It’s hard for any artist to re-invent themself but Rob R-Rock has died and been reborn as Kaptain Nemo.

In 1991, Rob R-Rock was full on into the hardcore scene. He was in a band and putting out records and touring as much as he could. He was also an aspiring straight-edge rapper from North Carolina!

Rob is certainly not the first hip-hop artist to spring from the punk/hardcore scene (Beastie Boys!) and he won’t be the last either. He is unique in that he was putting out DIY hip-hop tracks way back when a lot of us were still X’ing up and stagediving at City Gardens. Rob is Kaptain Nemo now and he has a new mixtape coming out in March.

Fun Vampires sat down to talk to the Kaptain recently and the interview is after the jump

You are pretty much the first rapper to spring from the Straight Edge Hardcore scene, right? I mean, it’s like you and Fort Knox or something like that, right?

If you’d rather Fun Vampires not write about that stuff, that’s cool. I just think that it frames the conversation…kid gets into HC then flirts with self released sXe hip-hop then goes underground and remerges as full fledged underground MC with lessons learned from involvement in HC punk scene. No??

It’s part of my history and I’m not ashamed nor do I pretend its not there. I don’t have a problem talking about the old days. You know my memories of the old HC days are still fresh…partying with Chubby Fresh and Dwid...I’m glad you’re gonna bring that perspective to the interview. Those were important times in our livesBut, Naked Angels, Line Drive, et cetera, that was about 15 years ago when I was a dumb country bumpkin rocking out to Integrity and wielding baseball bats.

Keep in mind, when those early Rob R-Rock 12″ records came out I wasn’t performing those songs at hardcore shows. I was going to real hip-hop parties with a DJ and dancers and shit. The ‘Voice Of The Voiceless compilation thing was a one-off sort of goof and the weird sort of convergence of what I was doing in parallel ways in hardcore and rap. Unfortunately, it is one of the worst songs that I ever recorded and one of the only ones most people into hardcore have ever heard. (Fun Vampires Editors note: The Kaptain is referring to the Rob R-Rock song “Cruelty Free” from the ‘Voice of the Voiceless’ hardcore compilation. Rob’s hardcore band Naked Angels also appeared on the comp.)

HC trivia: The guitarist from Line Drive (who also fronted a band from back home called Shatterhed) is now making electronic tracks as Zombie Mountain and he produced a couple tracks that will be on the mixtape, including one that features his younger brother Smitty called “Camel City Sluggers.”

He also put up a Winston-Salem HC retrospective site www.camelcitybombsquad.com that is pretty hilarious

So, Rob R-Rock kinda goes away and re-emerges as both Kaptain Nemo and Remote Control Frequencies?

I never went away, but I did lay pretty low from like 99-03. During that time I was building a family and handling my B.I.

RCF is a project that involves a lot of different musicians (and styles and genres). K. Nemo is an old soul that is currently channeling through R-Rock’s mouth…from behind a fake beard. Kaptain Nemo is straight hip-hop.

When’s the new mixtape (THE LEGEND OF K. NEMO) drop and where can people get a copy of it?

THE LEGEND OF K. NEMO Official Mixtape drops sometime in March. The best way to get it is to hit us up at www.secretlifeofsound.com. You can probably get it from regular mixtape sources but if you get it from us you can get a package deal with other free joints etc. Here’s a song for you to check out! It features my homeboy Sumrock.

We have some interesting releases coming out on TSLOS that people might be into… and none of them feature Straight From the Heart or Youth of Today.

Rumor has it that THE LEGEND OF K. NEMO also has MC Serch on it. How’d you hook that up? Have you been watching The (White) Rapper show? Anyone on there worth talking about?

The mixtape has Serch on it but we hooked up before Ego Trip’s (W)RS broke out. Obviously, Serch has serious hip-hop credentials. I was honored to have him involved.

The show itself is a reality show, as such, I’m not really into commenting on it. I do think it’s cool that Serch and the producers brought a lot of classic hip-hop elements into the show.

My new mixtape also has a dude named Vakill on it, you know him?

Yeah, he was in the Molemen. Right?

Yeah. Molemen is a triumvirate of producers. Vakill has been down with them from day one because Panik (one of the 3 Molemen) has been his boy since high school.

I am seriously honored to have him on my shit. Kid is a NASTY emcee.

As far as hip-hop, what/who are you feeling right now?

I gotta say the classics are always what I come back to, the golden age. I’ve been listening to Edan’s ‘Fast Rap’ mixtape this past week. That shit is dope!

Any chance you’d collaborate with Yah Mos Def for an ex HC kids rapping over crazy hip-hop beats jam or something like that?

Who is Yah Mos Def? If it’s that kid Bryan Trackstar, he is apparently going around telling people I threw a lit cigarette at him when he went to school in North Carolina. If he was standing beside a car I was in as I drove by, it could be true. I don’t remember. Where do people get this shit?

YMD are Bryan Trackstar and Ricky Coldhands and they are like hip-hop that references and samples HC songs. You should check it. I’ve heard that rumor about you & him while he was at Elon but I don’t think he holds a grudge about it (if it happened). I think he thought it was / is a funny story.

Cool. I mean, yeah, if they really wanted me to guest on a track I would probably do it.

There you have it, ladies and gents! The Kaptain’s mixtape is going to be out soon, so keep an eye out for it. Or, hit him up on myspace for more info. Peace to the New Start Posse, y’all!

MP3, Click here.

check out some old fliers:

rob r rock in 1995

KaPTAIN NEMO