“The first one I did, it didn’t look sad. “I was trying to knock off some old Teddy Ruxpin, cute character gone bad,” he says. He saw a teddy bear with its mouth sewn shut. An image that embodies the nostalgia, teenage heartbreak and latchkey kid mentality that courses through the music. As Who Cares becomes a bigger part of his life he envisions a character that could be the group’s calling card. Upton is a graffiti artist and wired to think visually. The Who Cares sound reflects the era of backpack rap, bound to the history and four elements (MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti) while finding a new footing in the suburbs through artists like Atmosphere and Company Flow. A year later they cut a record, a CD-R release they handmade with cut/paste album art to peddle at shows. He was on the mic with Max McMasters behind the boards. Upton traces Who Cares’ formation to 2002. It feels vital to start at the beginning. We drive for nearly two hours, discussing as much as we can. The EP has been shelved, no longer the farewell album as planned. The plan was to discuss the Juvenile Hall EP, a record sent to me weeks prior. The news came up unexpectedly during an interview with Upton and current member Andrew “Young Aundee” Southard. “If we’re really trying to save each other’s lives with the music and it’s more a negative chore then I didn’t want to keep pushing that on anybody,” Upton says of the break-up. Founding member Upton calls it their “big coup de grâce.”
And after the group’s Concert in the Park performance June 17, 2016, the band formerly known as Who Cares. The self-anointed second-place finishers. Originally formed by Ernie Upton, aka Ernie Fresh, and Maxwell McMaster on production, Who Cares is the perpetual opener of rap shows.
The name suggests apathy, but as artists Who Cares put their lives on the line to be one of best hip-hop groups in Sacramento.
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