[Interview] Apathy – Primate State Of Mind

Emcee/producer Apathy continues to hold it down on the solo and group tip. The Connecticut emcee’s solo career began with his 2006 debut Eastern Philosophy which was widely acclaimed. Ap’s follow-up, 2009′ Wanna Snuggle? was equally successful. Recently, Ap has come to us in various group formats, showcasing his talents as part of his Demigodz crew with Motive, Esoteric, Celph Titled, Army of The Pharaohs and, of course, Get Busy Committee with Ryu of Styles of Beyond and producer Scoop Deville. As he prepares to drop his third solo LP Honkey Kong, Ap chatted with TWV about his new album, emceeing as a job and balancing the responsibilities of being in a group and being a solo artist.

TWV: So your new album, Honkey Kong drops August 23rd. I heard the advance and it’s crazy. The list of producers is amazing and so is the guest list. Can you give us some more insight into the album itself?

Apathy: Well, when I came up with the title, I knew from the jump that I wanted to definitely go more hardcore than I did on Wanna Snuggle. I also wanted to make the album more cohesive. Initially, in the beginning, I didn’t know that I was going to have that many different producers and that legendary of a lineup. As far as [DJ] Premier, I’d met him in the past and he said he wanted to work with me, but I really didn’t know that all of that was going to come to fruition. The more I started to work on it and see it shape up, the more excited I got about it. I mean, I got signed to major label back in the day and toured with groups like Linkin Park, which is cool and everything, but at the end of the day, the thing that means the most to me is working with dudes who I grew up idolizing when I was younger. Doing an album with them blows my mind. If I could go back and tell 14-year-old Ap that he’d be doing an album with Premier, DJ Muggs, Xzi and Da Beatminerz, Xzibit and Mad Lion, he’d probably flip the f*ck out.

TWV: It’s a real nice collection of artists and producers. I had to look at the guest list again just to make sure it was real.

Apathy: You know what I love about the album too? Everybody came with their ‘A- Game’. It’s not just me getting a random bullsh*t verse from Xzibit, he killed it. Ill Bill did a super classic crazy verse and I was souped about that.

TWV: I read a story in which you were describing Eastern Philosophy and you said that you knew what you wanted it to sound like before you did the album. Is that the same with Honkey Kong? Did you know from jump what you wanted it to sound like?

Apathy: Definitely. My expectations were exceeded, but I still knew what I wanted it to sound like. I saw it in advance. Before I did Eastern Philosophy, I sat around listening to Only Built For Cuban Linx, Enta Da Stage and Illmatic. Not that my album sounds like those but that’s where I drew my inspiration from. When I did Wanna Snuggle?, I listened to a lot of A Tribe Called Quest like Midnight Marauders, The Main Ingredient by Pete Rock and Cl Smooth. For this album I listened to Gang Starr (Hard to Earn) and Organized Konfusion (Stress) which helped me make the banging, hard album I wanted. I also wanted it to be more cohesive than the last albums.

TWV: Is that how you work? See the album in sort of a vision before you put it out?

Apathy: Yeah, as much as I can. I try not to stick much to guidelines or a blueprint because it will drive me crazy. I definitely hear things though and I map it out. When I do guest appearances, for instance with General Steele and Mad Lion, I want it to make sense. So for that one, I wanted the beat to be on some old creepy 90s sh*t. That’s what you think of when you hear Mad Lion and Smif and Wessun, you hear them on those kind of beats. So I try to put rappers on beats that they will excel on the most.

TWV: The first single ‘Check to Check’, produced by Evidence is a good description of the career you’ve chosen and how it is to be a starving artist. What were trying to tell people on that track?

Apathy: I just wanted to be honest because it’d gotten to the point where a lot of fans didn’t understand. I would struggle and kill myself to make an album for two years. I’d sacrifice personal relationships, family time, money and all of these other things to make an album and then all of a sudden fans would download it and be pissed off that we were killing their free download link. Then they’d talk shit about how they wouldn’t support anymore because we’re paid. Some of these fans thought that we were swimming around in piles of money like we were these paid dudes and complete assholes for wanting to get paid for putting out music. I thought it was f*cked up that these fans who would go to work everyday, would turn around and think I would just work for free. So I wanted people to see that we’re neck to neck, I work just like them. I go through the same bullshit, I pay my bills, I have to eat. I’m not ballin. This is a career for me. I have friends that went to college and have careers and make more than I do. It’s not some glamorous rap sh*t. I wanted people to know that things are fucked up right now.

TWV: You’re one of the few emcees that’s able to juggle the solo rapper and group thing. You’re in about 5 groups right now, are you a bigger fan of going for delf or collaborating? Which would you rather do?

Apathy: Really, I like both. As a solo artist, I can do what I want and not care what anybody thinks about the song. But solo becomes laborious in how many verses you have to write. When I got Get Busy Committee we just had a lot of fun with no pressure. With Army of The Pharaohs, you’re real worried about what your pickiest, wacko fan is going to think because they love lyrical shit and also you have to adhere to the certain formula of how AOTP is. With Demigodz, it’s basically whatever direction that Celph and I want to take it, so that’s also cool too.

TWV: Speaking of those, how about releases for those groups. What are you guys working on?

Apathy: We’re pretty far into the Demigodz album but we’re not done yet. The problem is that we started off with the Demigodz album and made 6 or 7 songs that were phenomenal, then I started working on Honkey Kong and Celph started working on [Nineteen] Ninety Now. The Demigodz project slowed down a little and we have to re-energize a little bit because the wind was taken out of our sails. It’s almost done, but there are so many people doing different things that it’s difficult to just finish up the project. I have no clue with AOTP because all of us are doing solo things right now. We’re going to do it, but I’m not sure when. As far as Get Busy Committee, Scoop and Ryu came out to Connecticut over a year a go and we recorded and pretty much finished, but I’m not sure what’s going on with it. I think Ryu and Scoop wanted to add to it, but since I’m in Connecticut, I’m not really part of that process. We’ve got a track with Busta Rhymes that’s incredible, but it’s kind of out of my hands right now.

TWV: So what’s the next step after Honkey Kong drops? How about touring?

Apathy: I want to tour a little bit, but I don’t want to go crazy touring right now. Celph and I are going to out to Canada and we’ll probably go to Europe. I definitely want to tour the west coast and LA area because that’s my biggest market and they show me the most love. The LA area is f*cking crazy so I definitely want to go there. As soon as I get back from touring I’m going to start on the next album and also in 2012, Diabolic and I are going to be putting out an album, we’ve got a group called Sleeper Cell.

TWV: (laughs) That’s going to be an aggressive ass album.

Apathy: Yeah, I’m almost nervous about that album. The annoying thing is when I rap with other rappers, I don’t get nervous. But when I rap with Diabolic, he’s such a f*cking animal. There are certain rappers that I love as rappers, but I don’t like getting on songs with them because I know it’s going to be too much work to keep up with them lyrically. Like Chip Fu, I’ve been friends with him for years, but I won’t get on a song with the motherf*cker because he’s f*ckin’ insane and it’s so hard to keep up with him. ‘Bolic is one of those dudes, he’s so f*ckin good and it’s going to be annoying having to write verses that stand up and don’t get outshined on the songs I do with him. But it’s going to be awesome, Bolic is like my brother.