Capital Steez

Courtney Everald "Jamal" Dewar, Jr. (July 7, 1993 – December 23, 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. STEEZ was known for his unique spiritual outlook from elements of Egyptian mysticism and numerology. He considered himself an indigo child and allegedly believed he was a being of a higher dimension. Capital STEEZ was the founder of the Beast Coast movement and the originator of Pro Era. The movement consists of three main groups; Pro Era, Flatbush Zombies, and The Underachievers. All three of the groups are based out of Flatbush, New York.

Early life

Capital STEEZ was born in New York City to Jamaican parents. When STEEZ was a child his father died. 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

2009–12: Career beginnings and AmeriKKKan Korruption

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$$, CJ Fly and Powers Pleasant. On February 23, 2012 a music video for a song called "Survival Tactics", which featured and starred both Joey Bada$$ and Capital STEEZ was uploaded on YouTube, which received 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. He was listed in "The 25 Best Rap Lines of 2012" by Spin.

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$$, CJ Fly, Chuck Strangers, Dirty Sanchez, and Jakk The Rhymer. The mixtape contains production from Madlib, MF DOOM, Free the Robots, DJ Premier, Knxwledge, Ant of Atmosphere, J Rawls, Tommy Mas, The Entreproducers, and production from fellow Pro Era members, Chuck Strangers, Kirk Knight, Bruce Leekix, and even Bada$$ as OG $wank.

Death and posthumous works

Capital Steez committed suicide late December 23, 2012. On the night of December 23, 2012, 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 11:59PM, posted a tweet saying, "The end." He jumped off the rooftop of the Cinematic Music Group building later that night. In late April 2013, Joey Bada$$ announced that a Capital Steez album would soon be released. On July 7, 2013, Pro Era released the song "King Steelo" from the upcoming posthumous album. Bada$$ later indicated that an album of unreleased material was scheduled for release. On December 24, 2013, to honor the anniversary of his death, Pro Era released a music video for his song "47 Piiirates" .

Discography

Posthumous albums

• King Capital (Unreleased)

Mixtapes

• AmeriKKKan Korruption (2012)
• AmeriKKKan Korruption: Reloaded (2012)

Collaborations

• The Yellow Tape (with JaKK The Rhymer, as The 3rd Kind) (2009)
• The Secc$ TaP.E. (with Pro Era) (2012)
• P.E.E.P: The aPROcalypse (with Pro Era) (2012)