Hathian Rapper Debuts Bellicose Single on Youtube

Every major city has at least one famous song associated with it. The Big Apple has “New York, New York,” sung by the legendary Sinatra. Sin City has “Viva, Las Vegas,” among many others.

While Hathian may not be glamorous, its uniquely shady quality provides a lot of subject matter for would-be musicians, and a song about our beloved city has long been overdue. Luckily, a Rader Records employee and budding rap artist named Gene Grimey has stepped up to the challenge.

Yesterday, Grimey released “Scrappy,” a debut single currently featured on Youtube. Written by a Hathianite, about Hathianites, and filmed in Hathian,”Scrappy” is about as homegrown as any musical work could possibly get.

The slick opening of the music video presents us with scenes that are reminiscent of a zombie apocalypse, all while ominous notes buzz in the background like poorly constructed lightsabers. What follows is mostly a hodgepodge of sequences where Grimey and her friends posture, dance and throw cartoonish punches at random strangers. Overall, the video complements the song nicely and has plenty of humorous moments to keep the viewer engaged.

The music itself has a frenetic vibe to it, and if Grimey’s aspiration was to create a masterpiece, this bellicose anthem against “bitches” and “hoes” probably isn’t enough to unseat Bach from the pantheon of great composers. But most likely, Grimey had a more modest goal of capturing the personality of Hathian in auditory form, in which case she does achieve a measure of success (although one could argue that recording a flushing toilet would have accomplished much of the same thing).

There is no doubt that some will love “Scrappy,” while others will loathe it. Whichever camp you fall in, it would be wise to remember the old saying, “beggars can’t be choosers.” Until yesterday, Hathian didn’t even have its own song. Today, thanks to Grimey, it does. That’s got to count for something.

Interview

I caught up with Gene Grimey at the hospital during the evening, after being stabbed in retaliation for my Russian gang story. Sporting a cropped jacket and her trademark sunglasses, Grimey sat on a wooden chair next to my bed and at first, she seemed somewhat subdued and almost professional. But soon enough, she began to relax, as evidenced by her swear word usage ratio, which eventually shot up to a level that I consider to be within the normal range for rap artists.

OBSERVER: Are you open to meeting fans and providing autographs?

Gene Grimey at her place of work, Rader Records.

GRIMEY: I’m down for giving out autographs, if anybody wants. I don’t think I’m on that level yet, but yeah, Rader Records helped me produce the song and the video, so I give them so much respect, and people should definitely come check out the shop. They have cool shit, and they’re Hathian’s only record store. Peri, the owner, is a boss, and I thank her for everything she’s done to make the shit happen.

OBSERVER: What made you decide to write the song, “Scrappy?”

GRIMEY: I decided to write this song because I wanted to pay tribute to all the bitches and hoes that think they’re hard as fuck. They gave me inspiration to finally start doing some recording. I’ve been writing music for a while now, doing some shows here and there, but I never really got into recording. So when I came back to Hathian after a few years and some clown-ass hoes thought they were hard and shit, trying to gang up on me, I started writing and releasing my stress, and it came out in this video.

OBSERVER: And by clown-ass hoes, would I be correct to assume that you’re referring to car standers?

GRIMEY: Yup, yup. The car standers, the Twitter bullies, their ratchet ass followers, and their pussy-whipped boy toys. All those motherfuckers.

OBSERVER: Are you concerned that the belligerent tone of your song will have a bad influence on the youth of Hathian? They have so few role models to look up to as it is—well—with the exception of me.

GRIMEY: Who the fuck is belligerent? I mean, I don’t really see my tone as belligerent. My shit is straight up and coherent. Bitches wanna fuck around, they get beat the fuck down. In a place like Hathian, that is what the youth need to learn. Don’t talk shit unless you’re about shit. Don’t play hard unless you roll hard. Don’t fuck around like you’re a gangsta unless you A) are a real gangsta, or unless you B) want to end up face down in a ditch. All the youth need to learn.

OBSERVER: Do you do birthday parties, weddings, or any other such events?

GRIMEY: Yeah. I do parties, weddings, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, quinceaneras, all that shit. Hit me up at [email protected] for booking. [Laughter.] It’ll be the time of your motherfucking life.

OBSERVER: What advice do you have for other artists who want to channel their anger and write trashy rap songs?

GRIMEY: My advice is to be real or get the fuck out. I’m Hathian’s first trash rapper, and if they want to be somebody, they need to be about the life.