Where is my Horrorcore?

When I was a teenager in High School my rap music had to include one of two things, murder or pot. Sometimes those two magical worlds came together, like on Cypress Hills 1995 release of "Temple of Boom". Today you can still find plenty of rappers talking about pot, mostly because Cypress is still running around writing records about it. But for the most part, the genre of Horrorcore that made a young Joe feel like a bad ass riding around in his parents Minivan has disappeared.

For those of you who are not from the hard streets of Saratoga New York, Horrorcore was basically rap inspired by horror movies. It focused mainly on topics like suicide, cannibalism and murder. Throw in some other sick crap for good measure and you've got yourself a hit.

One of the groups that ushered in this style for a lot of people, including myself, was Gravediggaz. A supergroup if you will comprised of Prince Paul, Frukwan, Too Poetic, and RZA. Their 1994 album "6 Feet Deep" was just about the most evil thing a 16 year old Joe had ever heard. Some of you might remember the track "1-800-Suicide" appearing in the film "Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight". If you don't you're missing out on one of Billy Zane's finest films. The guy is one cool dude. But that's a different post. The album was awesome by all accounts and featured some really great tracks about torturing people, drinking blood and killing yourself. Just picture a 6'4 pasty white kid riding around in a minivan rockin "2 Cups of Blood". Did you just wet yourself? I don't blame you.

By 1997 when their second album "The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel" rolled out, the fun was over. The album just didn't carry the same weight as their first CD and it went pretty much unnoticed. Their third album "Nightmare in A-Minor" only featured two of the original members and after that it was just about curtains for Horrorcore.

According to the internets there is still a small underground following but I unfortunately don't even know where to find the "underground" anymore. Nonetheless, I miss this style and still throw on "6 Feet Deep" from time to time. I guess you can't really be angry and rap about murdering people when you're living in million dollar mansions and driving around in cars that cost more than the state of New Jersey. It's really too bad because over the past few years I've struggled to find any rap I enjoy listening to. So if you get the chance check out "6 Feet Deep" and don't be ashamed to pop a 40 in honor of your homies locked up in the belly of the beast.