vulture lists

10 Horrifying Horrorcore Rappers

Earlier this month the Insane Clown Posse made a memorable, typically invective-filled appearance on Nightline. Interviewer Martin Bashir, like so many before him, had to pretend that he was appalled. It was yet another in a strangely resurgent moment for the Detroit duo — Saturday Night Live’s recent, dead-on lampooning of ICP’s Gathering of the Juggalos festival comes to mind. But it was also a reminder of one of hip-hop’s semi-lost subgenres: horrorcore. The undying movement was inspired by horror movies, with lyrics championing dismemberment and cannibalism. Brotha Lynch Hung, a bona-fide legend of the scene, has just released a new album, Dinner and a Movie, marking 25 years of this terrifying subculture. Click through for ten more of the most disgusting, vile, fascinating horrormeisters ever.

Active in: Houston, Texas, 1986–present Like the insane version of: UGK Key lyric: Bushwick Bill from “Chuckie”: “I told you size wasn’t shit/That’s why I murdered your nieces/Wasn’t my fault they found they head cut in 88 pieces.” Key track: The Bushwick Bill solo spotlight, “Chuckie,” interestingly written by another horrorcore luminary, Ganksta N-I-P. Fear for your safety? Though not technically a horrorcore crew, Geto Boys did make some of the most unflinching, comically explicit songs ever, particularly the Bushwick Bill–Willie D–Scarface incarnation of the group in the early nineties. That was, perhaps not coincidentally, their most popular and relevant period, as they released albums with Rick Rubin’s American Recordings. Dean of Rock Critics Robert Christgau once called them “sick motherfuckers” in a review and the national media acted shocked over songs like “Mind of a Lunatic.”
Active in: NYC, 1993–2004 Like the insane version of: Wu-Tang Clan and De La Soul Key lyric: Frukwan from “I-800-SUICIDE”: “So you wanna die, commit suicide/Dial 1-800-Cyanide line/Far as life, yo it ain’t worth it/Put a rope around your neck and jerk it.” Key track: “Diary of a Madman” Fear for your safety? One of the great underrated New York rap crews, this quartet featured the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA at the height of his powers, and celebrated producer Prince Paul entering a new creative period, splitting time on the boards and working with two rappers — former Stetsaonic member Frukwan a.k.a. the Gatekeeper and Too Poeti a.k.a. the Grym Reaper — finally giving them the spotlight they deserved. Their debut, Six Feet Deep, is as clever as it is disturbing.
10 Horrifying Horrorcore Rappers