Nicholas Piantedosi (born November 8, 1984), professionally known as Decap, is an American record producer from Nashua, New Hampshire, United States. Decap has worked with and produced for artists such as Talib Kweli, Joyner Lucas, Hit-Boy, Locksmith, Zion I, Spose, Watsky, Smoke DZA, J-Essential and many more. In 2013, Decap released his full length debut instrumental album, Omni Love.
Nicholas Piantedosi was born in Waltham, Massachusetts and relocated to Nashua, New Hampshire as a young child. As early as Junior High School, Decap was fascinated with music and began to study the art of producing. In 1995, after purchasing Snoop Dogg âÂÂDoggystyleâ album, Decap was fully committed to making his presence felt in hip-hop. Decap began to collect and study the genre and drew inspiration from hip-hop pioneers such as J Dilla, Dj Premier, Pete Rock, and A Tribe Called Quest. Decap began rapping and started a 9 member rap group named, âÂÂYoung Tribe.â Inspired by marginal success and wanting original material for Young Tribe, Decap bought his first drum machine and began to record beats and instrumentals.
In 2007, Decap moved to New York City, New York to pursue his career in music. In January 2013, Decap relocated to San Francisco, California and began work on his solo album, âÂÂOmni LoveâÂÂ. Decap produced and mixed several tracks on the Talib Kweli album, âÂÂGravitasâÂÂ. In June 2015, Decap released the single, âÂÂFeelingâÂÂ, which reached 550,000 streams on Spotify and led to a collaborative performance video with Ableton. Also in 2015, Decap produced several tracks on the Spose album, âÂÂWhy Am I So Happyâ which peaked at number 1 on Billboard charts.
In July 2016, Decap produced a non-album single alongside Teeko (producer) THRPY (producer) and AzizTheShake (rapper). The song, titled "Hot Box", charted at #6 on Billboard, and #6 on Spotify USA Viral 50 Charts. Also In 2016, Decap founded the label/collective "Future Knock". Beyond a label, Decap considers "Future Knock" a new subgenre with its own signature sound. Decap also curates a bi-weekly âÂÂFuture Knockâ podcast promoting up-and-coming artist and producers. Decap released his Drums That Knock downloadable sound kit series (volumes 1-10) for electronic producers, which received 180,000 downloads and charted at #1 on Splice for the month of December 2016. In 2017, Decap produced âÂÂThe Callingâ and âÂÂSanityâ off of Locksmith album, âÂÂOlive Branchâ and produced the first single, âÂÂUltrasoundâ off of the Joyner Lucas album, âÂÂ(508) 507-2209âÂÂ. In April 2017, Decap produced the single âÂÂIn The Bayâ by Capitol Fr artist Ted Park.