DISPATCHES: "Curse of the Kennedys" - Apathy

Uncle Hump Sez: We're bringing in some new blood for Real Yeti Rap, starting with rap curmudgeon Louis Mackey. What follows is an unadulterated transcript of this Thinkingses. Bon appetit.



Being a rapper for over a decade now, I’m usually turned off by 98% of the stuff I hear and see garnering praise. I don’t think I’m bitter (though I may be), I just don’t have the stomach for it anymore. I’ve heard it all, and when someone new comes along, I most often see the old and a bunch of kids who’d never known about the source of the schtick or people my age who’ve forgotten. But for some reason, I’ve always been really drawn to Apathy’s impossible, somehow unique cocky approach to writing and lyric delivery. The fact that his fanbase has skyrocketed in the past 4 years affirms that I’m not alone in this appreciation. I don’t think he’s as unique as say, Kool Keith, but he’s really damn good.

Apathy is the golden child of 90s east coast rap (though he claims to have been influenced by the West Coast as well). His hubris has always been so perfectly ironically detached while he remains seriously, completely there. One of the most apparent things about it is the sonically pleasing syllable symmetry; he doesn’t always employ polysyllabic rhyming, which is a mortal sin in my personal holy book of rap transgressions, but he’s unusually interesting and most often possesses that above average poetic ability to say something in a way you’ve always imagined but never been able to make effable: To stand up in front of a crowd, speak and have them look back at you in wonder, actually interested in your next line. Or maybe if you could translate some of Kubrick’s or Welles’ most sublime scenes into print (or not), See from “The Curse of the Kennedy’s”:

Heavenly Father... please wash all of my sins
While I wash away my pain
With this tonic & gin
While I vomit in the sink
And think of ominous things
Like Atomic bombs
Never let the communists win
Live from the Bay of Pigs
It's obvious lies
When anybody denies
All the mafia ties
You surprised?
It's Jack, it's Bobby, it's even Teddy
Reversed on my enemies
The Curse Of The Kennedys…

As far as concept songs go, that’s a damn solid closer. I’m reminded of the photos that accompanied some of my junior year history class lectures on John Kennedy of him staring out of the White House windows during the Bay of Pigs, thinking about how absolutely fucked we all might be. Thus I can appreciate this conceptual angle and the arc of the entire narrative, though the above quote is my personal favorite.

I’m sure someone somewhere has tried to be the rap John Kennedy, in fact I’m certain of it; but what Apathy does seems original, whatever original might be, where he creates a somewhat random melange of various ideas and themes (ahem, see the Dioscuri, ahem) centering around the entire Kennedy family, going in and out of 1st and 3rd person while always reverting back to his comfortable and natural unapologetic braggadocio. And while his multi’s aren’t always perfect, they’re close enough because we’re compensated by the imagery of his verses and the noir feel of the video.

If I had to complain about something, it would be the stupid fucking chorus with the Jay-Z chopped vocals. I love Hova but goddamn Ap, you can do better on your choruses.

Nevertheless, in my opinion, as a whole, Connecticut Casual might prove to be one of Apathy’s best works yet, if he can just stop talking about wearing fucking Sperrys.