Many popular movie directors
got their start in horror films:
J.J. Abrams, Guillermo del Toro
and James Cameron to name a
few. In the film industry, horror
is where many directors and
producers begin to make a name
for themselves. The same can be
said for hip hop, as underground
rappers debuted in the eerie,
little-known subgenre that is
horrorcore.
Marked by harsh, aggressive
beats and over-the-top depictions
of taboo subjects, horrorcore
is hip hop’s foray into the
supernatural. Often it was an
outlet for their twisted fantasies.
Drug abuse, slasher-style murder,
mental derangement and satanic
messages all found a home in
horrorcore. Starting in the late
’80s and early ’90s, the genre
began to take shape, and its
influence would run deep in hip
hop for years to come.
Early
horrorcore
pioneers
were some of hip hop’s greatest
experimenters and influencers.
The Geto Boys’s 1991 single “Mind
Playing Tricks on Me,” widely
hailed as one of the greatest hip-
hop tracks of all time, is a journey
through paranoia that set the
groundwork
for
horrorcore’s
pervasive
themes
of
mental
illness. Three 6 Mafia were
the first to introduce sinister,
hardcore
beats
and
satanic,
occult-themed lyrics on their 1995
debut album Mystic Stylez. Bone
Thugs-N-Harmony followed suit
on E. 1999 Eternal with ominous
cuts like “Crept And We Came”
and “East 1999.” All horrorcore
needed was someone to bring all
those elements together.
The album that started it all
The genre-defining moment
came in 1996 with the release
of
Dr.
Octagonecologyst,
the
otherworldly story of the alien
gynecologist Dr. Octagon. The
mad genius behind the record
is Kool Keith, founder of the
influential
hip-hop
group
Ultramagnetic MCs, an artist who
would go on to claim he invented
horrorcore
with
the
album’s
release. He may not have invented
horrorcore per se, but he definitely
wrote the bible for it: Packed with
disturbing rhymes and surreal
messages, the tales of Dr. Octagon
were the culmination of all prior
experimentations in horrorcore.
I remember the first time I
listened to Dr. Octagonecologyst,
I
was
dumbstruck
by
its
extraterrestrial
imagery
and
deadpan non sequiturs. I knew
I just listened to something
brilliant, but I found it so
unsettling that I didn’t revisit the
record for over a year. Each time
I went back, I left more confused
about it than before — but I began
to find comfort in the discomfort
that is Dr. Octagonecologyst. I
would not be the only Detroiter to
feel that way.
In Detroit
The
mantle
of
horrorcore
has largely been taken on by a
counterculture wave of Detroit
artists associated with rap duo
Insane Clown Posse (ICP) and
their label, Psychopathic Records.
ICP coined their own style of
horrorcore in the mid ’90s focused
on transgressive tongue-in-cheek
lyrics. They maintain a dedicated
base of “juggalos,” a nickname for
ICP fans. Juggalos, a fringe group
united by a shared love for ICP-
brand horrorcore, have developed
their own culture: They wear
clown makeup, share a common
slang and find a catharsis in
expressions of anger and violence.
(Despite this, they are largely
harmless and confine most of
that expression to ICP’s elaborate
concert theatrics and festivals).
Other Detroit artists have also
taken influence from horrorcore.
Legendary
underground
hip-
hop duo Binary Star included
a horrorcore cut on their debut
in 1999, “Wolf Man Jack.” More
recently, rapper Danny Brown
has flirted with horrorcore on his
2016 album Atrocity Exhibition,
which feels like the soundtrack to
a Stephen-King-style funhouse.
In the Mainstream
Horrorcore
has
struggled
to find mainstream success by
nature of its lyrics and themes,
but one Detroit horrorcore rapper
launched his career as hip hop’s
best-selling
artist.
The
only
exception who found mainstream
success in horrorcore without
watering down his lyrics is
Eminem. Even at his most profane
and terrifying on The Slim Shady
LP and The Marshall Mathers LP,
he shattered sales records and
dominated the charts.
Since then, no other true
horrorcore records have reached
the
mainstream,
let
alone
replicating the enormous sales
of
Eminem.
However,
other
mainstream artists have launched
their careers with horrorcore
and found success as their styles
changed. Most notably, Tyler,
the Creator built a fan base out of
his first two albums, Bastard and
Goblin, which were filled to the
brim with disturbing, demonic
depictions of rape, murder and
mental illness.
Modern Influence
Today, artists from a range of
genres still draw influence from
horrorcore, usually in sonic style
rather than lyrical themes. The
shock factor of horrorcore has
lost its charm to most listeners,
but the eerie sound has inspired
many. Grimes has cited the
underground horrorcore group
Jedi Mind Tricks as one of her
influences. The blood-curdling
screams and cackles on Kanye
West and Kid Cudi’s 2018 album
Kids See Ghosts are reminiscent
of Dr. Octagonecologyst. Even
Billie Eilish’s latest single, “bury
a friend,” draws on the themes of
horrorcore, though stripped of
the gruesome lyrics central to the
genre.
Horrorcore’s
time
in
the
limelight has faded since the days
of The Marshall Mathers LP. The
violent splatter-film-style lyrics
may forever be a niche reserved
for juggalos, but darker themes,
hardcore beats and supernatural
soundscapes are beginning to rear
their head in hip hop once again
with artists like Earl Sweatshirt
and JPEGMAFIA. As rappers and
producers continue to innovate
new ways to scare listeners,
they show just how deep their
horrorcore influences run.
2B — Thursday, February 7, 2019
b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Horrorcore brings out the
freaky side of hip hop, rap
RAP-A-LOT RECORDS
DYLAN YONO
Daily Arts Writer
Horrorcore
is hip hop’s
foray into the
supernatural.
Regardless of how seriously
you take astrology, it’s a very
useful tool for introspection
and expression an effective
means
of
understanding
oneself and connecting with
others. The same can be said
for the clothes you throw on
your back. Wearing your heart
on your sleeve at any price
point will pay off in the end
because you allow others to
understand who you are and
find ways to connect with you,
whether that means expressing
how you’re feeling on that
particular day or that each
outfit you debut is a carefully
constructed and consistently
aligned expression of identity.
Regardless of how much value
you place on fashion, personal
style is inescapable.
Astrology’s
take-this-as-
far-as-you-want mantra lets
you pull different elements
of your life and relationships
and create meaning, or just
make a few tired jokes in
attempt to disparage the two
Scorpios in your life that
crossed you (let them live,
sweetie!). After reading your
chart, some random sextile
moons are going to strike a
chord that resonates with you
so profoundly that you’ll be
on the floor fully gooped and
riding through severe heart
palpitations. Some are going
to seem like they’re completely
off (or are they?), and most
people just look at their inner
planets and end up saying that
every sign’s overview is vague
enough to relate to, which is
kind of the whole point.
From
entire
maelstroms
of
online
horoscopes
in
fashion magazines aiming to
determine your personal style
based on star signs to designers
that build their brand around
the energy and characteristics
of a specific zodiac sign,
the creative channels that
stargazing has opened up for
fashion are without bounds.
The latter manifests itself best
in Aries Arise, the brainchild
of Sofia Prantera and Fergus
Purcell, respectively of Silas
and Palace Skateboards, and
patches
together
elements
from what they call “80s
trash
fashion”
along
with
other
high-energy
stylistic
movements that sought to
burn bourgeoisie tastes to
the ground, with refreshingly
minimal
and
considered
silhouettes.
Their self-aware engagement
with the unsustainably fast
paced world of streetwear,
injecting bits and pieces of
rave culture and grunge to a
market that those movements
were diametrically opposed
to, is almost Foucauldian in
nature and results in a sort
of seductive, controlled pop
of energy. The brand name is
not just a smart-alecky play on
words, it’s an encapsulation
Aries is associated with a
brash
fearlessness
and
an
unapologetic
energy,
their
design ethos is to provide a
vehicle for their customer base
to tap into that through their
wardrobe.
Horoscopes and natal charts
become a powerful means of
expressing identity in a world
that pounds the masses with
information,
treating
the
individual as little more than
an object of influence and
transaction potential under
the guise of connection and
belonging. Entire cultures are
blended into marketable drops
of goo in the face of liquid
modernity. Both bewitching
and horrifying, it’s important
to have something to hold
onto when navigating through
the
world
marketplace.
If
there is no other option than
to operate as a consumer, we
can at least consume in such
a way that creates meaning
in our everyday lives, the
intersection between astrology
and personal style provides a
wonderful way of doing that.
FAECBOOK
Navigating fashion by way
of astrology and the occult
SAM KREMKE
Daily Arts Writer
“bury a friend”
Billie Eilish
Interscope Records
SINGLE REVIEW: ‘BURY A FRIEND’
Billie Eilish has the power
to scare you shitless. She’s
a 17 year old dichotomy, an
essence of terror with a fairy-
like voice that’s softer than
a breeze. Her new single
“bury a friend” features her
horrifying aspects as she steps
into the realm of nightmares
and the subconscious.
Eilish did in fact bury a
friend this past year: American
rapper XXXtentacion, who
was shot and killed during a
so-called robbery in June of
2018. In an interview with
Montreality, Billie speaks on
XXX: “Jah was someone that
stuck with me and got me
through something that I felt
like I would not have gotten
through if it weren’t for him.”
This interview (along with
text messages Eilish posted
on Instagram between her
and
Tentacion)
launched
surges of hate against Eilish,
as fans wondered why her
backbone came from a rapper
imprisoned
for
aggravated
battery
of
his
pregnant
girlfriend,
amongst
other
charges.
“bury a friend” immediately
captivates with the feature
of
Eilish’s
friend
Crooks,
whose sonorous voice calls
out, “Billie.” However, the
rest of the single is slightly
disappointing, especially for
longtime Eilish fans. The
most egregious letdown is her
overuse of the preoccupation:
“All artists are so sad, sadness
is what creates great art.”
Although truthful in some
ways, Eilish hits this trope
home time and time again
without digging deeper into
a possibly more profound
space. She makes it clear
in
every
interview
that
she hates herself, a notion
that is present in her song
“Idontwannabeyouanymore”
and now in “bury a friend”
with the lyrics, “Like I wanna
drown, like I wanna end me”
and “Honestly I thought that I
would be dead by now.”
The
second
letdown
is
her
seeming
embrace
of
making an abnormal creation
because it’s cool, as opposed to
creating something with the
beauty of sound as a priority.
Abnormality is dope, but I’d
like to see the song stand for
itself by musical standards.
The track is choppy, cutting
from different melodies quite
quickly — these melodies
bump, but they’re fleeting.
Her debut album WHEN
WE
ALL
FALL
ASLEEP,
WHERE
DO
WE
GO?
comes out Mar. 29th. The
expectations and fame she’s
acquired could cause anyone
to cave, but I have no doubt
Eilish
will
harnesses
her
struggles and turn them into a
crazy and creative experience.
That is, after all, what made
her so great in the first place.
— Samantha Cantie, Daily
Arts Writer
INTERSCOPE
B-SIDE: STYLE
BTNH WORLDWIDE
B-SIDE: MUSIC