal thug life that he so proudly embraces (his “I don’t even drink like that, I sell crack” line is hysterical to me for some reason). I love the piano chords in the backdrop, but the drums don’t mesh well, and N.O.R.E.’s vocals sound like they’re warring with the music.

Driver’s Seat – N.O.R.E. invites Imam T.H.U.G. to stand in for Capone as the two thug-out over the slow-rolling, funky, organ-based production of Nashiem Myrick and Carlos “6 July” Broady. Oddly, Busta Rhymes shows up at the end of the record to add a few energetic adlibs, which left me thinking: why didn’t he just have Busta spit a verse in place of his amateurish crony?

Stick You – The record begins with N.O.R.E. and Tragedy Khadafi discussing the weak coke they recently got from their supplier and planning their get back while rain pours in the background. After about a minute and a half of this rain rant, a lively jazz piano loop and poppin’ drums come in for N.O.R.E. and Tragedy to rap about their revenge. Capone makes his first appearance since the intro, joining his partners in crime on the payback rhyme. I’m curious why they chose to self-censor some curses and let others fly freely (i.e., a bunch of “shits” are replaced with “ssshhh,” but F-bombs get to land without restraint). The song left me with one question: If your supplier sold you garbage product, why would you rob him and take more trash coke?

Parole Violators – Havoc (of Mobb Deep) and Tragedy join N.O.R.E. on this criminal celebration. Havoc’s responsible for the hook, and Tragedy’s credited for the cool, reserved instrumental. Trag takes the revenge on his enemies thing too far when he repeatedly claims to videotape raping his foe’s girl (it’s censored, but you can easily deduce what he’s saying). This record has a very incomplete/demo-esque feel to it. It definitely needed a little more time in the oven.

Iraq (See The World) – N.O.R.E. invites four more of his hood soldiers to report on the street war he and his troops are engaged in with Jake: Castro, Musaliny, Mendoza, and Troy Outlaw. None of the five rappers’ bars end up being newsworthy or memorable, and the whiny violin loop in the instrumental is annoying enough to hit the skip button after a minute in.

Live On Live Long – N.O.R.E. dedicates this one to Capone and the rest of his incarcerated crew as he grapples with missing them and encourages them to stay strong while on lockdown. N.O.R.E.’s rhymes sound heartfelt and authentic, and I absolutely love G-Money’s flip of a soulful Smokey Robinson and the Miracles loop.

Neva Die Alone – Buckwild gets his sole production credit of the album, building the instrumental around an energetic, hard-keyed Herbie Hancock loop as CNN and Tragedy continue to thug their way through the album. Not that he sounded bad in his previous cameos on War Report, but Tragedy sounds extra sharp on this one. And why didn’t they title the record “Gorilla Rap Song,” as Trag suggests at the end of his verse?

T.O.N.Y. (Top Of New York) – This was the third single released from War Report. N.O.R.E., Capone, and Tragedy continue to rap about Jake, drugs, crime, and their enemies. Speaking of enemies, Tragedy spits one of my favorite lines of the entire album towards his: “I’m mad iller, organized thug killer, now you little monkey niggas wanna play gorilla.” War Report’s vast cast of producers score again (this time, it’s Nashiem Myrick and Carlos “6 July” Broady) with a slick cinematic instrumental to back the threesome’s thuggery.

Channel 10 – N.O.R.E., Capone, and Tragedy celebrate the album’s midway point with more thuggery, and can someone please tell me what the hell an Arab Nazi is? Lord Finesse combines muddy drums with a darkly airy melody, making for a phenomenal instrumental and one of the best records on War Report.

Capone Phone Home (Interlude) – It plays just as it reads. Shoutout to ET.

Thug Paradise – My pressing of War Report has this song mistakenly listed as “Stay Tuned (Interlude).” This record was also on the Nothing To Lose Soundtrack under the correct song title. D-Moet takes a break from the “S.W.A.T.” theme song and turns it into a funky head noddable groove. Once again, Tragedy joins our hosts, spitting a verse that sounds like it could have been written by Mr. It Was Written (aka Nas). This was dope.

Capone Bone – Capone goes dolo and sounds as horny as an inmate who just finished serving a twenty-year bid (Shoutout to Capone for admitting he’ll go down on a chick during an era where most rappers acted too tough to admit they did). Marley Marl builds the backdrop around a funky jazz piano loop, turning it into an irresistible groove for Cunnilingus Capone, who finds his pocket and sounds right at home, seducing the object of his erection and gets a little dirty mackin’ in during the process.

Halfway Thugs – N.O.R.E goes dolo again. This time, it’s one long verse over an instrumental that sounds like a sedated skeleton version of the backdrop for Mobb Deep’s “Drop A Gem On ‘Em.” Very mid.

L.A., L.A. – This is CNN’s response to Tha Dogg Pound’s 1995 joint, “New York, New York.” Much like Kurupt and Snoop did with their disses, CNN, Mobb Deep, and Tragedy don’t take direct shots at their West Coast counterparts but instead fire a bunch of lines that could be perceived as subliminals. Marley Marl scores the affair with a rigid instrumental that sounds great behind the team’s stone-faced rah-rah. My only issue with this record is all the censoring. Why would you bleep up a diss track? And for the record, none of these dudes is fuckin’ with the lyrical wizardry Kurupt whipped up on “New York, New York.”

Capone-N-Noreage Live (Interlude) – Capone and N.O.R.E. do an almost three-minute call-and-response bit, which may entertain at a live show but not so much recorded and sequenced in the middle of an album.

Illegal Live – This is the record that introduced the world to Capone-N-Noreaga. A Middle Eastern-tinged loop meets dark spiraling chords and grimy drums. The production credit is given to Tragedy and Havoc, who also handles hook duties (If I were a betting man, the Middle Eastern loop was Tragedy’s idea, and everything else was Havoc). Based on the song title, I think you can figure out what the subject matter is about, but the raw and gritty backdrop takes the ease off the duo’s monotonous content.

Black Gangstas – This is fat that should have been trimmed and left off the album.

Closer – The original pressing of War Report has the DJ Clark Kent-produced version that samples Surface’s “Closer Than Friends” and features Nneka singing the hook. My copy of War Report has the Sam Sneed-produced version (even though the liner notes credit the Clark Kent mix). Sam builds the instrumental around a chill Luther Vandross piano loop, and some guy who sounds a lot like Tony Sunshine sings a completely different hook than the original mix. The record captures N.O.R.E. looking back at his life as a hustler before he and Capone got a deal (“Last year, around the time this year, if I would have got locked yo, I wouldn’t even care”). Rest in peace to the legend DJ Clark Kent, but Sam Sneed’s version is galaxies more appealing than the O.G. mix and more cohesive with the rest of the album.

Capone Phone Home Outro – War Report ends with Capone talking to Jungle, Nas, and E. Money Bags via phone from prison. This interlude adds nothing to the album, but it did leave me wondering why Nas didn’t spit a verse at some point on War Report.

If Al Capone and Manuel Noriega were ever to meet at Bar Afterlife and discuss their infamous careers over a few beers, I would love to be a fly on the wall. Or even better, a patron taking down a couple of Crown cranberries while ear-hustling. I’m sure they’d relive their glory days and reminisce about the power they both yielded during their lifetimes. They’d share their regrets and secrets, and a few drinks in, cry as they look back on their downfalls. The conversation would be filled with amazing stories and intriguing tidbits. Vastly different from the content that Capone-N-Noreaga deliver on War Report.

Capone-N-Noreaga are direct descendants of the Queens mafioso/thug rap tree that produced Mobb Deep and Nas’ alter-ego, Esco, and on War Report, the apple doesn’t fall far from it. Most of the album’s content revolves around crime, drugs, money, and so much talk about Jake I thought the album was part of a State Farm commercial. Tragedy Khadafi emerges as the third unofficial member of CNN, appearing on almost half of War Report’s tracks. His drastic style change from conscious content/inspirational speaker, Intelligent Hoodlum, to the thug drug lord, Tragedy Khadafi, was shocking and a little disappointing. But regardless of what rap image Tragedy embraces, the man can rap and effectively leans into his new persona, sounding better than his gracious hosts for most of the album.

That’s not to say that Capone-N-Noreaga aren’t skilled rappers. The first half of War Report plays like a Nore and Friends project, as Capone’s incarceration has him missing in action, leaving their inept homeboys, not named Tragedy Khadafi, to fill in the gaps. But when Capone does consistently show up for the second half, it starts to feel more like a Capone-N-Noreaga project. Their content is not riveting or original (and some of their QB homies have covered the same territory and done it better, i.e., Nas and Prodigy), but you can feel and appreciate the chemistry between the duo and their big O.G. Tragedy Khadafi. And when our hosts’ thug rhetoric gets monotonous, the raw and rugged production (which at times flirts with sounding amazing) keeps things interesting.

War Report is a bit bloated, and the “Capone locked up” running theme is kind of confusing, especially when the intro makes it sound like CNN are the last two free ones in their crew. They could have easily shaved four songs off the final cut, along with the Capone skits, to make it a more well-balanced CNN project. As is, War Report is a solid debut from the duo (or trio), but calling it a classic is a stretch.

-Deedub
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