Referring to Apollo Brown as simply a music producer is, when you think about it, a bit undersold. Acclaimed throughout the music industry, especially in the Hip Hop community, the Grand Rapids, MI native turned Detroit icon is the living embodiment of sound creativity and sonic unity. Apollo is an instrument of togetherness. (Read that again)
Having traveled the world, gracing stages of the highest regard, Apollo brings the feelings of every vibe he’s ever felt into fined tuned embroidery. Recording artists anxiously request his tailoring to match their vocal outfits, like those found on albums The Easy Truth, This Must Be the Place, and the breathtaking Sincerely, Detroit.
We caught up with Apollo Brown for THIS INTERVIEW ahead of his homecoming concert in Grand Rapids at The Pyramid Scheme (Dec. 2, 2022), an event he co-headlines with comrade super producer, fellow Grand Rapids native/iconic Detroit resident, and life-long best friend Bronze Nazareth.
Apollo Brown, you’re returning to your hometown of Grand Rapids, MI to co-headline a homecoming concert at The Pyramid Scheme with Bronze Nazareth. How are you feeling about it?
I’m feeling good! I’m feeling real good! Over my long career I’ve only performed in Grand Rapids one time.
Really??!!!
Yeah! I did show some years back with Vinnie Paz and Ill Bill. I was on tour with them. But that was the only show I’ve done there in my whole career. So, I’m excited and nervous at the same time. This is the original hometown. I’m an Ottawa Hills graduate! I came out in 1998 and I’ve been in Detroit ever since.
How often do you go back to Grand Rapids?
I go back every now-and-then. My sister still lives there, but my folks don’t live there anymore. They’re in Florida. I don’t really have a lot of people to come home to. A lot of people that I knew and grew up with have moved out. They’re in different states, they’re all over the place. I try to get to Grand Rapids when I can but it’s not often. So, I’m excited for this show.
Tell us about your relationship with Bronze.
Bronze and I grew up together. We grew up in the same neighborhood and I’ve known him my whole life. That’s my brother. There’s no one in my life that I’ve known longer than him. There’s no one in my life that I’ve been through as much stuff and things in life as him. That’s my best friend. Being able to come back home and do a show together, that’s great! That’s amazing!
You have this rich, endearing personal relationship, but you have an equally connected professional relationship too. You’ve performed together countless times before, right?
We’ve done shows together on tour overseas, we’ve done shows together other places. It’s just crazy that we’ve never done a show together in Grand Rapids!
The greenroom in The Pyramid Scheme has a lot of stickers, signatures, and other visual representation of artists who have performed there before. None of them, though, can eclipse the aura left behind by Bronze’s brother, the late great Kevlaar 7.
Man… I’ve known him all my life too. Me and Bronze being together all the time, naturally the older brother is there too. He was another close friend of mine growing up. Being older than us he obviously had his own set of friends, but as we all got older, we all kind of came together.
I still get butterflies in my stomach when I think of Kev. Gone way, way, way too soon.
Kev was one of the many prominent artists in Grand Rapids who left heavy footprints on its music scene, especially at that venue. How often over the years have those artists from GR attempted to build a bridge to you in Detroit?
Monk Matthaeus always reaches out to me and wants to do different things, or just to see how I’m doing. Me and Monk, and his brother Dave, we go way back. There are different artists from the city that we went to high school with, like Willie The Kid and La The Darkman. There’s definitely people who reach out, but nothing ever materializes until now.
I would love to keep doing shows in Grand Rapids and keep coming back. I’d like to invest in Grand Rapids and invest in the Hip Hop community in Grand Rapids. | THIS ENT
[By Mr. Joe Walker]
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