Issue 1. March 2025


Matheus (CAPSLOCCC) is a Brazilian-American artist, MC, and poet from São Paulo, SP — one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world — raised by parents who grew up during Brazil’s military dictatorship.

American-Style Theater


I dreamed of that place…
Where all the puppets
Became enraged,

Tied the strings
Bound to their limbs
To suffocate

The dense, dusty air
Of the establishment —
A theater.

The play continues,
And my mind constantly dissociates
To if these employees are proper
Getting paid. 

Muffled screams on the
Back stage.

Huh?
What’s that I hear?

So on,
Continues
The play.

Sponsored by
Your last four digits leaked —

The rotting flesh that makes
The floorboards, the
Putrid musk
That comes with;

A Jackson,
A Jefferson,
A Benjamin, 
On every street —

For sure, 
All these bitches need
A pimp. 

Just rephrased
And regurgitated;
The same despised,
The same hated. 

It’s always the same
With American theatrics,
As I hear bombings on the back
Ravaging other realities

For its own
Crumbling facade,
Because I hear now…

I hear now the thunder 
Of the curtains
Being teared down;

I hear now the call
Of so many before me
From this continent;

I hear now the trumpets
Of Gabriel, its sound bringing
New dawn’s decree…

They speak:

You offer nothing
But false prophets
And the machine of
Murder-suicides,

I vow:
The ceiling is collapsing in;
The floor is swallowing whole
All the evils of men and kin
Across the globe —
There’s no base,
Military or out in space,
That will segregate,
Displace, 
Mutilate those who choose
To live in
Truth. 

And as to how 
The bloody floor
Was made…

Sins are forgiven by 
Gods —
All directors and actors
In Genocide
Will be tried as
Men. 

You shall know no pity,
No peace,
No mercy,
For you are the enemy

Keeping us stranded
On a life-boat mid
High sea. 

Keeping us powerless,
Or so you thought
So magically.

Keeping us starved
Of your naivety,
For you know,
You know…

You come to us
When it is true
Knowledge you seek. 

I’ll waste no time 
On betrayals of our brethren —

Selling wisdom for Lincolns,
Manipulated by temptation,
A trap in which you have set
And fools fall for your conquest. 

I’ll see you
Til the end,
For you are the enemy. 

You are the enemy
Playing our salvations
Into your pockets

Stuffed with maggot-infested,
Suffocating-stench radiating,
Cursed by Congo,
Cursed by Palestine,
Cursed by Sudan,
Cursed by Tupi,
Cursed by Syria,
Cursed by toda la America Latina,
Cursed by languages you’ve expelled
From far beyond your comprehension 

And the grasp
Of your
Murderous and soon-to-be-dead,
Bloody hands…

Desperately
Losing grip
On American
Theatrics.



From a very early age, Matheus looked at art as a tool and vehicle for revolution, with their parents explaining how the music of Milton Nascimento, Caetano Veloso, Cartola, amongst many greats, hid a message of abolition and freedom in their song-writing, and how transformative these songs were to them and the liberation movement of the time.

With a taste for unspoken stories, the unconventional, and cut-dry honesty in the age of fake news and conformity, CAPSLOCCC continues to push the boundaries and norms of the music industry through thought-provoking verses and politically-charged rap songs, inspired by the likes of Racionais MC’s, Sabotage, and The Roots. Their art stands defiant to the capitalist commodifying of music under the streaming systems of today; it stands on the basic premise that empty virality will never beat true, creative expression, and — contrary to shareholders’ wishes — people want to be moved and transformed by media that doesn’t ignore their identity and struggles. 

“‘CAPSLOCCC’ is the urgency to express oneself. In a world where walking out of line before the state’s cruelty can be lethal, I’ve found no alternative — we cannot survive off theatrics and crumbs any longer.

We are already dead in the face of climate collapse — we must live, fight, and create for our consciousness;
Without it, nothing is left.”