Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Deep

The great grandaddy of all horrorcore rap, Gravediggaz' 6 Feet Deep fused the skewed, dusty funk of Wu-Tang onto Addams Family organ and a lyrical prediliction for horror theatrics, although in contrast to what followed, many of the songs are tongue-in-cheek, goofy, and digressive.  Containing two members of hip-hop veterans Stetsasonic and RZA from the newly-famous Wu-Tang Clan, plus the late Poetic, they initially formed after being screwed by Tommy Boy records in various ways.  What at first was a one-off spleen venting became a movement in underground hip-hop, with a legion of horror obsessed freaks taking to the 808 and mirroring the rise of underground death metal in the early and mid-nineties.  I've made a little game lately of comparing landmark albums in the respective genres; let's call this one Mental Funeral.

Bang Your Head

Three 6 Mafia - Mystic Stylez

Gravediggaz beat them by a year, but the debut album by Three 6 Mafia is perhaps the defining moment of horrorcore rap.  The filthy low budget production, the predilection for violent imagery, the revenge fantasies and the murky, cobwebby atmosphere that define the genre are all here in copious amounts.  Roughly equivelant to Scream Bloody Gore, the record still sounds menacing, vital, and prescient.

Now I'm Hi

Spvcxghsztpvrrp - Blvcklvnd Rvdix 66.6

Miami's teenage horror rapper Spaceghostpurrp has released what may well be the year's darkest and strangest mixtape,  Blvcklvnd Rvdix 66.6.  Sounding like it was recorded on a tiny, busted cassette player and liberally slathered in Godzilla and Mortal Kormbat samples, and as murky and uncommercial as any deliberately obscure black metal kvlt, this bloated monstrosity is a purple smear of ugliness, a robotussin stain on the plush carpet of hipster rap.  It's anti-social, unfiltered, and wallowing in sociapathic obscurity.

SVCK V DICK FXR 2011

Brotha Lynch Hung - Season of da Siccness

It's one of those nights, my dearies, where only the ugliest and most twisted horrorcore can satisfy the dark urges roiling within. Brotha Lynch Hung's pet themes - cannibalism, mysogyny, madness, infanticide, booze - all permeate this miasmal gangsta record like smoke from a funeral pyre. A west coast answer to the New York's burgeoning horror rap movement, this first LP sounds like a hybrid of the G-Funk synth-and-melodica slink and the menacing funk of a John Carpenter soundtrack. This is roughly the rap equivalent to Butchered at Birth. Tread cautiously.
Rest in Piss

In the year 3030

A classic of dystopian hip-hop, a peak album in a tiny sub-genre that soon spiraled into self-parody and cheap commercialism, an Orwellian prophecy of end times, and a hilarious send-up of corny sci-fi movies, 3030 is a must for any student of The Apocalypse. This album is a distinct product of the waning of the happy-go-lucky Clinton era and the approaching of the turbulent first decade of a new millennium, heralded by Y2K paranoia and a radical rightwards swing in American politics. 9/11 was over a year away when this was released - I find it odd that this record can stand as a nerdy bit of weedian self-indulgence and simultaneously as a bold premonition of war.
Madness

Mac Dre - Thizzelle Washington

While Mac Dre had a long and relatively uninteresting career exploring the various forms of streeta rap, 2002's Thizzelle Washington captured the zeitgeist of an era where it was still possible to be gangsta as fuck and simultaneously be on tons of ecstasy. Sadly for connoisseurs of the bizarre, this was a short lived fad whose primary legacy is the dance step that originated with this album, which essentially seems to be a more organized form of the wild flailing and rubbing generally associated with users of MDMA. However, for those of us with an aversion to anonymous back-rubs and whispered obscenities, we have a perfect time capsule. Not only do we have numerous drug raps and an endless parade of nowhere MCs, but also dissertations on Star Wars, monetary hardship, self-congratulatory navel gazing, and some disposable skits and insincere ballads. In other words, your standard hip-hop album framework, but filtered through a technicolor mesh shirt used to mop up the mess somebody left on the VFW floor, wrung out into a bottle of Robitussin, and poured in your ear. It's fun while it lasts, but there's still that walk of shame tomorrow.
Dam, I Used To Know That (Interlude)

Be A Man

Well Shit.

Death Grips - Exmilitary

I must admit I don't know a whole hell of a lot about this screaming, scary madman; aside from this album and some stray mp3s there's not much to be heard out there, and he seems deliberately uninterested in any crossover appeal whatsoever. What we have here is lo-fi, homemade, psychedelic, twisted hip-hop with samples from the Ventures, Black Flag, and stranger places. Trippier than the weirdest sizzurp-flavored nightmare and more headache-inducing than cocaine cut with Drano, even at a brief (for hip-hop) fifty minuted running time, Exmilitary feels like a black hole of crazy that you'll never escape from. Don't say you weren't warned.
Blood Creepin

The Last Emperor - Music, Magic, Myth

I suppose I should be impervious to the close-mindedness and xenophobia in the metal community after two decades, but it still strikes a nerve whenever I hear someone bitching about "that rap crap" - not only is it stupid to dismiss a form of music whose underground is as diverse and thriving as heavy metal's, but it often smacks of barely-suppressed racism as well. Seriously, judging an entire genre by what you hear on the radio is just as reductive as saying all heavy metal sounds like and is a valid as the faddish deathcore clones and seemingly unkillable nu-metal knuckledraggers that represent heavy metal to the straight world.
Enough sermonizing: let's get down to it. Long-time Philly underground champ Last Emperor has made a niche for himself weaving dense, allegorical rhymes on a wide variety of subjects, from cryptozoology to comic books, from metaphorical rap tyranny to literal anti-fascism, from wizards to womens. This album is thick with jokes and references, serious-minded at its core but wrapped in layers of strangeness. Do yourself a favor and stretch those brain cells out a bit - too much death metal makes your mind mushy.
Hold On

Pretty Toney

Too busy to deliberate and bloviate tonight, dear ones, so tide yourselves over with this audio self-help book from Ghostface.
Nah mean?

Esham - Bruce Wayne: Gotham City 1987

Well, it's been a moment since we've had some graphic, cartoonishly violent horrorcore, hasn't it? Oh dear, lets remedy that immediately. Esham, one half of the notorious "acid rap" pioneers Natas, baffingly assumes the alter ego Bruce Wayne, and proceeds to list in great detail his many horrendous crimes and superhuman sexual exploits. It's a bit overlong, like many albums of this style, full of skits and with most of the good stuff front-loaded. Somehow, though, Esham sounds crazier and crazier throughout the record, increasingly erratic and more dangerous. I still can't wrap my head around the Batman thing either, and Esham's many lyrical riffs on the subject are near gibberish. Still, there's a lot to like here, from the nasty synth skeets to the startling level of uncomfortable detail, if that's your sort of thing...
Lowlafalana

Satanic Verses

1. Tech N9ne - What’s Yo Psycho?
2. Jedi Mind Tricks - Suicide
3. Geto Boys - Chuckie
4. Insane Poetry - In The Mouth Of Maddness
5. Gravediggaz - Graveyard Chamber
6. Esham - 666
7. Jay-Z - Lucifer
8. Brotha Lynch Hung - Dead Man Walking
9. Cage - The Soundtrack...
10. Bone - Hell Sent
11. Canibus - Layered Prayers
12. Ganksta N-I-P - Horror Movie Rap
13. Flatlinerz - Satanic Verses
14. NATAS - Like A Spirit
15. Big L - Da Graveyard
16. Ras Kass - Interview With A Vampire

Obligatory Halloween Mix

The Devil'z Rejects - Necronomicon

A collaboration between Jus Allah of Philly's notorious Jedi Mind Tricks and Boston rapper Bomshot (yeah, I've never heard of him either), The Devil'z Rejects is an aggressively nasty affair, alternating between seemingly deep meditations on heady esoteric topics and homophobic/homoerotic genital torture scenarios. Must of this is the work of Jus Allah, notorious for anti-gay lyrics so cartoonish and obsessive that they seem like thinly veiled come-ons from that sweaty guy in the men's room at the Greyhound station (he also repeatedly threatens to give your moms AIDS). Likewise, his aspirations toward intellectualism are belied by the song seriously dissecting the Da Vinci Code (which, charmingly, features a guest rapper named Evildead). A third blow to its credibility is the constant referencing to the eponymous Rob Zombie movie, a steaming turd of mediocrity. Still, the album throbs with a malevolent life of its own thanks to the bluesy samples and scratchy, 36 Chambers-style layers of needle hiss, and some guest spots by less anti-social MCs.
I'mma turn everything man makes to pancakes

Insane Poetry - Blacc Plague

Here's another fine example of early horrorcore from L.A. hip-hop ensemble Insane Poetry, although they called their particular sound "The Terrifying Style" and distanced themselves from that already waning sub-genre. Full of strange pitch-shifted samples (a decade before Kanye West), crunchy junkyard percussion, layered vocalizations, and horror movie references, particularly "Angel Heart" and John Carpenter's "In the Mouth of Madness," the album is further distinguished from its horrorcore brethren by a G-Funk organ vibe and a merciful minimum of stupid skits. Frontman Cyco (hey, it's L.A.) vividly and hilariously paints himself as a more verbose Jason Voorhees, stalking the streets, picking off wack MCs who have wandered stupidly into "the wrong neck of the woods." Also of note is the Steven Seagal-themed "On Deadly Ground," a real treat for the careful listener. After some squabbling in '96 with Nastymix, the label home to Sir-Mix-A-Lot and The Accused, this album was suppressed and only properly released twelve years later. Fortunately Insane Poetry, unlike virtually all of their peers, continue to record and release Juggalo-free horror-themed rap, like the recent collaboration with DJ Sutter Kane and the upcoming "Dead Sea Scrolls".
I hang nerds from they scrote sacs

(Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front

I find it odd that I haven't posted this album before - or perhaps I have, and it mysteriously vanished? Let's rectify that immediately. Somewhat charmingly, this (my favorite Busta album by a long shot) is a relic of the pre-millennial paranoia embraced widely across many cross-sections of society in those heady days of 1998 and 1999. From Y2K to the supposed return of Jesus Christ to the apocalyptic overtones of that Prince song, the undercurrent of dread lent a gleeful hedonistic sense of doom to everyday activities, from Makin' Shit Bounce to Tearin' Da Roof Off. I'll spare you the lengthy analysis of the man himself and his style, as you are surely already hip to it, and just sit back and await the inevitable mushroom cloud.
There's Only One Year Left

Ras Kass - Rasassination

Today's special is Rasassination, with a wide variety of dystopian flavours for the sensitive palate: everything from your standard 90's cyberpunk themes to visions of a coming Ice Age, punctuated by filthy humour, elaborate descriptions of Mr. Kass' dated wardrobe, discussions of astronomy and physics, and the rather silly sounding stab (so to speak) at conventional horrorcore "Interview with a Vampire." Adding to the exotic ambiance are multiple guest stars with X's and Z's in their monikers, from human internet meme Xzibit to El Drax, Jazze Pha, Jah Skillz, Bad Azz, and RZA. Thematically messy but wildly ambitious, this album retains a special little place in your narrator's throbbing cybernetic heart.
OohWee!

B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e - Faces of Death

Forgive the hurriedness this evening, dearie, but your host is in a mad dash for escape and has only a brief window of time to send a communique. Therefore I leave you with this early example of horrorcore, notable for its Nightmare on Elm Street-riffing single "Hell Sent," the debut from the entity soon to be known as Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. If that cover doesn't sell you on it immediately, I shan't waste precious words trying to convince you. History will vindicate me.
Bless da 40 oz

Cage - Movies for the Blind

This album is a rabid revenge fantasy, a drug-addled escaped mental patient's one man war with the world. Full of spite and poison, Cage spits and slobbers his way through track after track of violent daydreams, often naming names. That said, it's also complex, multi-layered, diverse, and cathartic in a way, like draining venom from a snake bite.
I'll rip off all your flesh and make an outfit.

Ganksta N-I-P - The South Park Psycho

For a brief period of time in the nineties there existed a style of hip-hop called horrorcore, which combined the most delightful aspects of cartoonishly violent gangsta rap with the synth-laden musical atmosphere and blood-lust of the darkest horror movies. This style, despite its promising renaissance period, was quickly dated and degenerated into self-parody and the horrid Juggalo sub-culture. Fortunately many of the best albums of the genre have aged well and remain bracing and disturbing. Ganksta N-I-P was a Houston contemporary of Geto Boys and penned their horror-themed hit "Chucky." This album, one of the earliest and most primitive examples of horrorcore, rattles like a burnt skeleton and samples liberally from notable horror scores. N-I-P's rhymes are truly bizarre and menacingly surreal: he explains his sheer insanity by threatening to exchange heads with a moose and marry a dead horse in the lead track "Horror Movie Rap." Careful listening reveals many evil non-sequiturs, more often than not involving members of the animal kingdom that surely exist nowhere near Houston. Evidence indicates Ganksta N-I-P was genuinely, legitimately insane.
Step up and die.

Canibus - For Whom The Beat Tolls

Truly the rarest of beasts in the Swamp: Lovecraftian hip-hop. This ambitious album is peppered with subtle quotes from the old gentleman, notably in the startling eleven-minute track "Poet Laureate Infinity v003" which contains the immortal couplet "That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die." In addition the album concerns itself with numerology, pyramids, dead languages, sunspots, preparation for the apocalypse, and all manner of interesting subject matter. The scope is astounding and only draws into focus after several listens - many layers must be peeled back to reveal the swirling nuclear star at the heart of it.
Secrets Amongst Cosmonauts