Born to teenage parents in a working-class area of Connecticut, rapper
Apathy first discovered hip-hop at age five when his uncle played him
Chaka Khan's 1984 cover of the
Prince song "I Feel for You," which featured
Melle Mel rapping. Instantly hooked,
Apathy began listening to rap incessantly, soaking up the sounds of
Gang Starr,
Jay-Z,
Nas, and
Organized Konfusion, among others, as well as writing his own rhymes. He made his debut on
Jedi Mind Tricks' 1997 debut LP, The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological, and Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human, adding verses to three tracks, and shortly afterward he was releasing singles on Bronx Science Records. It was through that label that
Apathy met up with
Celph Titled, the producer/MC originally from Florida who had worked for Bronx Science's distributor. The two founded
the Demigodz (with
7L & Esoteric,
El Fudge,
Louis Logic,
Open Mic, and
Rise as the other initial members) and in 2002 they released their EP
The Godz Must Be Crazy. The EP was enough to gain attention from major labels, including Interscope, which wanted to sign
Apathy and Celph, and Atlantic, which was more interested in
Apathy as a solo artist. Eventually,
Apathy chose the latter, and soon began recording tracks for his debut. However, disagreement over the direction the album would go delayed progress considerably, and after a few years the rapper signed a distribution deal with indie label Babygrande, which helped release
Eastern Philosophy in 2006 (many of the other tracks that he had already written for Atlantic ended up on the mixtapes
It's the Bootleg, Muthafucka, Vol. 1 and
Where's Your Album?!!) while negotiations for the major-label debut, tentatively titled
Bearer of Bad News, continued. In 2007
Apathy set to appease fans with the release of yet another mixtape, Baptism by Fire, which came out on the Demigodz Records. ~ Marisa Brown, All Music Guide