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Esham

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Esham

Rashaam Smith, better known by his stage name Esham, is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan known for his hallucinogenic style of hip hop, rock-based beats and lyrics involving subjects such as death, drug use, evil, paranoia and sex. Releasing his debut album, Boomin' Words from Hell while still in high school, Smith was one of the pioneers of acid rap and horrorcore. Counting Boomin' Words from Hell, he has released twelve studio albums, five EPs and three compilation albums. Smith co-founded the independent record label Reel Life Productions, and formed the group Natas with local rappers Mastamind and TNT. Smith has been cited by Insane Clown Posse as an influence on the group's work.

History

Early career

Born in Long Island, New York,[1] Esham grew up in the Seven Mile neighborhood of East Detroit,[2] attending Osborn High School,[3] where he studied piano, guitar, and trombone in high school, and listened to Ozzy Osbourne and Kiss. At the age of 13, Smith released his debut album, Boomin' Words from Hell, in 1989.[1][4] In 1990, Esham founded the independent record label Reel Life Productions with his older brother, James H. Smith,[1][2] and reissued his debut album with an alternate track listing and artwork.[4] After releasing two EPs, Erotic Poetry and Homey Don't Play, Esham completed the double album Judgement Day, and its two volumes, Day and Night were released separately on April 9, 1992.[1] Allmusic's Jason Birchmeier wrote that Judgement Day, Vol. 1 "may not be his most well-crafted work, but it certainly stands as his most inspired work of the '90s", while Vol. 2 "isn't quite as strong as the first volume, suffering mostly from a number of weak tracks [...] the first volume doesn't rely quite so much on cheap shock, instead focusing on evocative horror motifs, making Judgement Day, Vol. 2 the less important of the two."[1]

Natas and KKKill the Fetus

As a student at Osborn High School, Esham met Mastamind, who gave him a three-song demo tape of his music, leading the two to form the group Natas with Esham's longtime friend, TNT.[3] In 1992, Esham appeared on Carnival of Carnage, the debut album of Insane Clown Posse, released on October 18. He produced three tracks and rapping on the album's final track.[5] In November, Natas released their debut album, Life After Death.[1] In 1993, Esham released his third solo album, KKKill the Fetus. Jason Birchmeier wrote that "At this point in his career, his rapping has already reached near-peak levels, and his production shows a continued path towards an inventiveness. [...] Never again would Esham be so gritty."[1]

Closed Casket and Dead Flowerz

On November 22, 1994, Esham released his fourth studio album, Closed Casket. Jason Birchmeier wrote that "most fans taking a chronological approach to his catalog should be fairly numb to Esham's exploitative shock attempts. Yet if this is one of your first experiences with Esham the Unholy, this album should pack a punch with its dark nature."[1] In May 1996, Esham released his fifth studio album, Dead Flowerz. It peaked at #38 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[6]

Overcore Records (1999—2001)

In 1999, Reel Life Productions became Overcore Records, and Esham signed a deal with TVT Records to distribute the label's output.[1] In June of 2001, Overcore released Kool Keith's Spankmaster album, and three solo albums by Shoestring, Bootleg and Ghetto E of Flint, MI.'s Dayton Family, all of which featured several features & production credits by Esham, as well as Esham's eighth album, Tongues, which peaked at #7 on the Top Independent Albums chart, #46 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #195 on the Billboard 200.[7] In August of 2001, Esham and D12 were kicked off the Warped Tour after members of d-12 and The Goon Squad jumped Esham and NataS' member TNT over the lyrics of his song "Chemical Imbalance," which contained a reference to the daughter of D12 leader Eminem, who was not present during the tour.[8][9]

Psychopathic Records (2002—2005)

In 2002, Esham signed to Psychopathic Records, releasing the compilation Acid Rain. It was announced that Esham would be moving away from the horror themes of his previous efforts.[10] On November 18, 2003, Esham released his ninth studio album, Repentance. It peaked at #9 on the Top Heatseekers chart, #10 on the Top Independent Albums chart, and #71 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[11] Jason Birchmeier wrote that "Repentance is a small step forward for Esham. He seems very confident here, comfortable with himself as an artist [...] when he pulls everything together [...] he makes some of the best music of his long, fruitful, yet largely unacknowledged career."[12] After the release of A-1 Yola, Esham left Psychopathic in 2005.[1] The album peaked at #6 on the Top Heatseekers chart, #12 on the Top Independent Albums chart, #48 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #176 on the Billboard 200.[13] Smith released his eleventh studio album, Sacrificial Lambz, on August 26, 2008.[14]

Style and influence

Esham refers to his performance style as "acid rap," comparing the lyrics to hallucinations induced by LSD.[2] Esham's style has also been described as horrorcore hip hop, which "utilize[s] shocking (and blatantly over the top) narratives to give an over-exaggerated, almost cartoon-like version of urban deprivation in Detroit", according to author Sara Cohen.[15] Smith's lyrics have focused on themes such as death, drug use, evil, paranoia and sex, and have included references to Satan. Following accusations of Satanism, Smith decided that Closed Casket would be the last album to feature such themes, and that he would no longer rap about the Devil.[10]

Acid rap been described as a fusion of hip hop beats and death metal lyrics.[2] Esham defined the genre as analogous to "'modern day blues [or] heavy metal'".[16] Insane Clown Posse member Joseph Bruce has credited Esham as an influence on the group's work.[5] In the lyrics of "Still Don't Give a Fuck" from the album The Slim Shady LP, Eminem refers to himself as "a cross between Manson, Esham and Ozzy".[17] According to author Cheryl Lynette Keyes, Esham's "metal sound with a hip-hop feel" formed the musical basis for acts such as Kid Rock, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Everlast, and Kottonmouth Kings.[16]

Discography

Main article: Esham discography

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j All Music Guide to Hip-Hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap & Hip-hop. Backbeat Books. 2003. pp. pages 160—163. ISBN 0879307595. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  2. ^ a b c d McLeod, Rodd (March 2, 2000). "The Wicket World of Natas". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-07-19. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ a b Birchmeier, Jason. "Natas > Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-07-19. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ a b Smith, Esham A. "Discography". Reel Life Productions. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  5. ^ a b Bruce, Joseph. "The Dark Carnival". In Nathan Fostey (ed.). ICP: Behind the Paint (2nd Edition ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. pp. pages 174—185. ISBN 09741846083. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |pages= has extra text (help); Check |isbn= value: length (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |origdate= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |origmonth= ignored (help)
  6. ^ "Charts & Awards for Dead Flowerz". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  7. ^ "Charts & Awards for Tongues". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  8. ^ Moriates, Chris (August 13, 2001). "Rappers Esham, D12 kicked off Warped Tour after alleged attack". The Daily Bruin. Retrieved 2008-07-19. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ Hasted, Nick. "The Waiting Room". The Dark Story of Eminem. Omnibus Press. pp. page 151. ISBN 1844497267. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ a b Bruce, Joseph (June 25, 2004). "Weekly Freekly: 2". Psychopathic Records. Archived from the original on 2002-09-03. Retrieved 2008-08-17. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2004-08-20 suggested (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ "Charts & Awards for Repentance". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  12. ^ Birchmeier, Jason. "Review of Repentance". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  13. ^ "Charts & Awards for A.1. Yola". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  14. ^ "Sacrificial Lambz > Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-07-19. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  15. ^ Cohen, Sara (2007). Decline, Renewal and the City in Popular Music Culture: Beyond The Beatles. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. page 52. ISBN 0754632431. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  16. ^ a b Keyes, Cheryl Lynette (2002). "Blending and Shaping Styles: Rap and Other Musical Voices". Rap Music and Street Consciousness. University of Illinois Press. pp. page 108. ISBN 0252072014, 9780252072017. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  17. ^ Stubbs, David (2006). "The Slim Shady LP". Eminem: The Stories Behind Every Song. Thunder's Mouth Press. pp. page 89. ISBN 1560259469. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)

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