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October 30, 2006
Detroit Horrocore
It is very easy to say that Detroit Horrorcore, and Horrorcore as a whole genre, was born in East Detroit and cultivated in the suburbs such as Eastpointe. I can with a great degree of confidence say that this song was the main catalyst for Detroit Horrorcore.
Esham-Devils Groove
From His groundbreaking album-Boomin Words From Hell or better known as Esham's boomin
So why was this type of rap such a hit with Detroiters and the kids that surrounded Detroit? Well, it all boils down to one night-DEVILS NIGHT. Devils Night in Detroit is insane, or at least it was. The arson, the crime, and the general crazyness that goes down in that town gives the vibe of evil. I can say from experience that Detroit is wild on Devils night. And it is that craziness that gives Esham's Boomin the luxury of being the soundtrack to the evil in Detroit.
Horror and Horror movie references have always been a big part of Michigan hip hop. The phrase "Jason Steady Chasin me" came to represent death (jason) chasing you. Itt was inevitable that Jason would catch, and kill you before your time, so this came to be the same as the ghetto. Basically the ghetto will get you while you are young- "Jason Steady chasin you". The grinding poverty of Detroit and Flint created a lot of horrible situations, lots of death and murder in neighborhoods, such the same as horror movies, so these themes were adopted in their music. Chainsaws, hockey masks, mental asylums, straight jackets, and devil worship were common themes.
Why devil worship? Well, a lot of young men see the death and poverty in their situation and deduce that God hates them. Its not that they were actual devil worshippers, it was used as a metaphor of sorts.
But back to Detroit. When Esham dropped Boomin, it was a hit, but not just with whites. It was a hit across the board. But especially to the horror movie loving kid who understood the evils of Devils Night in Detroit (like me). The Detroit horrorcore was on its way... but at this time it was called "Acid Rap".
Esham stayed along the path of dealing with Good and Evil, Satanists and Christians. His Judgement Day Vol 1 & 2 albums were chocked full of issues regarding religion. Such as this Scathing condemnation of Detroit Preachers
Esham-"Judgement Day" Taken From Judgement Day Vol 1 1991
Esham-"Wake The Dead" Taken From Judgement Day Vol 1 1991
Esham went on to form the group "Natas" (satan spelled backwards) to huge acclaim and large sales.
Natas-"Dance" from Life After Death 1992
Eventually Esham stayed closer to regular "Hood Anthems", which did not sit well with Horrorcore Die hards (usually white kids). However, I feel that Eshams hood shit is just as good as his Acid Rap was. Also, his sampling was on point, he was one of the first to sample RAMP (Roy Ayers Music Project).
Esham-"Sunshine" Taken From KKKIll the Fetus 1993
But he did still try to go for the acid rap steez, which I feel was falling off, going for more of a shock value type thing.
Esham-"666" Taken From KKKIll the Fetus 1993
Esham seemed to have the horrorcore business locked down...but some people were starting tomake some noise.
Enter Insane Clown Posse.
I know everyone thinks they are corny, and with good reason. Once ICP broke and became known outside of Detroit they were mad cornball and the content and quality was not there anymore.
Insane Clown Posse-"Psychopathic" taken from Carnival of Carnage 1992
Insane Clown Posse relied on stories of Ghetto generated horror and the upliftment of ghetto dwellers by killing the rich. Eventually the settled into horror stories that could just as easily be horror movies, even writing a song using Edgar Allen Poe poetry and giving him writing credits.
Insane Clown Posse-Dead Body Man Taken from The Terror Wheel EP 1994
Insane Clown Posse (Edgar Allen Poe)-Ol Evil Eye Taken From Riddlebox 1996
Insane Clown Posse-"The Killing Fields" (narrative about what they believe hell is.) Taken From Riddlebox 1996
Insane Clown Posse-"12" (Story of killing 12 wicked men who sat in judgement of other men.)Taken From Riddlebox 1996
Insane Clown Posse started the freshest tradition. Horror Themed Shows.
It started with the Hallowicked Clown Show on Devils Night In Detroit. Super Fresh stage sets and everyone got a limited edition cassette with a concert only track. THe first year was Dead Pumpkins
Insane Clown Posse-"Dead Pumpkins" Taken from The first Hallowicked Clown Show 1994
Insane Clown Posse-"Mr. Rotten Treats" Taken from The second Hallowicked Clown Show 1995
Insane CLown Posse went on to have other themed shows. The last one I went to was the Prom Night Massacre Show. Held at St. Andrews Hall In Detroit, MI. The main area is an old Gym, such as schools would have dances in. People arrived in limos, tuxes, all while looking dead. It was really dope.
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The thing about Insane Clown Posse and Esham that made them the Kings of Detroit Horrorcore is this: MYSTERY
You never saw Esham or Insane Clown Posse unless they were performing. They never were visible before the show or after. And more importantly, they were never out of character. Because of this fans had literally no interaction with them. This made their characters seem real, this also made rumors grow wildly, Esham having red eyes, driving a hearse (which he did eventually), etc..... Their entourages had the same mystique. ICP had a group of people who wore Detroit TIgers jerseys and wore the same clown masks ALL THE TIME. They didnt talk to you either. People didnt know where they lived, where they shopped, who they were... This made them seem larger than life, actually insane, out of socieity. This also helped them get larger and larger.
I can say that I have never seen a group who only sells locally, is only known locally with no radio support sell out large venues 3 nights in a row that national groups cant sell out one time.
So of course on the heels of all the wicked success of Esham, Natas, and Insane Clown Posse, more wicked groups popped up.
JP the Unknown
Evol
Down Boys
Lunacy-"Untitled" Taken from Mental Warp EP 1994 (My information may be incorrect on this one, but I know the group is called Lunacy)
and many others
Most of these groups were not good at all. Then, a gem emerged.
House of Krazees
They put out the Halloween Detroit Horrorcore Masterpiece Season of the Pumpkin This album has the best series of songs dealing with Halloween
House of Krazees-"Hallows Eve"
House of Krazees-"The Mask"
House of Krazees-"Trick Or Treat"
House of Krazees-Haunted House
p.s. LOL @ "uncle creepy"
House of Krazees suffered from one major problem; They recorded at The Disk in Detroit. They enjoyed mild success but could not capture what ICP and Esham had done years before. Mainly becuase there was no mystery surrounding them. Their pictures were in the albums (2 of them looked like Frat Boys), they hung out at shows and did not stay in character.
Mr. Bones from House of Krazees left the group and put out an LP titled Sacrifice , which is a masterpiece. The production is top notch and he has clearly developed themes. The stand out is "Why the Children". A great horror story about him digging up his little brother whom he killed to bring him back to life.
Mr. Bones-"Why the Children Taken" from Sacrifice 1995
1996 signaled the end of good Detroit Horrorcore. Insane Clown Posse was becoming a national act, Esham was getting smoother, and the House of Krazees had broken up. During all this extremely sub-par horrorcore groups from all over the midwest began to take over and churn out tons of crap that younger generations eagerly snapped up. And I was all done... Especially when I heard this.........Cykosis. Easily the worst "horrorcore" group ever. I keep it around for a chuckle every now and then.
Cykosis-"Come Inside" Taken from Cykosis 1996
Cykosis-"Organ Grinder" Taken from Cykosis 1996
+++A lot more can be said about all of these groups. I shortened it to fit and give you a short history of Detroit Horrorcore. Esham and ICP could easily be broken up into 2 very long posts.+++
Oh and one last thing. How fresh is this? ICP did a song and video dedicated to their fans, with pictures of their fans all through it! I mean the song blows, but how excited do you think those fans are? that is just a cool thing to do for the people that support them
http://www.insaneclownposse.com/media/video/the_people.mov
Posted by docbeezy at October 30, 2006 3:02 PM
Comments
woah. thanks for this!
it's interesting that ICP's fanbase is almost exclusively white, apparently.
also interesting is that i actually watched that whole video.
i remember bumpin' natas through eastown with this kid mark back in highschool. mark was kind of corny.
Posted by: george at October 30, 2006 11:33 AM
yay for great posts!!
and speaking of devils night in detroit - check this out - it a is a piece written by Warn Defever (of Princess Dragon-Mom) called after devils night.
http://www.timestereo.com/specials.php?nice_day=41
Posted by: sam at October 30, 2006 11:35 AM
Beez, you might find this interesting.
Posted by: Luke at October 30, 2006 12:20 PM
find what interesting?
Posted by: docbeezy at October 30, 2006 12:24 PM
Hmm... perhaps you have html turned off.
This:
http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=9789
Posted by: Luke at October 30, 2006 1:02 PM
"At one mid-'90s, Royal Oak installment of Hallowicked, a stage full of grisly, mask-wearing mannequins set up in a squalid tableau suddenly came alive after an hour-and-a-half for the finale — a full 10 years before Saw would employ the same tactic for its ending. "
I was at that show and it was fresh as fuck to see that!
Posted by: docbeezy at October 30, 2006 1:08 PM
best blog on g-rad. sweet post. I always heard rumors that Esham killed his family and drank blood and worshoped the devil.
Posted by: outobol at October 30, 2006 2:15 PM
I never ever checked this stuff (I might have heard a gravediggaz song once, but I can't remember and I don't know if that counts) but purely based on the people I saw cop the album, I assumed NATAS was a bunch of white guys.
Posted by: anthony at October 30, 2006 8:34 PM
sweet post. made me want some faygo.
"mad cornball" made me laugh out loud
Posted by: dan at October 31, 2006 5:45 PM
Wow, I never knew. Great post.
I remember in my freshman year of high school (97) all the older kids were crazy about ICP- face paint, Faygo, concerts at the Deltaplex I think they really hit Grand Rapids just before then... I remember hating them, but trying to like them to fit in.
and holy shit did violent j put on some weight.
Posted by: kevin at November 1, 2006 8:14 PM