Article On Appetite Local Hip Hop Producer

Let’s face it, the music industry today sucks piss. It’s nothing, but a decaying factory pumping out one polished turd after another. Our generation is partly to blame. We don’t want to pay for music anymore and we’ve grown accustomed to the awful sounds that flood the radio. We may even, at times, like the manure the record companies are pouring down our ears. However, those seeking authentic music shouldn’t completely lose faith. There is hope. Local talent, Appetite, is committed toward eradicating soulless pop music and producing authentic Hip Hop with a message. He is our savior.

Raised in the slums of Shoalin, Josh Mangiardi aka Appetite was encouraged by his mother to be creative. Growing up in a hippie household gave him an abundance of freedom, but not an abundance of money. He’s had to struggle and deal with frustrations on a day to day basis, which is why Punk music was so appealing to him as a youth. He related to The Misfits and Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra. The fuck you, I don’t give a fuck about what you think attitude is permanently cemented in his mind. He carries his rebellious mentality everywhere he goes. He brought it with him when his family moved to the west coast. Between the waves and the dunes and the angst, he discovered Hip Hop. Real Hip Hop. Cypress Hill to be exact and with a few hits from the bong, a soon to be psychedelic Hip Hop producer was spawned.

At the age of sixteen, his “step brother” Picasso, from Living Legends, showed him how to program a simple beat on a drum machine and after that he said, “the rest of my life was over.” He didn’t party. He didn’t have a normal social life. He was utterly committed to be the best. He locked himself in his room and taught himself everything there was to know about producing. Eleven years later, he is still after it. No queef sucking boss or unpaid bills or anything the “system” throws at him, can stop him from producing. He stated, “Nothing is more interesting to me than making music.” He can transcend above all the negativity, even above his own ego.

His hard work and devotion has paid off. His beats are an “elevation of the traditional style of Hip Hop.” The illest I’ve heard in too fucking long. Probably because he samples rare psychedelic prog rock records from the 70s. He chops them up, slows them down, and arranges them to perfection. What he creates is a dark and moody and strange and funky Hip Hop track that incorporates vocal samples and different time signatures. It’s fucking madness. They are obscure, intricate, complex underground gems that any artist like Elzhi or Immortal Technique would love to get their hands on. If only…

He has worked with various artists such as Army of Pharaohs, medafORACLE, and local act Public Defendaz. He refuses to work with the flavor of the month. He only wants to work with artists that have “their own message, style, and sound.” Straight raw, grimey, underground Hip Hop acts. He doesn’t care if you like his style or not. He maintains his punk attitude. He doesn’t make music for the ignorant masses. He makes music for himself. He will keep making it for true b-boys and b-girls until the mortician takes his final measurements. In the meantime, be sure to turn off your radios, scrape all of that nasty shit out of your ears, and regain your appetite for authentic music.

Listen to his mixtape “In My Mind’s Eye” @ http://hulkshare.com/qng2jdv5ptfj

Artists can contact Appetite @ g.vergoglini@gmail.com