Not Even Stolen Catalytic Converters Can Slow Down Rapper Casey Cope

A lot of artists rap about triumphing over struggles in the past tense, but Casey Cope isn’t afraid to share them in real time. If you’ve been to one of his recent shows, you might’ve heard him riff about his absurdly bad 2023 — he had his catalytic converter stolen twice (and his entire car once), went through a breakup and got fired from his job.

It already takes tremendous sacrifice to make it as an artist in the expensive Bay Area, and for a while there, it seemed like everything was working against Cope. But the ever-resourceful rapper, producer and engineer turned his unlucky streak into fuel for his next solo project (out in the fall) and many collaborations. His next release, Qamp III, arrives on April 12. It’s an album he, his musical partner in crime Marquito and a crew of 20 artists created from scratch in a 72-hour span, in a Berkeley studio Cope and Marquito helped build with their bare hands.

Cope is remarkably transparent about his grind. On mornings, he’ll post a picture of his hearty breakfast (eggs, turkey bacon, burnt toast) overlaid with a breakdown of his schedule, which can include teaching, catering and working at a sports radio station, depending on the day.

Similarly, in his lyrics, he’s straight up about the sacrifices he’s made to pursue not just his own musical career, but to foster a thriving community of independent artists. He owns it to the point that it’s become a flex: Audiences grin and nod along when he performs “Back Up!,” his 2020 song with a punk-rock attitude that features the bar “Your girl likes broke n—s if she likes us.”

“Being earnest has become important in my life, so as an artist, I just feel that translates,” Cope says. “When I was younger, like earlier 20s, I would go further in that lane — just a younger, less mature version. Like, ‘Oh, hey, look at me. I don’t rap about money and bitches.’”

He rolls his eyes at his past self: “It’s like, ‘OK, come on, bro.’ But now it’s just like, I like being honest. And I think people appreciate that.”

At Cope’s live shows, he’s not afraid to bring that same earnestness to the stage. His demeanor between songs tends to be jovial and charismatic; he articulates angry lyrics with a near-yelling intensity, then suddenly pivots into soft-spoken reflection. The display of raw emotion leaves people enthralled and slightly off balance.

Cope doesn’t overthink it. “I usually read comics before I perform,” he says. “I will literally be reading up until one minute before I go on stage sometimes, and I just go up and I’m like, ‘All right, let’s do it.’”

Cope entered hip-hop as somewhat of an outsider, but his eclectic influences have proven to be a strength. As a high school student in Hayward, he played guitar and listened to Green Day, Weezer and Sum 41. It was during this era that he connected with his classmate Marquito, who grew up playing mariachi music and now floats comfortably between jazz, hip-hop, R&B and even reggaeton. Today, the friends, who both rock long hair and beat-up sneakers, vibe on a shared genre-agnostic frequency.

“I feel like we just complement each other energetically inside and outside of music,” Marquito says. “We hang out, we talk shit, we laugh.”

During our interview at Studio Q, the DIY West Berkeley recording space spearheaded by their collaborator Big Soda, Cope and Marquito recount the Qamp III sessions, which had configurations of rappers, singers, beatmakers and instrumentalists (including a tuba player) split up among the studio’s three rooms.

Free-flowing collabs led to unexpected output, including Stoni and Qing Qi rapping shit-talking bars over a skittering jazz instrumental, instead of the hyphy-adjacent slaps they typically go for. (That track will arrive on the Qamp III deluxe album in May, along with a behind-the-scenes documentary.)

“[Bay Area rap] is a lot more diverse than people realize,” Cope reflects.

He and Marquito released the first Qamp album in 2022, and for each iteration they’ve recruited a different set of artists who have since bonded and blossomed into a community. Other collaborators on Qamp III include Marika Sage, a dynamic young vocalist equally comfortable in earthy, conscious rap and head-banging post-rock; jazz singer, trombonist and pianist Oddity; soulful guitarist, drummer and producer Ian Santillano; and over a dozen others.

Those wide-ranging styles will be in full effect at the Qamp III release show on April 13 at Berkeley venue Cornerstone, which features performances from Cope, Marquito, Qing Qi, Marika Sage and singer Rittybo. Rittybo’s rich vocals shine on Qamp III’s single, “You Already Know,” which has a g-funk bass line that brings to mind glossy Cutlasses and pool tables in old-school dive bars.

Meanwhile, Cope keeps hustling. In addition to Qamp III, he and Marquito have music lined up as a duo, Los Lunes, named after their weekly Monday studio session together. And Cope’s solo album Life’s Never That Bad arrives in the fall. The idea at its core is his self-described “blind optimism” that keeps him going as an artist, no matter how many catalytic converters he has to replace.

“It’s got some heartfelt notes,” he says. “There’s some hard, deep shit, but it’s also like, nope. Let’s play some cool bossa nova. Let’s play a jazz beat with Afrobeat drums. Life’s never that bad.”

‘Qamp III’ comes out April 12 on all platforms. The full list of artists is: Anjali Asha, Casey Cope, CIN, ClayDough, Criibaby, Ian Santillano, Kchaya, Kiyomi, Marika Sage, Mungo Baby, Nick Tasker, Oddity, Pandaraps, Qing Qi, Rittybo, Sophia Bromberg, Stoni, SundaY, SuperGood4UThing, Surfer Dave, Tia Nomore, Tommy Holmes, Tope.

On April 13, Casey Cope, Marquito, Qing Qi, Marika Sage and Rittybo perform at Cornerstone in Berkeley. Tickets and details here.