Any suggestions for horrorcore that's actually worth listening to?
 

I feel like this is a type of music that has the potential for me to enjoy despite its corny status. I like hip hop, I like death metal and black metal, and some of my favorite artists make campy, tongue-in-cheek "dark" music—for example My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Alien Sex Fiend, the Misfits, King Dude. The first Gravediggaz album is on my short list of favorite hip hop albums of all time, I love Kool Keith at his weirdest and darkest, and I've come to like Necro quite a bit in the past few years, but beyond that it seems like it's pretty slim pickings. Flatlinerz, Kung Fu Vampire, and King Gordy are all ok, but very hit-or-miss, and beyond that, there doesn't seem to be much worthwhile. Does anyone know of anything worth listening to in this sad bastard of a subgenre or anything similar that's worth a listen?

Brotha Lynch Hung's album "Season of Da Siccness"

Geto Boy's track "Asssassins" (one of the first horrorcore tracks ever.)

Are you mostly interested in horror themed production or lyrics?
If it's production and overall sound, you might like some german rap in that vein.

Twiztid
Insane Poetry
Grave Diggas
Esham
Natas
Blaze
Boondox
Axe Murder Boyz
KGP
Sons Of Satan
SickTanicK
Razakel
Stitch Mouth
Komatose
Killa Capone
Ho99o9
Tapeworm
Hyenas In The Desert
Eminem
Tech N9ne (sometimes)
Dark Half (RIP Geno CultshXt)
Scum
Prozak
Tyler, The Creator
Earl Sweatshirt
ShyOne
Psycho Jesus
Mars
Kid Crusher
Jak Progresso
Lo Key
DZK
Daniel Jordan
Heaven
Akvon
Project Born

I'm a big horrorcore fan but the biggest issue with horrorcore is the lack of talent.

Idk if I'd consider DZK horrorcore, but he does have some songs that might suit what you're looking for. He reminds me of early Em with worse production, but he has a smooth, easy to understand flow.

Here's a couple examples:


I don't know much about the sub-genre. Is the defining factor about the lyrical content or are you looking for certain sounds? Of the few artists I know on Lucem's list(above) doesn't make me think horrorcore like Necro does.

It's the lyrical content. Horror inspired rap lyrics, or what not.

There are different sounds to it.

Like Sutter Kain and his ghetto metal. It's horrorcore over death metal samples.

Or Mars and old school Brotha Lynch Hung have that old funky gangster rap beats with R&B hooks.

You have devil shyt which is southern horrorcore. All of they grill induced lisps and horrible pronunciation you've come to love from southern rappers with very spooky beats. This is ShyOne and 36Mafia.

Of course there are the back packer sounding horrorcore acts such as Necro or DZK or Jak Progresso. Though Jak Progresso's beats are a bit out there.

Old school 90s horrorcore when all of a sudden there was a small surge of horrorcore acts such as Grave Diggaz, Insane Poetry, Flatlinerz and Hyenas In The Desert.

Just depends which style suits you more.

OMG, Jansz, don't listen to any of those. They're juggalo rappers of the lowest sort, and will only baffle you as to how they even have a record deal. Seriously, ICP are musical geniuses compared to those guys. Here's a review I did of a Boondox album to illustrate my point...

The Batlord Listens to Random **** and Talks About It: Boondox - The Harvest

But you didn't bold Twiztid!

I say listen to them anyways and form your own opinion.

Just a warning on Kid Crusher, for me his songs have either been good or really really really really bad.

I like The Geto Boys a lot, but nothing I've heard by them, including "Assassins", feels especially horrocore-ish to me.

I wasn't familiar with Brotha Lynch Hung so I checked that album out. Pretty good, pretty much g-funk with a more extreme aesthetic at play.

I don't really care much about lyrics. If they're in English, I'd like them fit the horror theme in some way, but what I really care about is the music itself so music in German that sounds right is A-Ok with me. I haven't been able get a hold of the Hollywood Hank album you referenced, but I checked out the Morlockk Dilemma and Hiob & Morlockk Dilemma albums and really dug both. Thanks for the suggestions!

Oh, I forgot to mention the Phonk! SpaceGhostPurrp.

Because I love Twiztid. And ICP. But all the other Psychopathic acts are garbage. All of them. Okay, Blaze has some entertaining songs, but for the most part he's still ass.

I never actually liked Blaze until Clockwork Grey, but eventually his first two projects grew on me over time. I just never liked the whole gangster rap thing he did. Gang Rags was a forced abomination that only sucked because of Violent J taking all control of the project. Gang Rags Reborn, which I guess is supposedly what Gang Rags was supposed to be, was phenomenal. His first release since leaving ICP and it's great.

Aspergers Boyz are very generic. It's like they got two of the most generic juggalos off the street and let them rap. But I did like God's Hand and Garcia Bros. To me they are diet Twiztid. They even started chopping when Twiztid started chopping. But I like them for what ever reason. They are like, clubby swag rappers for juggalos.

Boondox is very talented and he's evolved a lot since his first Boondox album. Dude can sing his ass off. You can hear it a lot on Krimson Kreek. The one thing I don't like is his corny southern gimmick songs. Like they are trying to force this gimmick down our throats. But luckily he too has left Psychopathic that seems to make all their rappers take up wrestling gimmicks. I take his Abaddon album over anything ICP put out recently.

Also, I want to point out, since I skimmed through your reviews, that a lot of juggalos listen to Slayer and Black Flag. In fact, who doesn't listen to Slayer?

I can't defend Kid Crusher though.

He has a handful of songs I really like so I consider myself a fan, but a lot of the time his voice is so... Jim Carey...

Not the ones I've known over the years. For the most part, they were close-minded goons who liked to pretend that they liked their music because it wasn't mainstream, but seemed to like juggalo music for the exact same reasons anybody likes the mainstream: it's catchy and doesn't take any brain power to get into. Anything that really took any kind of effort to get into, they had no time for.

I'm trying to think of Psychopathic albums I actually like that aren't either Twiztid or ICP, and the only one that really comes to mind is Violent J's Wizard of the Hood (****ing fantastic record that I blazed many a brain cell to). Maybe at some point I'll have the desire to give other stuff another chance, but it's hard to drum up much enthusiasm about The Harvest or ABK.

Boondox will have to have come a VERY long way for me to tolerate him. On his debut his rapping is just so awful that it defies reason. It's almost like he's trying to trick you into thinking he has talent by rapping fastish and with a kind of bouncy rhythm, but his verses are just repetitive and dull to the point of being mind-numbing. It would be one thing if he had the personality of ICP or Twiztid, but he does not.

Well most of their music is more of an emotional or cathartic outlet rather than anything thought provoking.

But it sounds like you ran into very generic juggalos. They hypocrites that think their music is better just because it isn't mainstream. I don't really respect anybody who listens to music based on whether or not it's mainstream.

I'd recommend Boondox's new album Abaddon. He only has two really corny southern redneck songs on there. But the album does have a very strong country music influence to it. I was surprised I liked it so much since I typically dislike country.

Thank you for the list. As I mentioned in the OP, I'm a fan of Gravediggaz. Obviously I'm familiar with Eminem, but he's not someone I'd consider horrorcore. And of course I'm familiar with ICP, I can't stand them though. Tyler, the Creator has a couple good tracks, but most of his music I'm not a fan of. I like Earl, especially the new album, but it's not something I'd call horrorcore. Tech N9ne, Prozak, and Mars I've listened to but wasn't impressed. There doesn't really seem to be anything horror-y about any of those three at all, except maybe Mars lyrics, but lyrics alone aren't enough to make want to listen to something. Like I said to Grindy above, it's the music I care about, lyrics are just icing on the cake. With that in mind, do you have any specific comments about the other bands on your list that might give me an idea of which ones would appeal to me?

I like SpaceGhostPurrp. There's nothing remotely horrorcore about him though.

Esham is pretty decent. Necro of course. I back the Twiztid recommendation too.

Yeah, I've been a fan of Necro for quite a while. Never listened Esham before and only fleetingly heard Twiztid. Do you have any album recommendations of either of them?

Glad you liked those. It's not really horrorcore, but a lot of the beats are nicely gloomy.
The Hollywood Hank album isn't as great as the Dilemma stuff anyway. The production is really basic, all done with Fruity Loops by HH himself.

have you checked out necro affiliates like mr hyde? Ill come back later omw to school but i might have some stuff for ya.

I don't dislike Necro, but I find his voice off-putting. He just has this monotone delivery that's kind of boring to listen to. And Death Rap had some truly cringe-worthy moments: having John Tardy from Obituary and Jamie Jasta from Hatebreed sing the choruses to two of the songs was one of the less good ideas I've heard in a long time.

And Twiztid are a hard group to rec. They're definitely a cut above their peers, but they use pretty much the same shtick. But I don't know that I'd call them horrorcore in the way you're looking for. They're more of a wannabe gangsta group with more violent lyrics (at least when they're not referencing juggalos).

Their debut, Mostasteless, is the least juggalo of their albums, and pretty solid throughout, if you can take their recycled gangsta rap personas. This song right here is actual horrorcore though. It's pretty much a adaptation of Halloween (as in the movie).





After that they became more watered down as they towed the Psychopathic company line. I haven't listened too much to their W.I.C.K.E.D. album, but it seems to be more of a straight horrorcore record.






And I definitely wouldn't rec Freek Show for what you're looking for, but the first song might be close.




They were in a group called House of Krazees before Twiztid, who had a much more horrorcore aesthetic, but they really sounded amatuerish at the time, so I don't know that you'd get anything out of it. The lo-fi production and halloweenish vibe are kind of cool though.




Ultimately, I can't see you becoming a Twiztid fan, but there you go.

Also can't leave without mentioning this song. Kind of their signature tune. It's not really horrorcore, but it's anthemic in a way that warms my Manowar-loving heart. I'm assuming you'll think it's ****.

Off topic.. this is where it all began with Necro and Ill Bill.

Injustice

KKKill the Fetus and Abominationz. As for Necro, did you check out The Murder Murder Kill Kill Double EP released a few years ago? I really liked it.

Tech N9ne has horrorcore songs, but over all isn't horrorcore.
Prozak used to do horrorcore, then he made this huge change and raps about saving the earth.

I know newer Brotha Lynch Hung albums definitely have that.
Twiztid's W.I.C.K.E.D. has that.
Esham's KKKill The Fetus
SickTanicK
Older Razakel, but now days she's doing this horror pop type stuff.
Dark Half, Geno had an amazing singing voice.
Natas's Doubelievingod
Hyenas In The Desert is a one album group from the 90s that's like Gravediggaz and Flatlinerz

I'll also recommend Ho99o9. They are an industrial punk rap group. I'm not a fan of their punk rock songs but I do like everything else they do a lot.

The two best albums by both Twiztid and Esham.

How do you post videos?

I haven't checked out Mr. Hyde but I have checked out Ill Bill and Danny Diablo. Neither are horrorcore, but I think both are decent.

Funny side note: one of those German recs from Grindy actually has a Goretex appearance on it.

I like his voice a lot actually, there's something kind of thuggish about it that just works for me.

Those songs you mentioned are actually from The Pre-Fix for Death and the one with Jamie Jasta is one of my favorite songs on that album.

That song seems ok. I could possibly see it growing on me.

I'll check out the rest of the videos when I have little more time.

Yep, I have everything he's released except the freestyle collections. MMKK isn't my favorite but it's still very good.

I'll check out those other two recommendations.

Huh. I only ever listened to Necro when this one friend threw him on, and I could swear he was playing Death Rap. I just listened to both of those songs again, and while I actually liked Necro more than I used to, I still think they're pointless: having a rapper come in on a death metal song doesn't really work, and the screamy guy from Hatebreed sounds like **** on a rap song that is otherwise pretty good.

There's been a long relationship between hip hop and New York/northeast hardcore going all the way back to the Beastie Boys in the 80s so it doesn't seem like an odd combination to me, not to mention Jasta's vocals on that track are about a hair's width from being rapping themselves. Necro is easily as influenced by hardcore as he is by metal and also collaborated with hardcore guy turned rapper Danny Diablo on that same album and the dude from Cro-Mags on Death Rap.

I do agree that the one with the guy from Obituary is an awkward fit though. I don't hate it, but it's one of the weaker tracks on the album.

I realize there's a connection between NYHC and rap, but that doesn't make Jasta's appearance any less terrible.

Well, I like it and I'm not even remotely a fan of Hatebreed. But to each his own.

Nothing is more horrorcore than King Gordy's Esham In The 80s. That's why he's the king.

https://liluglymane.bandcamp.com/alb...ven-compromise

The first half of the song is some of the most well done horrorcore I've ever heard in my life, and the second half is pretty great concious rap.

People hate King Gordy because he talks about raping kids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12h0etq3O1o


Psycho Jesus.

I was finally able to get the Hollywood Hank album. Seems pretty good so far, but I haven't had a chance to give it a full listen yet. I'd love to hear some more German hip hop if you have any recommendations. Doesn't necessarily have to be horrorcore. Anything you think is good.

I just checked out the Mr. Hyde album If It Bleeds We Can Kill It today and I really like it. Very reminiscent of Necro but definitely with his own distinct sound. Also, naming your album after a line from Predator is a pretty good way to predispose me to like it.

I got both of these. Abominationz is maybe a little too long for its own good, but still quite enjoyable. I was kind of surprised by how good the rapping is. KKKill the Fetus I haven't given quite as full a listen to yet but it seems pretty good.

I checked out Ho99o9 and thought they were pretty great! They were nothing at all like the kind of thing I was expecting when I posted this thread, and I mean that in the best way possible. It's like all best parts of Moodie Black and blackhandpath combined with a bunch of great noisy synth rock plus a horror aesthetic. What's not to like? My only complaint is that they've only released two EPs.

Twiztid and Esham, I mentioned above. Enjoying both.

I checked out a couple SickTanicK songs and feel like I could go either way on him. I like how tongue-in-cheek he is but he definitely treads pretty close to the the fine line between camp and cheese. I'll have to give him a bit more of a listen to decide.

I was curious about Razakel because it's always nice to hear a good female rapper, but unfortunately I think she's kind of awful honestly. Possibly the worst rapping I've ever heard to be honest. I do appreciate the recommendation though.

I haven't had a chance to check out Dark Half or Natas yet, but I'll post comments once I do.

Lastly, Hyenas In The Desert are pretty great. Definitely right in line with Gravediggaz and Flatlinerz as you said. It's too bad they only made the one album.

Thanks again everyone for the recommendations! :)

Once you get bored with those I still have that whole other list.

Plus, I'm always looking for new horrorcore so I can keep you up to date with what I find.

And yeah, H09909 is a treasure I'm glad I found.