Capital Punishment (album)

Capital Punishment is the debut studio album released by rapper Big Pun. Released on April 28, 1998, it is the only album released during his lifetime. The album peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 charts and #1 on the Top R&B Albums chart for two weeks. It was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1999 Grammy Awards, but lost to Jay-Z's Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life. It was also the first solo Latin hip hop record to go Platinum.[1]

Capital Punishment
Studio album by Big Pun
Released	April 28, 1998 (1998-04-28)
Recorded	1997–98
Genre	Hardcore hip hop East Coast hip hop Latin hip hop mafioso rap horrorcore
Length	71:53
Label	Loud RCA Terror Squad BMG
Producer	Various Big Pun (Also Executive), Fat Joe (Also Executive), Matt Life (Executive), Ju-Ju, Rockwilder, Knobody, Dahoud, Nomad, Mike Zulu, Domingo, Frank Nitty, Young Lord, L.E.S., Dr. Dre, The Infinite Arkatechz, Minnesota, dead prez, V.I.C., RZA, Danny O & EQ Showbiz
Big Pun chronology
Capital Punishment (1998) Yeeeah Baby (2000)
Singles from Capital Punishment
"I'm Not a Player" Released: August 7, 1997 "Still Not a Player" Released: March 28, 1998 "You Came Up" Released: August 22, 1998

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
Q	[6]
RapReviews	9.5/10[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[9]
The Source	4/5[10]

• Entertainment Weekly (7/17/98, p. 85) - "Everything about this Bronx-bred Puerto Rican rapper is generous, his 400-pound girth, his multiple rhyming within each line, and his talent for spewing out verses without stopping for breath." - Rating: B+[4]
• Q (6/00, p. 123) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Displaying huge lyrical prowess and the requisite 'sensitive' side...[the album] established Pun as a serious rival to Biggie Smalls and something of a ladykiller to boot....funk and fun aplenty....Outrageously good."
• The Source (6/98, p. 159) - 4 Mics (out of 5) - "He'll rhyme every possible word in a line because he wants to be twice as nice....Capital Punishment's all about execution."
• Rap Pages (9/98, p. 120) - 4 (out of 5) - "Big Pun is at his best with all barrels firing bullets lacing the air like embroidery on grandmama's quilt." [11]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"			0:33
2.	"Beware"	Christopher Rios Jerry Tineo	JuJu	3:15
3.	"Super Lyrical" (featuring Black Thought)	Rios Tariq Trotter	Rockwilder	3:28
4.	"Taster's Choice" (skit)			1:20
5.	"Still Not a Player" (featuring Joe)	Rios Jerome Foster	Knobody Dahoud (co.) Nomad (co.)	3:56
6.	"Intermission"		Mike Zulu	0:21
7.	"The Dream Shatterer"	Rios	Domingo	3:33
8.	"Punish Me" (featuring Miss Jones)	Rios Frank Pimentel	Frank Nitty	4:15
9.	"Pakinamac Pt. I" (skit)			1:35
10.	"You Ain't a Killer"	Rios Richard Frierson	Young Lord	4:14
11.	"Pakinamac Pt. II" (skit)			0:57
12.	"Caribbean Connection" (featuring Wyclef Jean)	Rios Frierson Wyclef Jean	Young Lord	3:24
13.	"Glamour Life" (featuring Cuban Link, Triple Seis, Fat Joe & Armageddon of Terror Squad)	Rios Leshan Lewis	L.E.S.	4:43
14.	"Capital Punishment" (featuring Prospect)	Rios Michael Dewar Collin Dewar	The Infinite Arkatechz	4:20
15.	"Uncensored" (skit) (featuring DJ Funkmaster Flex)			2:12
16.	"I'm Not a Player"	Rios Kenny Gamble Leon Huff	Minnesota	3:41
17.	"Twinz (Deep Cover 98)" (featuring Fat Joe)	Rios Joseph Cartagena	Dr. Dre	3:49
18.	"The Rain & the Sun" (Interlude) (featuring dead prez)	Rios Clayton Gavin Lavonne Alford	dead prez	1:49
19.	"Boomerang"	Rios Cartagena Vic Padilla	V.I.C.	3:35
20.	"You Came Up" (featuring Noreaga)	Rios Stinson	Rockwilder	3:54
21.	"Tres Leches (Triboro Trilogy)" (featuring Prodigy and Inspectah Deck)	Rios Albert Johnson Jason Hunter Robert Diggs Eric Barrier William Griffin, Jr.	RZA DJ Roc Raida (scratches)	4:19
22.	"Charlie Rock Shout" (skit)			0:26
23.	"Fast Money"	Rios	Danny O & EQ	3:48
24.	"Parental Discretion" (featuring Busta Rhymes)	Rios Rodney Lemay	Showbiz	4:33
Total length:				1:11:53

Personnel

Credits for Capital Punishment adapted from the album liner notes.

• Armageddon – featured artist
• Denise Barbarita – assistant engineer
• Carlos Bess – mixing
• Big Pun – executive producer, primary artist
• Black Thought – featured artist
• Busta Rhymes – featured artist
• Sean Cane – A&R
• Chris Conway – mixing
• Cuban Link – featured artist
• Dr. Dre – producer
• Dahoud – producer
• Danny O – producer
• dead prez – producer, featured artist
• Domingo – producer
• "E" – mixing
• EQ – producer
• Fat Joe – executive producer, featured artist
• Funkmaster Flex – featured artist
• Paul Gregory – assistant engineer
• Che Harris – A&R coordination
• Daniel "PhotoChop" Hastings
• Troy Hightower – mixing
• Tom Hughes – assistant engineer
• Ken "Duro" Ifil – engineer
• Wyclef Jean – featured artist
• Inspectah Deck – featured artist
• Joe – featured artist
• Ju-Ju – producer
• Jugrnaut – producer
• Knobody – producer
• Ola Kudu – creative direction
• Adam Kudzin – engineer
• L.E.S. – producer
• Matt Life – executive producer
• Laurie Marks – A&R coordination
• Mike D. – A&R
• Minnesota – producer
• Miss Jones – featured artist
• Nastee – engineer
• Frank Nitty – producer
• Nomad – producer
• Prodigy – featured artist
• Prospect – featured artist
• Roc Raida – scratches
• Rockwilder – producer
• RZA – producer
• Schott Free – A&R
• Tony Smalios – engineer, mixing
• Triple Seis – featured artist
• Showbiz – producer
• Soundboy – engineer, mixing
• Kevin Stone – assistant engineer
• Nikos Teneketzis – mixing assistant
• Kieran Walsh – engineer
• Gregory "Gold" Wilson – assistant engineer
• Ted Wohlsen – mixing
• Trauma – producer
• Young Lord – producer
• Leon Zervos – mastering
• Mike Zulu – producer

Album chart positions

Year	Album	Chart positions
		Billboard 200	Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums	Top Canadian Albums
1998	Capital Punishment	5	1	11

Singles

Year	Song	Hot 100	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	Hot Rap Singles	Rhythmic Top 40	Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
1997	"I'm Not a Player"	57	19	3	-	7
1998	"Still Not a Player"	24	6	13	5	1
	"You Came Up"	-	49	43	-	-

See also

• List of number-one R&B albums of 1998 (U.S.)

References

1. "Gold & Platinum - Big Pun". RIAA. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
2. Huey, Steve. "Capital Punishment – Big Pun". AllMusic. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
3. Christgau, Robert (2000). "Big Punisher: Capital Punishment". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
4. Mukherjee, Tiarra (July 17, 1998). "Capital Punishment". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
5. Baker, Soren (June 7, 1998). "Big Punisher, 'Capital Punishment,' Loud/RCA". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
6. "Big Pun: Capital Punishment". Q. No. 165. June 2000. p. 123.
7. Juon, Steve "Flash" (February 20, 2001). "Big Punisher :: Capital Punishment :: Loud Records". RapReviews. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
8. Mao, Chairman (May 6, 1998). "Big Punisher: Capital Punishment". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
9. Ex, Kris (2004). "Big Pun". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 71. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
10. Alvarez, Gabriel (June 1998). "Big Pun: Capital Punishment". The Source. No. 105. pp. 159–160.
11. "Big Punisher - Capital Punishment CD Album". Cduniverse.com. 1999-08-24. Retrieved 2012-02-09.