Horrorcore
Stylistic origins	Hardcore hip hop, gangsta rap, death metal
Cultural origins	Early 1990s United States
Typical instruments	Emceeing - Drum machine - Turntables - Sampler - Keyboard
Mainstream popularity	Largely underground, but some groups and artists have received mainstream success

Horrorcore is a subgenre of hip hop music based in horror-themed lyrical content and imagery. While the style is underground in popularity, some performers have sold well in the mainstream scene.

Contents 1 History 2 Characteristics 3 Notable representatives 4 References

[edit] History

The stylistic origins of horrorcore can be traced to a number of artists in the early 1990s. The Geto Boys' fourth album, We Can't Be Stopped (1991), has an album cover that depicts a suicide attempt and includes the song "Chuckie", based on the character Chucky from the horror film Child's Play.^[1][2] Ganksta N-I-P's debut album, The South Park Psycho (1992), includes the song "Horror Movie Rap" which samples the soundtrack from the 1978 film Halloween.^[1][2] The group Insane Poetry, on their debut Grim Reality (1992),^[1][3] and Esham, with Boomin' Words from Hell (1989), both incorporated horror imagery with their lyrics.^[1][4] Kool Keith claims to have "invented horrorcore".^[5] While there is much debate over who first coined the term, its use did not gain prominence until 1994,^[1] with the release of Flatlinerz' U.S.A. (Under Satan's Authority)^[1][6] and Gravediggaz' Niggamortis (released in the U.S. as 6 Feet Deep).^[7][8]

While the genre as a whole is not popular with mainstream audiences, performers such as Insane Clown Posse, Twiztid and Necro have sold well.^[1] The genre has thrived in Internet culture and sustains an annual "supershow" in Detroit called "Wickedstock".^[9] According to the January 2004 BBC documentary Underground USA, the subgenre "has a massive following across the US" and "is spreading to Europe".^[9]

[edit] Characteristics

Horrorcore defines the style of hip hop music that focuses around horror-influenced topics that include Satanism, cannibalism, suicide, murder and rape. The lyrics are inspired by horror movies over moody, hardcore beats.^[10] According to rapper Mars, "If you take Stephen King or Wes Craven and you throw them on a rap beat, that's who I am."^[11] Horrorcore was described by Entertainment Weekly in 1995 as a "blend of hardcore rap and bloodthirsty metal."^[12] The lyrical content of horrorcore is sometimes described as being similar to that of death metal, and some have referred to the genre as death rap.^[13] Horrorcore artists often feature dark imagery in their music videos and base musical elements of songs upon horror film scores.^[13]

[edit] Notable representatives

• Axe Murder Boyz^[14]
• Brotha Lynch Hung^[15]
• Cage^[16][17]
• D12 and Eminem^[18][19]
• Esham and Natas^[1][20]
• Flatlinerz^[6]
• Ganksta N-I-P^[1][2]
• Geto Boys
• Gravediggaz^[1][7]
• Insane Clown Posse^[1]
• Insane Poetry^[1][3]
• Kid Crusher^[21]
• King Gordy^[22]
• Mars^[23]
• Necro^[24]
• Prozak^[25]
• Tech N9ne^[26]
• Three 6 Mafia^[27]
• Twiztid^[28]

[edit] References