Demigodz

Demigodz are an underground hip-hop super group which originated in Connecticut by rappers; Open Mic and Reflex. The group was originally named "The Nobility" but Open Mic renamed the group "The Demigodz" with inspiration from one of his own verses. The group has changed several times through the years. As of 2012, the group consists of; Apathy, Celph Titled, Ryu, Esoteric, Motive, & Blacastan.^[1]

The group was originally formed in 1990 by Connecticut emcees Open Mic and Reflex. Apathy joined the group after hearing a demo on the University of Connecticut radio station 91.7. The group expanded during the 1990s to include a number of other members, and they took frequent outings to New York City in order to expose themselves to the East Coast hip hop scene. In the late 90's, Apathy shifted his focus towards developing his solo career, but the group re-formed in 2000 with Celph Titled, Rise, Open Mic, One-Two, L-Fudge, Louis Logic, and 7L and Esoteric, as well as producer Chum the Skrilla Guerilla. After touring extensively in Europe, the group released the EP "The Godz Must Be Crazy" in 2002.^[2]

In 2004, a number of members left the group, leaving only Apathy, Celph Titled, and 7L and Esoteric. New members were subsequently added, including Motive, Blacastan, and Ryu from Styles of Beyond. In 2007, they released the LP "The Godz Must Be Crazier."^[3]

In March 2013, Demigodz released their second full-length album, Killmatic, which features guest appearances from Scoop DeVille and R.A. the Rugged Man and production from DJ Premier.^[4][5][6][7] After performing as a group for the first time with all members present in November 2012 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Apathy and Celph Titled embarked on a tour to promote the new album including venues in the U.S. and Australia.^[8] The album received critical acclaim for its adherence to the lyricism and aesthetic of golden age hip hop.^[7][9]

Recording History

1990-1993: Group Origination

The Demigodz were founded in 1990 and were originally called The Nobility by rappers who were in their teens at the time; Reflective and Open Mic from Connecticut; they were strongly influenced by the progressive hip-hop of the time, including the Native Tongues Posse and Public Enemy . The pair recorded countless tracks in Reflex garage with lyrics focusing on sci-fi and conspiracy theories.

In an effort to be recognized, the do connected with Connecticut Radio's DJ; Cool C. He played their songs over the local college airwaves, the gossip created by local talk resulted in numerous battles with local rappers, this also increased recognition of the increasingly popular teens. It was also during this time that Open Mic renamed the group to "The Demigodz", this was due to inspiration from one of his own verses. One day when the band played at UConn's 91.7 radio station, they caught the attention of rapper, Apathy, who was also in his teens at the time. They became really good friends.

During this time, the group travelled numerous times to New York and were slowly breaking into the industry. They were distributing their demo's around town and "spot-taking" in the streets of Harlem's 125th St. They began to have many acquaintances; including Force Five, The Well Vu & Feedback, who taught them the many skills mainly on the "output stage of rap" by allowing them to record together.^[10]

1994-1997: Leaving of members & Introducing new members to the group

By the end of 1994, the group parted ways due to musical differences from Reflection and Feedback. They both left the group and formed a separate rap group called "Skin N Bones", whilst Open Mic and The Well Vu decided to scout for new talent to fill the void left by the former members. Open Mic immediately brought in Apathy (who was then known as Apathy Alien tongue) as a member of the group. Known for his lyrical abilities, Apathy soon became the group's most prominent member, and formed a strong friendship with Open Mic. He is now the unofficial leader of The Demigodz.

During the summer of 1995, the group joined "The New England chapter of the Zulu Nation", but soon left and became associated with New York-based "Alien Nation". Alien Nation rap affiliates; MC Eternia and Naptron were chosen to join The Demigodz roster. Open Mic purchased new production equipment for the group. They put out a new demo that circulated around the underground rap scene and created gossip on the independent hip hop scene.^[11]

In 1996, while hosting a radio program at UConn, Apathy was looking through the new releases and found a copy of Jedi Mind Tricks album; Amber Probe EP. He realised that the groups shared similar sound and content, which was considered very rare at the time. Apathy decided to make contact with Jedi Mind Tricks MC Vinnie Paz (then known as Ikon the Verbal Hologram). Paz invited Apathy and MC Eternia down to Philadelphia to record verses with each other he was later featured on Jedi Mind Tricks Psycho-Social LP, on the tracks "The Three Immortals", "Omnicron" and "The Apostle's Creed". Due to good relation with Jedi Mind Tricks, it led to several extensions and new members to join; including duo from Boston ; 7L & Esoteric.

By mid-1997, Eternia and Naptron left The Demigodz group due to personal and musical differences, this also meant the end of the groups relationship with Alien Nation. Open Mic and Apathy gathered and released Sureshot Affair EP putting up hundreds of copies and open their first official EP site. Their once original style had become the latest interest, or "buzz" as they referred to it, 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.

1998-2002: The resurrection of the group

Now on his own, Apathy began to work as a solo artist and put out several singles and appeared on many compilation discs. Apathy kept the Demigodz name alive by successfully competing in frequent rap battles and openings for acts as Rakim and Black Sheep. It was also during this time that Apathy was introduced via telephone through a mutual friend to Tampa MC Celph Titled. Celph, who was attached to a distribution company in New York, soon moved up to the city get a chance to see him personally. Apathy drove down to NYC and the two hit it off immediately. Celph also introduced Apathy to the Bronx Science label with which he signed a contract and went on to produce an album; Vinyl 12" for the record label.^[12]

The 12"'s received much recognition in the underground scene and even got publicity in the mainstream, through the likes of The Source Magazine. The production and guest vocals by Celph Titled on these projects and their success was considered a resurrection of the Demigodz, which had been dormant for some time.

In 2000 Apathy officially reformed the Demigodz. The new line up included Apathy, Celph Titled, Rise and One Two. Apathy also brought Open Mic out of retirement in the following months and several more additions were made, including L-Fudge, Louis Logic, Spin 4th, and longtime friends 7L & Esoteric. Apathy also added Connecticut producer Chum the Skrilla Guerilla as his personal DJ. The group then proceeded to put out a barrage of 12" singles and EP's. As part of the collective, and as solo artists, they gained a sizeable reputation in the underground, and toured both the US and in Europe. The culmination of their efforts during this era was their EP The Godz Must Be Crazy, which was released in 2002.^[13]

2003-2007: Breakthrough

The huge success of Demigodz had consequences, however, and in 2004 most of the members left the group (all on good terms) to meet its burgeoning solo careers. Close after the big drop, the only members that remained were Apathy, Chum the Skrilla Guerilla, Celph Titled and 7L & Esoteric. Although this hemorrhaging of talent did not keep Demigodz down for a long time to be stocked. It's lost the roster by adding Connecticut MC Motive from Doe Raker Crew (also known as Demigodz extended family) and L.A. underground superstars Styles of Beyond. The Demigodz are now arguably the strongest they have ever been both talent and recognition wise (especially with the addition of SOB) They also have shared membership with Jedi Mind Tricks supergroup Army of the Pharaohs and Fort Minor (of Linkin Park).

Between 2006-2007, The group were working on their official debut LP album. The album was tentatively title Demigodzilla. Apathy released a single on January 15, 2007 named "DemiGodzilla" featuring Motive and Celph Titled.^[14] The album was renamed to The Godz Must Be Crazier and was released on November 20, 2007.^[15]

2008-2010: Formation of other groups

As of 2008, DemiGodz on hiatus, or "dead" as they refer to the status of the group. While the group members focused on new projects and collaborative albums. Both Apathy and Celph, produced collaborative albums with Army of the Pharaohs. The Demigodz was considered a "side-project for the pair".

In 2009, Get Busy Committee was formed in Los Angeles, California by longtime friends Ryu (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.^[16] As a result of this, DemiGodz production was put on halt.

2011-present: Killmatic

Apathy and Celph Titled, 2014.

On the 23 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.^[17] This song marked the return of Demigodz.

In May 10, 2012, The pair also announced in an interview with hiphopauthority.com that they are working on a new Demigodz album; titled Killmatic. Apathy stated "We got a gang of sh*t 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." ^[18] Celph said that the album would contain all six members "Which is: Apathy, Celph Titled, Ryu, Esoteric, Motive, Blacastan." Killmatic was officially released March 5, 2013.^[19]

In March 2013, Demigodz released their second full-length album, Killmatic.^[4] It features artists from Scoop DeVille and RA the Rugged Man and production from DJ Premier.^[5] Videos were released for the tracks "Demigodz is Back," "Dead in the Middle," "Raider's Cap," and "Worst Nightmare."^[6][7] After performing as a group for the first time with all members present in November 2012 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Apathy and Celph Titled embarked on a tour to promote the new album including venues in the U.S. and Australia.^[8] The album has received critical acclaim for its adherence to Golden Era hip-hop aesthetics and lyricism.^[7][9]

In April 2014, Apathy announced that, him and Celph Titled will be working on another album, as a duo, titled Will Sing For Vengeance and is likely to be released during 2015.^[20]

Record Label

Demigodz Records (sometimes credited as Demigodz Entertainment) is a record/entertainment company owned and run by Apathy. It was originally made in 1990 by Open Mic & One Two of the original Demigodz rap group but since has been run under Apathy since he took control of the group. It is an independent record label company. Demigodz Records was begun because Apathy did not think that a regular label would want to produce or market the level of output he wanted to produce. He felt that with his own distribution, he would be able to better control his art and image. He was also of the opinion that the industry-standard "record label" was a defunct business model.^[21]

Releases

• Louis Logic - Sin-A-Matic (2003)
• Celph Titled - The Gatalog: A Collection of Chaos (2006)
• Demigodz - The Godz Must Be Crazier (2007)
• Demigodz - Killmatic (2013)

Discography

Albums

• The Godz Must Be Crazier (2007)^[22]
• Killmatic (2013)^[23]

EPs

• "Sureshot Affair" (1998)
• The Godz Must Be Crazy (2002)^[24]

Miscellaneous

• Demigodz Sampler (2004)^[25]
• Demigodz Winter Sampler (2004)^[26]

Singles

• "Don't You Even Go There / Well, Well, Well" (2002) [12"]^[27]

References