Standout Track: Hip-hop dominates the mixtape, but the lone go-go cut, No. 17, “Go-Go Flow,” is the showstopper. Local legends Stinky Dink and Tony Blunt rhyme with Cal on a classically conga-heavy beat made by keyboardist D-Cleve of The What? Band—Cal’s previous group until he joined Rare Essence last year. The Backyard Band’s Los was also supposed to appear, Cal says, but he had other obligations.
Musical Motivation: Dink, Blunt, and Cal appear in that order, representing their places on go-go’s timeline; Cal says Los would’ve rapped between him and Blunt. It all came together quickly just a few weeks ago. “We just went to the studio, knocked it out, everybody killed their verses … the engineer that was mixing it was like, ‘This is kind of incredible,’” Cal says. The mixtape was supposed to be all hip-hop, but “my guys that I hang with, they were like, ‘You really should think about puttin’ this on there, it’s a really good look.’”
Built for Capitalizing: Capital Punishment has an RGIII theme (the skits use clips of the Pigskins quarterback’s voice), and Cal says he’s trying to get “Go-Go Flow” some airtime on WKYS and WPGC. But the song is a bit of a broader marketing experiment, too. “I want to see the reaction from the fan bases down in Hampton [Va.] and Miami and Texas that usually support my stuff,” he says. “I know they’re not gonna know the history, but if I can just get them to nod their heads to it, then that’s a mission accomplished.” Rare Essence will definitely perform the song live, too, Cal says.
Listen to the track below.