2002. When El-P was in LA, promoting his now-classic solo debut, Fantastic Damage; I was customizing caps by, well… the truckload. Making one for El made sense, so I did; then presented it to him after his set at Amoeba Hollywood. He seemed humbled and in that moment a seed germinated. The following night, at Wilshire’s historic El Rey Theatre, that seed flowered as El-P halted his performance 3/4 of the way through. He grabbed the cap, set it on his dome like a crown, gave a shout-out to yours truly (and the rest of the cheering Los Angeles crowd) then proceeded to rip through the last quarter of the show. I wasn’t looking for anything, so that something was way more than I expected. Many thanks and much respect to El and his fellow Def Jukies. More from El-p on Bastards Delight.