"That relates to anybody in any field, in any walk of life." "No matter what, if you really believe what you're trying to do, you got to keep persevering and going for it," he says at one point, sounding more like Dale Carnegie than 50 Cent. It may have something to do with his miracle break into the big time, but Kapone is quickly finding his place as the Mike Eruzione of rap - a motivational speaker with gold fronts and his cap turned backward. In person, Kapone is extremely humble, toning down the aggression present in his music. He also has a small acting role in the film as part of the entourage of rapper Skinny Black. Kapone - real name Alfonzo Bailey - wrote the songs "Whoop That Trick" and "Hustle & Flow (It Ain't Over)" for the movie, and performed the song "Get Buck, Get Crunk" for the soundtrack. "I tell them, 'God is my publicist.' Because I didn't even do nothing except make one phone call." People ask me, 'How did you end up on MTV? How did you end up in magazines? Who's your publicist?' " says Kapone, talking from a Los Angeles hotel room during the first press tour of his life.
After a decade of doing the "independent hustle" - selling his CDs at concerts, swap meets and on consignment to record stores - Kapone has had more people hear his music in the past five days than the 10 years that came before.
#Hustle and flow making whoop that trick movie
But in a movie with more than its share of underdogs, Kapone's story beats them all. After the monumentally awkward moment was over, the director gave Kapone the deflating news that he could only offer him one shot to write a song, with less than 24 hours to prepare.īut Kapone came up so big that he was enlisted to write most of lead actor Terrence Howard's lyrics for the movie.Īs the film about a pimp who becomes a rapper made a strong debut this weekend, making $8 million in a limited run of 1,013 theaters, Brewer and Howard have been getting a lot of attention for their pre-"Hustle" struggles. Don't worry about it, man."Īfter another minute of small talk, Brewer realized he was talking to the wrong rapper. I've got to get this music to you because I want to be in the movie."īrewer: "It's cool, it's a done deal. Kapone: "Man, I've got to get this music to you. Brewer: "Man, we're so happy to have you be a part of this movie."