Kid Capri has role
in ‘Xentopia’
CORRECTION
Saturday, March 27, 2003» The Beth Bender cosmetics demonstration at Blush at Kahala Mall will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. next Saturday. A brief on Page D5 yesterday incorrectly said it would be today.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.ONE OF THE biggest celebrities in town this week for "Xentopia," an eight-day celebration of the launch of WorldAsia Television, isn't Asian at all.
XENTOPIA
Hip hop dee-jay Kid Capri will go spin crazy in a few of Xentopia's club eventsThere's no doubt local girl (and former Miss Universe) Brook Lee will attract folks to a stage that's been erected on the beach fronting the Hilton Hawaiian Village, as will Playboy model Christina Linehan, actress Joy Bisco, MTV's SuChin Pak and import model/singer Kaila Yu.
But it's also a safe bet that the most off-the-hook parties in honor of the new network will be ones where veteran hip-hop deejay Kid Capri shows up.
"I'm gonna bring 14, 15 crates of records, and you gonna see me in all them s--ts, flipping records at the last minute, catching that s--t at the last second," said the part Italian, part African-American deejay earlier this week from New Jersey, where he was preparing for a 12-hour flight to Honolulu.
"It's gonna bug you out. When I play, I captivate people."
Kid Capri
Part of the "Xentopia" Club Series
When: Tomorrow at the Beach House and Sunday at Pipeline Cafe and the Wave Waikiki; exact times pending
Tickets: $7 to $15
Call: 947-7941
Web site: www.xentopia.com
Born David Anthony Love, the Bronx, N.Y., native grew up during the Golden Age of hip-hop culture, a period when artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash and the Sugarhill Gang were just beginning to gain mainstream recognition.
By the age of 8, Capri had already experimented with his parents' home stereo and convinced them to buy him a mixer so he could practice at home. Two years later, in 1977, he was moving crowds at neighborhood house parties, and soon gained enough of a reputation to be hired for his first club gig when he was just 12 years old.
And while he doesn't claim to be an originator of the classic mix tape, a seamless collection of club bangers and new tracks meant to re-create a party atmosphere for listeners, the deejay proudly touts himself as an innovator among his peers.
"There was deejays that (were) bigger than I was at the time," he explained. "But there wasn't a deejay that took it over the top.
"When I started making the mix tapes ... I took (them) to another level, where deejays became artists."
The threat of being harassed by the Internal Revenue Service and struggling artists over reports that he was making a fortune with the tapes, however, lead Capri to exit the mix tape business in 1990.
"I didn't want that problem, so I just said f--k it," he said. "I was doing it to get known, and it was making other people that wasn't ever gonna get heard get known."
For the rest of the '90s, Capri enjoyed success as the resident deejay on Russell Simmons' "Def Comedy Jam" series on HBO, a nine-year run that helped him gain worldwide exposure and showed audiences how a pair of turntables could be an essential part of a television show.
"Before (Def Comedy Jam), people looked at deejays as something that was just somebody that played records," he said. "I opened the door for them."
Capri's business savvy also helped ensure that the opportunities he received through the show would help sustain him in the future. He's appeared in a number of feature films, established his own clothing line and continued his work as a producer with his own record label, No Kid'n Records.
Eventually, he'd also like to step out from behind the turntables and release a third album that features his own original music.
"I want to see other deejays playing my music that's a hit and that's out there moving crowds," Capri said.
"I want to hear my records on the radio in rotation. I want to see my video (on MTV) all the time."
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Xentopia highlights
Fashion
Garments by designers Vivenne Tam, Zang Toi and Anna Sui will be presented onstage beachfront at the Hilton Hawaiian Village during the Xentopia "Elements of Style" fashion show taking place 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The event is free and will feature Asian models made up by Beth Bender, CEO of Beth Bender Cosmetics.
Bender will also be demonstrating her products at Blush at Kahala Mall from 4 to 7 p.m. tomorrow. And she will be doing makeup for Xentopia's "International Model Search" from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday on the Hilton beach stage. The open casting call will determine the new face of WorldAsia Television.
Music
» "Xentopia Live!": A series of free concerts take place 7:45 to 10 p.m. today and 7 to 10 p.m. tomorrow, featuring performers from the mainland, Hawaii and Asia on the main stage fronting the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Fireworks will precede tonight's concert. Free.
» "Club Series": Events will take place at Hard Rock Cafe, the Beach House, Pipeline Cafe, Wave Waikiki, Zanzabar, Venus, Velvet Lounge and Rumours through Thursday.
Tonight SuChin Pak, of MTV, hosts "Hawaiian Shirt and Grass Skirt Night" from 9 p.m. at Hard Rock Cafe. Admission is $10 for 18 and over, $7 for 21 and older. At Don Ho's, Dustin Nguyen hosts a "Video Mixx Party" from 9 p.m. Admission is $5 for 21 and older.
On Sunday, Playboy model Christina Linehan hosts "Sexy Xentopia Babes" beginning 9 p.m. at Pipeline Cafe. Admission is $10 for 21 and older. Call the clubs for more details.
Action
» "Hawaii Dragon Boat Races": The 2,000-year-old tradition comes to Fort DeRussy Beach from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
» "Yin & Yang Hookups": Young, single and attractive types are needed for a WorldAsia TV dating game show, from 3 to 4 p.m. today and Tuesday on the Hilton main stage.
» "Amazing Anime": The Hawaii International Film Festival presents "Aura Battler Dunbine," an epic science-fiction fantasy about love, duty and the spoils of war from the creators of "Gundam" and "Robotech." Screens 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday at the Hilton main stage.
Call Xentopia at 947-7941.
Click for online
calendars and events.
