No More Imaginary Life

Athens Rapper BadKat Releases Her Debut EP

originally published October 25, 2006

For local emcee BadKat, that the songs on her debut EP turned out as laid-back as they did surprised even her. "I was really surprised at how downtempo the whole thing was," she says. "It totally caught me off guard. I've always considered myself a hard rapper. All I used to do was battle rhyme, y'know? I've got books and books of them. Something about being in Florida as long as I was… I think I was looking for a higher place, maybe even spiritually, and once I left, I think that came out with how mellow the album was."

BadKat - her papers say Kathryn Roberts - moved to Athens from her home state of Florida in early 2006, and quickly dove into the local hip hop scene. Taking part in several casual performances led to sets opening for other acts, and her fast friendships with local hip hop community heavyweights like Dreaded Mindz's Montu Miller or local emcee Ishues allowed her the opportunity to contribute even more. As one of the organizers of this month's "Hip Hop Homecoming Week," BadKat says she was able to help foster an event she hopes will inspire more like it. "It was great, the turnout was awesome," she says. "As far as what that festival means, and what it did, I saw a thousand new faces. It had enough success to be a stable regular event, which is really what we were aiming for. And we showed small and local business owners that supporting hip hop was viable, and getting them tied in really works with what hip hop is all about, it's so much more than music and what people are playing on a Friday night. It has so much to do with the philosophy of working together and representing the community and showing love enough to help out."

Coming to hip hop in high school after a long love affair with reggae, BadKat found inspiration in progressive groups like De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest, and upon moving to North Carolina for college, delved even deeper into East Coast emcees like the Wu-Tang Clan and Nas. "Hip hop music is a byproduct of hip hop culture," she says, discussing the influence the music had on her life and the potential it has for others. "People can tap into the music because music's such a powerful thing. You can listen to it, can be inspired by it, you can be moved emotionally, spiritually. But beyond that, hip hop is a culture that breeds through the music. Hip hop's a voice, and just like punk rock, gives people a chance to identify with themselves and express their creativity and passion."

Unreleased is the title of BadKat's debut EP, and it was her first experiment with fully realizing recorded songs. She started working on the disc this past spring, and recruited local engineer Daniel Collins of PigPen Studios for his expertise. "Daniel's a great guy. I enjoyed his personality and willingness to engage, especially," she says. "That was something I'd been missing down in Florida studios, where people didn't care whether you finished something or not, as long as they got paid for their time. Daniel was very focused. Whenever I was in there he was focused. It was very laid-back, but at the same time we were working hard. I like an engineer to be very creative on the boards, and I need their input because I can't tell you what buttons to push to get the sound in my head out."

A number of local producers contributed the beats for Unreleased, including VereenCorps and Bottle Rocket Bangers. "The majority of the beats went through a strenuous get-it-ready process," says BadKat, "where the producers would get their beats to me, then I'd toss it around, ask for some changes, work through it again and then take it to Daniel. In the mixdown process was where I tried to get Daniel more involved, whether it was adding more breaks or drops, or moving samples of vocals around. It was a lot of playing through the whole thing."

The end result is an eight-song collection that stands apart from BadKat's stage performances, which tend towards a sharp and biting wit and rapid delivery; while tracks like "Meaning of Self" retain an incisive, political edge, touching on topics from feminist theory to capitalist corruption, numbers like "How Many Days" and "Imaginary Life" are decidedly more introspective. The Renegadez's emcee Son 1 shows up on the track "Revenge." And then there's "Rock You Right," the swinging, charging collaboration with Ishues that's geared towards the dance floor and built around Bottle Rocket Bangers' unrelenting sound. "I love that song because it's a moment where we were inspired to make that song where I'd never heard a track like that," says BadKat. "I was looking for something that'd come real fast and make a great club track, and when I heard that, I knew that was it. That's the one I need to get deejays to put on their mixes."

This weekend's show will coincide with the release of the EP, and BadKat says the first 100 people who show up and pay to get in will receive free copies of the album. DJ Bulldog Purp, AKA DJ ICue, will be on hand to handle the turntables, and BadKat says he may present much of her music in a chopped and screwed, Texas-style fashion. Southern Poetic Conneckshun, long absent from local club stages, opens up and Montu Miller hosts the evening, aiming to celebrate another versatile new addition to the local community.

Chris Hassiotis

WHO: BadKat, Southern Poetic Conneckshun, DJ Bulldog Purp
WHERE: Caledonia Lounge
WHEN: Saturday, October 28
HOW MUCH: $5