Alternative Hip-Hop Wikia
Advertisement

Chad Bromley (born March 8, 1979), better known by his stage name Apathy (formerly "The Alien Tongue"), is an underground rapper and producer from Willimantic, Connecticut, US. He is the unofficial leader of hip hop supergroup Demigodz, and a prominent member of Army of the Pharaohs and Get Busy Committee.[1]

His first major release was his debut album; Eastern Philosophy in March 2006 with guest appearances from Celph Titled, Ryu, and Blue Raspberry. Most of his previous underground work was collected on his compilation album series: It's the Bootleg, Muthafuckas!. Apathy released another collection of his works in his second mixtape, Baptism by Fire, in January, 2007. He has also criticized the overuse of Auto Tuning by certain artists stating, "You ain't a computer, you ain't from the future, and you ain't got a tumor, so why you do to your voice, shit to make it sound stupider". His second album; Wanna Snuggle? followed in 2009 and his third studio album Honkey Kong was released in 2011 and was profoundly critically acclaimed. HipHopDX gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, commenting that "While many of the songs are simple showcases of his verbal acrobatics, he handles concepts just as well".[2] Apathy's fourth studio album, Connecticut Casual was released on June 3, 2014. It was position 41 at the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums charts at its peak.[3]

Apathy is known for his frequent collaborations with other MCs and groups such as Demigodz, Celph Titled, Doe Rakers, Jedi Mind Tricks, Army of the Pharaohs, Styles of Beyond, and the Get Busy Committee.

Biography[]

Early career (1991–1998)[]

Apathy attended several high schools across the state including Willimantic, CT and Montville, CT in the early to mid-1990s.[4] Apathy used to rap as side hobby, but by 1991 started taking music as a career seriously. One day when Demigodz were playing at UConn's 91.7 radio station, they caught the attention of Apathy, who was still in his teens at the time. They became really good friends, and Apathy joined Demigodz. Linking up with Celph Titled, Apathy became a prominent member of the Demigodz crew, which also included strong underground artists such as 7L & Esoteric, EL Fudge, Louis Logic, Rise, Open Mic, and others. But it wasn’t until 1998 that Apathy graduated from guest artist to solo artist. With an initial show-stealing verse on an Eddie Ill and D.L. freestyle, Apathy soon followed suit with several solo singles including “Compatible”, “Just Begun”, “School”, and “Ain’t Nuttin’ Nice”, each released through Bronx Science Records. Ap made his major album debut, appearing on three tracks on Jedi Mind Tricks critically acclaimed underground debut The Psycho Social LP in 1996, on the tracks: "The Three Immortals", "Omnicron" and "The Apostle's Creed".[5]

By mid-1997, many members of Demigodz left the group due to personal and musical differences, this also meant the end of the groups relationship with Alien Nation. Open Mic and Apathy were the only ones left and released the Sureshot Affair EP putting up hundreds of copies and opened their first official site. Their once original style had become the latest interest in the underground hip-hop scene, so Apathy decided to take music in a new direction, Open Mic, that had just recently married the mother of his daughter, decided to leave the rap game and settle down with his family.[6]

Working primarily as a producer and reforming Demigodz (1999–2002)[]

Apathy has been working with a lot of different producers, but said; "I have no idea whose actual shit we’re gonna use." So far the only definite production is from Celph, Chum The Skrilla Guerilla, DJ Khalil (Self Scientific) and 8th Wundah. I’ve been workin with Alchemist, Pete Rock, Megahurtz (the producer), Rick Rock, EZ Elpee, and Carlos 6 July Brody. If I don’t get a Primo beat… I quit. As far as guest appearances, the only definite ones right now are me, Celph, Lord Digga, and Bambue. But, I do intend on getting some other people on there. I want to get Pharoahe Monch, Ghostface,… a lot of other people. But everything is still in its beginning stages.”

In 2000, Apathy officially reformed Demigodz. This time as a close co-operation between underground artists instead of a performing group membership this time. It included; Apathy, Celph Titled, MC Rise and One-Two. Apathy's also brought back Open Mic out of retirement in the following months and several more additions were made even L-Fudge, Louis Logic, Spin 4th, and long friends 7L & Esoteric. Apathy also added producer from Connecticut; Chum the Skrilla Guerilla as his personal DJ. The group put out a barrage of 12" singles, EP and LP records. They featured as solo artists on each other's work as they toured USA and Europe and had a sizeable reputation in the underground culmination of their efforts was The Godz Must Be Crazy EP released in 2002.[7]

The Demigodz success (2003–2005)[]

After The Demigodz crew released their debut EP The Godz Must Be Crazy, major labels were after them. Apathy stated; “Interscope was interested in Celph and I as a group. Jason McGuire and Jimmy Iovine flew us out to LA, rented us a vehicle, put us up in a hotel on Sunset Blvd., gave us company cell phones and it was dope.” But Apathy wasn’t ready to sign on to intersope, as other labels also had offers on the table. “While we were out there, we met up with Mike Caren from Atlantic. Interscope was dope, but they have a lot on their plate and probably wouldn’t have given us the attention we needed. Mike Caren set up a meeting with Craig Kalman (ceo of Atlantic) and Craig was interested. Mike really didn’t feel Celph and I as a group for whatever reason, and wanted to sign me as a solo artist.” While the signing to Atlantic as a solo artist may seemed like a bad deal for Celph, Apathy assures it only strengthened the Demigodz’ relationship. “I know people would probably assume that’s whack, but Celph and I are completely fine with it. We’re like Redman and Method Man, or Ghost and Rae, we’re partners no matter what. So Celph was worked into the contract for guaranteed guest appearances and production. Celph is happy, because he didn’t really wanna make that jump yet… but we do stuff regardless, so it's a perfect scenario,” said Apathy. Apathy signed on to Atlantic Records, but soon left the label on his own volition after having his album shelved for several years.[8]

Solo work, Army of the Pharaohs and Get Busy Committee (2006–2011)[]

Apathy was working as a solo artist now, he released his debut solo album, Eastern Philosophy, in March 2006 and was signed on to underground record label; Babygrande Records. A majority of his previous underground work has been collected on two albums: the two-disc It's the Bootleg, Muthafuckas! Vol. 1 and Where's Your Album?!!.

Apathy also became a member of Army of the Pharaohs, which was originally formed by Vinnie Paz alongside other underground rap artist. He was featured on their debut album; The Torture Papers released in 2006.[9] In January 2007, Apathy released another collection of his most recent works, Baptism by Fire.

In 2009, Get Busy Committee was formed in Los Angeles, California by long time friends Ryu (of Styles of Beyond), Apathy and Scoop DeVille. All production was done by Scoop DeVille and Apathy, while vocals are given by everyone in the group. Their debut album, Uzi Does It, was released for pre-sale download on October 27, 2009 at www.getbusycommittee.com, and available on iTunes and other outlets on November 10.[10] As of 2012, Get Busy Committee is on hiatus, or "dead" as they refer to it, the group members focus on their solo careers.

He released his second studio album, Wanna Snuggle? in 2009. It was released on Demigodz Records. The album features guest appearances from Phonte of Little Brother, B-Real of Cypress Hill, Celph Titled, and other members of the Demigodz.

His third solo album, Honkey Kong was released on August 23, 2011 on Dirty Version Records, along with the Primate Mindstate EP as a bonus disk. The album features guest contributions by Celph Titled, Vinnie Paz, Slaine, Ill Bill, Xzibit, Blacastan, Mad Lion, General Steele, Esoteric, Crypt the Warchild, Motive, Planetary, and Reef the Lost Cauze. Producers for Honkey Kong such as DJ Premier and Vanderslice contribute to a limited number of beats on this album, though the majority of the production is handled by Apathy himself.[11]

New work with Demigodz, Army of the Pharaohs and Celph Titled (2011–present)[]

During 2011, Apathy and Celph Titled started producing a second duo album, called Will Sing for Vengeance. They also worked on their solo careers.[12] In November 2011, Apathy uploaded on to YouTube a new song called "Demigodz Is Back", this song featured Apathy, Ryu and Celph Titled and was produced by Apathy.[13] This song marked the return of Demigodz.

On May 10, 2012, the pair also announced in an interview with Hiphopauthority.com that they were working on a new Demigodz album, titled Killmatic. Apathy stated, "We got a gang of shit in the works, so we always work on multiple, multiple things but we don’t announce things until we’re absolutely positive and definite that they’re coming out. So, the Demigodz album should be coming in the early-2013." [14] Celph said that the album would contain all six members, "Which is: Apathy, Celph Titled, Ryu, Esoteric, Motive, and Blacastan."

In 2012, Apathy released the double CD It's the Bootleg, Muthafuckas! Volume 3: Fire Walk With Me as the third installment to the It's the Bootleg, Muthafuckas! series, as well as "The Alien Tongue," a collection of his earliest demos and recordings.[15][16] The bootleg double CD included collaborations with Nas, Xzibit, DJ Premier, Royce Da 5'9, Vinnie Paz, Ill Bill, and B Real, among others.

On January 14, 2013, Apathy confirmed that Killmatic would be released on March 5. Along with that, he confirmed the official album art.[17] Four days later, Apathy, through his YouTube account, released the first single for Killmatic titled "Demigodz Is Back".[18] In July 2013, through his Twitter account, Apathy announced he was working on a new EP with Harry Fraud, titled Connecticut Casual.[19] Apathy later stated on Facebook that the EP would be available for free download.[20] It is due to be released April, 2014.[21] On November 30, 2013, Vinnie Paz revealed that two new Army Of The Pharaohs albums would be released in 2014. The first album; In Death Reborn is slated for a release on 22 April and the second LP is expected to drop in November.[22] Apathy is confirmed to be on both the upcoming albums, new members including Demigodz member Blacastan and Zilla from Houston, Texas are said to be joining the group.[23]

Discography[]

Template:Main

Solo albums[]

  • Eastern Philosophy (2006)
  • Wanna Snuggle? (2009)
  • Honkey Kong (2011)
  • Connecticut Casual (2014)
  • The Widow's Son (2015)[24]

Collaborations[]

with Army of the Pharaohs

  • The Torture Papers (2006)
  • The Unholy Terror (2010)
  • In Death Reborn (2014)
  • Heavy Lies the Crown (2014)

with others

  • No Place Like Chrome (2006) (with Celph Titled)
  • Uzi Does It (2009) (with Get Busy Committee)
  • Killmatic (2013) (with Demigodz)
  • Will Sing for Vengeance (TBA)[25] (with Celph Titled)

Compilations[]

  • It's the Bootleg, Muthafuckas! Volume 1 (2003)
  • It's the Bootleg, Muthafuckas! Volume 2: Hell's Lost and Found (2007)
  • It's the Bootleg, Muthafuckas! Volume 3: Fire Walk With Me (2012)
  • The Alien Tongue (2012)
  • It's the Bootleg, Muthafuckas! Volume 4: The Black Lodge (2015)[26]

EP's[]

  • Make Alotta Money (2010)
  • Primate Mindstate (2011)
  • Weekend at the Cape (2015)[27][28][29]
  1. Template:Cite web
  2. http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/album-reviews/id.1744/title.apathy-honkey-kong
  3. http://www.billboard.com/artist/279774/Apathy/chart?f=333
  4. http://www.hiphopug.com/apathy.html
  5. http://www.mtv.com/artists/apathy/
  6. Template:Cite web
  7. Template:Cite web
  8. Remixing The Industry, Part 2 11.04.09: Apathy (by: Michael Melchor) Retrieved July 20, 2011. 411mania.com (2012-05-10). Retrieved on 2012-05-21.
  9. http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/store/detail.asp?UPC=BBG0324CD
  10. Template:Cite web
  11. http://www.xxlmag.com/reviews/2011/08/apathy-honkey-kong/
  12. https://twitter.com/DirtyVersionRec/status/208287651344818177
  13. Template:Cite web
  14. Template:Cite web
  15. http://newalbumreleases.net/48850/apathy-its-the-bootleg-muthafuckas-vol-3-fire-walk-with-me-2012/
  16. http://www.hiphopsite.com/2012/07/04/apathy-dropping-the-alien-tongue-july-17th/
  17. Killmatic album art
  18. Demigodz is back video
  19. https://twitter.com/ApathyDGZ/status/354607032269160449
  20. Connecticut Casual FREE EP! November, 2013
  21. Connecticut Casual Due to be released: April, 2014 (via:Twitter)
  22. Apathy tweets: AOTP "In Death Reborn". April.
  23. Template:Cite web
  24. https://www.facebook.com/ApathyDGZ/posts/708480335877517?stream_ref=10 28th april 2014
  25. https://www.facebook.com/ApathyDGZ/posts/708480335877517?stream_ref=10 28th april 2014
  26. https://twitter.com/ApathyDGZ/status/526065835329482752
  27. https://www.facebook.com/ApathyDGZ/posts/743284345730449
  28. https://twitter.com/ApathyDGZ/status/526065835329482752
  29. https://www.facebook.com/ApathyDGZ/posts/909990835726465
Advertisement