Capital Steez

Capital Steez
Background information
Birth name Courtney Everald "Jamal" Dewar Jr. [1]
Born July 7, 1993
Origin Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York
United States
Died December 24, 2012 (aged 19)
Manhattan, New York,
United States[2]
Genres Rap
Occupation(s) Rapper
Years active 2009–2012
Labels Cinematic Music Group[3]
Associated acts Joey Badass, Pro Era, Flatbush Zombies, The Underachievers, Dyme-A-Duzin, Statik Selektah, The 3rd Kind, SMTH

Courtney Everald "Jamal" Dewar Jr. (July 7, 1993 – December 24, 2012), better known by his stage name Capital Steez (stylized as Capital STEEZ), was an American rapper from Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York. He was the founder of the Brooklyn-based rap collective, Pro Era, along with longtime friends and fellow rappers Joey Badass, CJ Fly, and producer/DJ, Powers Pleasant. [4]

Early life

Capital STEEZ was born in New York City to Jamaican parents. When STEEZ was a child his father passed away. He attended Edward R. Murrow High School where he met Joey Bada$$ and many other friends. There he formed Pro Era with Joey, CJ Fly, and Powers Pleasant.

Music career

Capital STEEZ (then known as Jay Steez) began rapping in 2009 with his friend Jakk The Rhymer. Together they created the group the 3rd Kind. Their first mixtape was titled "The Yellow Tape". He founded the hip hop collective Pro Era, also in 2009, with high school friends Joey Bada$$, CJ Fly and Powers Pleasant.[4][5] On February 23, 2012 a music video for a song called "Survival Tactics", which featured and starred both Joey Bada$$ and Capital STEEZ was uploaded on YouTube, which received mainly positive reviews from many rap outlets, thus gaining Pro Era mainstream fame. Capital STEEZ's closing verse was named on their list of "25 Of The Best Closing Lines In Rap" by XXL Magazine.[6] He was listed in "The 25 Best Rap Lines of 2012" by Spin.[6][7]

2012: AmeriKKKan Korruption

Capital STEEZ released his first solo mixtape, "AmeriKKKan Korruption", on April 7, 2012 with 14 tracks. The mixtape has been highly acclaimed since its release. A reloaded version with seven additional tracks was released on October 10, 2012. The tape now runs 21 tracks in total and features many of his Pro Era teammates, such as Joey Bada$$, CJ Fly, Chuck Strangers, Dirty Sanchez, and Jakk The Rhymer. Uno Hype is also featured on it as well. The mixtape contains production from Madlib, MF DOOM, Free the Robots, DJ Premier, Knxwledge, Ant of Atmosphere, J Rawls, Tommy Mas, The Entreproducers, and production from fellow Pro Era members, Chuck Strangers, Kirk Knight, Bruce Leekix, and even Bada$$ as OG $wank.

Beast Coast Movement

Capital STEEZ was the founder (along with Joey Bada$$) of the Beast Coast movement. The movement consists of three main groups; Pro Era, Flatbush Zombies, and The Underachievers along with solo rap artists, Smoke DZA and Action Bronson. All three of the groups are based out of Brooklyn, New York.

Death and posthumous works

Capital Steez committed suicide on December 24, 2012.[8][9] Earlier that night, he made his way to the rooftop of the Cinematic Music Group headquarters in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, where he texted a few of his closest friends to tell them that he loved them, and at exactly 11:59 PM, posted a tweet saying, "The end."[10] He allegedly jumped off the rooftop of the Cinematic Music Group building later that night. Many said it was his mental disorder that got to him.[11][12]

In late April 2013, Joey Bada$$ announced that a Capital Steez album would soon be released.[13] On July 7, 2013, Pro Era released the song "King Steelo" from the upcoming posthumous album.[14] Bada$$ would later confirm that the album of unreleased material, will be released in 2014.[15] On December 24, 2013, to honor the anniversary of his death, Pro Era released a music video for his song "47 Piiirates". Pro Era later released another posthumous record by STEEZ, titled "Shooting Stars," on July 7, 2014 in honor of his 21st birthday. After the confirmation of continued development towards the album, Joey stated the project will be released in the future. In a new interview with MTV, Joey Bada$$ confirmed that the posthumous album, King Capital, will be released sometime in 2015. [16]

Discography

Albums
Mixtapes

References