Apathy

Apathy's latest is filled with big, banging beats by the likes of Premier, Da Beatminerz, DJ Muggs and himself, as well as others, and an abundance of classic rap vocal samples making for great moments of reminiscing, while Apathy's lyrics are mostly boasts, with emphasis on witty wordplay and humorous punch lines rapped in a tight, confident, easy-to-follow flow. Sometimes his violent lyrics verge on over-the-top horrorcore, and his references to Star Trek and superheroes (and not just popular ones like the X-Men's Cyclops, but also Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner) lends the whole album a touch of nerdcore. He steps away from the bragging for a bit to address the boundaries that should exist between the fans and artists on "Only Hip Hop" and drops a love song that's a testament to perseverance with "I Dedicate This To You." Despite the slow song slump midway, there's little to fast-forward or skip, but other highlights include Premier-produced fist-pumper "Stop What Ya Doin," featuring Celph Titled and a great Digital Underground cut-up chorus, creepy and spacey Muggs production "Fear Itself" and posse cut "Army of the Godz," with both his Demigodz and Army of the Pharaohs crews. Apathy has released two albums, a bunch of mixtapes, EPs, rarities collections and collaborations since he debuted on record in 1997, but Honkey Kong hits all the right notes to be the breakout album that exposes him to the wider audience he didn't get while shelved at Atlantic.