Grand Royal was the Los Angeles, California-based vanity record label set up in 1992 by the Beastie Boys in conjunction with Capitol Records after the group left Def Jam Recordings.
Due to mounting debts, Grand Royal went out of business in 2001. Its assets were sold off via auction on Bid4Assets; these assets did not include any rights to Beastie Boys music. The assets and back catalog were purchased by a group of fans who in turn started GR2 Records.
Grand Royal was also the name of a magazine written and published by the group. It was most famous for its article "Mulling Over the Mullet" in issue two, which lampooned the mullet hairstyle (the Beastie Boys also recorded a song called "Mullet Head", which was released on Grand Royal on its Sure Shot 12-inch single).
Capone-N-Noreaga (also known as C-N-N) is an American hip hop duo formed in 1995, from Queens, New York City, New York. The duo is composed of East Coast rappers Capone and Noreaga.
In 1995, Capone-N-Noreaga appeared in The Source magazine's Unsigned Hype column in October. In 1996, the duo secured a recording contract with Neil Levine's Penalty Recordings. In 1996, before the group’s debut album was completed, Capone was imprisoned for a parole violation, and Noreaga finished their debut album The War Report, with the help of various fellow New York City hip-hop acts such as Mobb Deep and Tragedy Khadafi. The album was met with critical and commercial acclaim; it also saw the group partake in the conflict between Death Row Records and Bad Boy Entertainment, making it a more widespread East Coast/West Coast rivalry, responding to West Coast hip hop duo Tha Dogg Pound's single "New York, New York", with their own rendition "L.A L.A".
In 2000, the group released The Reunion, their second album on Tommy Boy Records. The album was similarly star-studded, but suffered from mixed reviews. Additionally, Capone had once again been sent to prison before its release for violating a probation sentence on gun possession, which undermined promotion of the album. Soon after, in 2001, Capone-n-Noreaga jumped ship to prominent label Def Jam. As Tommy Boy retained the rights to the names Capone-n-Noreaga and Noreaga, because the company claimed that the duo owed it more recordings, the group shortened its name to CNN, and Noreaga billed himself as N.O.R.E. (or NORE) for his solo work. The duo recorded a new album in 2003, titled New Religion, with a lead single "Yes, Sir," which was issued on mixtapes and promoted with a music video. The single failed to make an impact, and the album was ultimately shelved. A compilation of several tracks was released in 2004, entitled "What Up 2 Da Hood Thugged Out",
[Noreaga talking]
Elpee...
Ya hot with this one dog!
Show these niggas what I'm like
Show these niggas I don't like
Show these niggas what I'm like
Show these niggas I don't like
Show these niggas what I'm like
Show these niggas I don't like
Show these niggas what I'm like
Show these niggas I don't like
Show these niggas what I'm like
Show these niggas I don't like
[Noreaga]
Yo, yo, yo, yo
I'm like Rich Porter, the epitome of Alpo
AZ and Nicky Barnes, I rock sticky thumbs
I chopped it, and I cooked till my hands got numb
Shotguns malt-liquor and ones
I used to pay homage and wanted to play to be a fat cat
Someone like Castro, mad cash flow
Me and 'Pone like the best in the business
Niggas show love, hoes show interest
My gun game - got my pops to blame
I used to hop over fences and buck in the rain
And I'm not that nigga that'll fuck ya dame
I'm true to my niggas, hop out the car
Hand on my mac, cock back, ready to clap
Up in Iraq, see my niggas hustlin' crack
The same scheme from Queens when you livin' your dreams
You gotta sell things if you're looking for fiends
[Chorus]
(Noreaga)
I got love for niggas
(Capone)
Niggas always snaky
(Noreaga)
I got love for hoes
(Capone)
Hoes always snaky
(Noreaga)
I got love for cliqua
(Capone)
Clique alwas snaky
(Both)
All we got is us
All we got is us
[Noreaga]
I know crips, yo crips even be in Iraq
I know young bloods and niggas like O.G. Mack
I dropped out in seventh grade and I knew I'd be straight
I went O.T. and then I copped bricks for eight
I cut black bitches off for at least three weeks
I had Spanish hoes spittin nuts on the seats
I see Jesus in my kids but it's silly to me
How I see Him in them, don't see Him in me
[Capone]
I blanks out, my nigga knight just hit the bricks
I'm not a rapper, I sell alot of crack but spit
Niggas that I'm cool with, I only keep a nigga hot
Say I'm on some new shit, then I cock the pop
The other side of the game, doin' fifty y'all
I survived behind the wall and the feds for y'all
Similar to "Hurricane," harassed half my life
I got a right to flash my ice, crash the Vipe
[chorus]
[Capone]
When everything goes sour, I got my dog
I squeezed off went through the pound and locked my doors
I'm not scared of your guns, I got shot before
Niggas' jewels got little rocks like Arkansas
I'm the, prophet of B.I.G., but never the next
I'm the first in every verse spit shit get worse
You can hate me, or wish I'd lie in a hearse
Respect my game, who the best? Select my name
I salute niggas in jail, I'm big as Latrell
On the street, you need heat? Ask Dominican Will
My cliqua's off the meter, we come gunnin' bullets
whistle past your ear, like police in London
We the best that ever did it, the rest never lived it
Gettin' bucked at a bing-time, stressed on a visit
I'm Y2K in a flesh, the future at it's best
nevertheless I pop metal to death
[chorus]
[Noreaga giving shout outs]
Yeah! Dedicated to Rich Porter little brother,
who died in the struggle and never got recognized for it!
Dedicated to niggas like Phat Cap and Perry Mason!
You know....
You know how them niggas do! Tash and corn bread supreme!
You know, E Money-Bags, Cameron Y.!
Niggas that were gettin' money! That I was growin' up
tryin' to be like!
Ya smell me? Word up to all them gangster niggas!
All them gangster niggas, man!
All them gang bangin' niggas in L.A!
All them niggas in Little Rock, Arkansas!
Bang Bang, nigga! It's nothin'!
I see y'all niggas, I feel your struggle!
I went through it the same way!
I'm still goin' through it the same way!
I'm just a rapper now!
People think I'm legit! But I do my shit!
I still gotta hustle, I still gotta have bricks!
But you know...
Let's feed the kids, man! Yeah, let's feed the kids, man!
Let's do this shit for the kids, man!
I got a call right now (cell phone rings)!
I'm a answer my call! But I'm a just say it like this: