Published: Wednesday - March 22, 2006
Words by Jorteh Senah
Apathy (Photo: Babygrande)
Ballerstatus.com: Wow, so you've been doing hip-hop for over a decade and you've recently scored a record deal with Atlantic Records. When exactly did you sign with Atlantic?
Apathy: I signed with Atlantic like three years ago and to answer your next question before you ask it, the reason I haven't released an album yet is because us getting on the same page has been a task. It's been difficult for me and Atlantic to get on the same page and figure out what we want to do. I'm not willing to do any corny sh-- or be somebody I'm not. Yeah, I want to do music that's commercially viable, but you know, The Fugees did music that was commercially viable when they came out with The Score. That's a huge commercial success and it a classic hip-hop album, so that's the type of vibe I want to be on. Outkast does classic hip-hop sh--t that hits; Ludacris, Eminem, Jay-Z -- that's more the route that I'm trying to go and that's want I'm trying to do. So, whether Atlantic and I get on the same page or I go to another place, I'm going to do something, but I'm relentless and I'm going to make it happen regardless.
Ballerstatus.com: Now that you've been with a major label for three years and your going through the label politics, do you ever just feel like just staying with your independent hustle, especially with a lot of rappers who were on major labels opting for independent labels like Koch?
Apathy: Nah, I want a little taste. I'd like to drop an album on a major label, no matter what happens with it because it's something different. Like, I can do the independent hustle and all that, but I'd like to drop a major label album even if it's just for the exposure and the power that a major label has. I'd like that push and that's ultimately what I want.
Ballerstatus.com: Since you've been with Atlantic for three years now, I would assume that the album is already completed or close to completion right?
Apathy: That's the thing man. I've recorded hundreds of songs, so I have like tons of albums done, but there's nothing that's a definitive album because the direction keeps changing. I can't say, "Alright, this going to be track one. This is going to be track two, and here will be a skit," because it keeps changing and it's all over the f---ing place. We don't know what songs are going to be what, so there's no tangible album. It's just like a sh-- load of tracks. It's not like a cooked up meal, it's like, "Alright, here's a grocery cart full of f---ing ingredients, what do we do?"
The thing is, I want direction from the label. I want them to sit down and be like, "Alright, lets do this. Let's do that." My A&R is a cool dude and he works hard, but I want him to sit down and work on my project and work hard. He's got artists like T.I. and Twista, those dudes already had buzzes before they came here. T.I. was already on a label and buzzing like a motheraf---er before he got here. Twista was already known, Trick Daddy, Trina, then he signed an artist, Trey Songz. Trey Songz is a new artist, but he's an R&B artist, so all they got to do is throw him on a song with Twista and he starts to blow up a little bit. It's frustrating and I don't hate anybody because I'm appreciative that I even got signed to a major label because it's a big deal. That's more than I can say for thousands and thousands of people, but it's still frustrating and I wish it was going differently. All I want to be is successful and I want to do good music, but it's a difficult balance to make it all come together.
Ballerstatus.com: In other interviews, you've said the 90's era of rap inspired you the most, specifically you've talked about Illmatic being a perfect album. Was that the direction you were taking initially with your album, taking it back to that essence of hip-hop, because I know you do conceptual songs like the "Winter" joint from Eastern Philosophy?
Apathy: Definitely! When I started recording Eastern Philosophy, that's all I was listening to. I would only listen to Illmatic, Only Built For Cuban Linx, Hard To Earn and Reasonable Doubt. That's the mind set I was trying to get myself in and I ain't even saying that my album is like those albums. I'm just saying that that's the energy and the vibe that I wanted behind it. When I listen to songs from that era, that's what makes me happiest. I listen to this new sh-- and I'm like, "This is cool, but it's not my favorite sh--."
Ballerstatus.com: A lot of people feel like that true essence of East Coast hip-hop has been lost in the post Jay-Z era of rap today.
Apathy: I know exactly what you're saying and I definitely agree 100 percent. I think that New York has lost a lot and the East Coast has lost a lot because the East Coast used to be all about being lyrical and about being ill and there are very few people who do that today. Like Ghostface is still ill, Saigon is real ill, and obviously Jay-Z and Nas. There are a couple cats that do it, but you know, there's a whole new era of all these street dudes you see on the Smack DVDs. They all rap the same, like this cocky like head jerking with their fitted caps and they all like, "See you and your man / yall could get it / dada dada da / buss two in yuh fitted." All this little corny like sh-- talking and I don't know where that style came from, but to me, it's just corny and it's not real and it's just sounds like everybody else's sh--. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to sit there and hold on to nostalgia because if there were new dudes who were coming and bringing the ill style, I would respect it and like it. Like, I'm a big fan of Dipset and even though the sh-- is mad simple, their still bringing in a new style with Cam'ron saying funny ass sh--t and doing little funny flows. It reminds me of back in the day, when Das Efx came out of no where and all of a sudden these dudes where like, "Diggidy diggidy boom stiggidy," so that's as absurd and funny as Cam going, "Hooty hooty, shake your booty." At least it's entertaining.
Ballerstatus.com: You mentioned your admiration for your label mate Saigon. Have you had a chance to work or even just interact with him?
Apathy: Nah, and that's the one dude that I think is dope. I haven't met him yet. Like, that's the only artist that I'm feeling right now and that I would buy his album as a fan. That dude is bananas and he's exactly that type of lyricist that has been missing from the whole East Coast scene. I would definitely want him on my album.
Ballerstatus.com: Talk a little bit about your newly released independent album Eastern Philosophy?
Apathy: I talk about a lot of personal sh-- on the album, like the most personal song I got on the album is like a flashback sequence with my mother yelling at me to wake up for school. And if I don't go to school, I need to get a job and help out around the house. On that song, I'm not talking about like sh-- was real, times are rough, more so I talk about Connecticut where I'm from. I say things like, "I'm from a place where blacks live a block from the racist / You could go from hoods to woods in twenty paces." I'm talking about where I'm from and what that dynamic is like and I'm being real honest about my sh--.
On the album, I talk about there are mad times when I was broke and I'm battling my credit. I'm not like, "Yeah, I'm flossing and I got more 0's in my account and sh--." I'm not speaking about being a hustler and making ridiculous amounts of paper because I'm broke. I mean, I'm not like broke, broke, but I'm still struggling to make it pop. I'm not a rich man.
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