Line #63 Music/Esham


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/esham_montage_261.jpg]]
2
3	[floatboxright:
4	Influences:
5	+Music/{{Prince}}, Music/{{ACDC}}, Music/OzzyOsbourne, Music/{{MC5}}, Music/IggyPop
6
7	Influenced:
8	+Music/InsaneClownPosse, Music/{{Eminem}}
9	]
10
11	->''"Sitting down in a crackhouse earning my pay\
12	If some basehead jump crazy, I'll just blow him away."''
13	-->-- From "Esham's Boomin'", the first line on the first song on the first album Esham ever released.
14
15	Esham ([[https://www.metrotimes.com/music/jokers-wild-2183864 born Rashaam Smith]] in 1974) is an American rapper known for his {{Horrorcore}} performance style. The90s saw him at his most theatrical, as he would often begin his performances by emerging from a coffin before he started rapping, which connected his performances to the ShockRock theatricality of artists like Music/ScreaminJayHawkins and Music/AliceCooper.
16
17	Esham self-released his debut album ''Boomin' Words from Hell'' when he was 16, and later went on to form the independent label Reel Life Productions, and the Horrorcore group [[FunWithAcronyms Natas]]. His early albums were the subject of much rumor and controversy, which Esham reveled in, believing there was NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity, as local listeners were literally ''scared'' of the albums. Albums like ''Judgement Day'' and ''[=KKKill the Fetus=]'' led to Esham being perceived as a [[HollywoodSatanism Devil Worshipper]]; the latter featured paintings of fetuses on its artwork and lyrics which promoted abortion. Following the release of the Natas album ''Life After Death'', Esham, Natas and Reel Life Productions were the subject of much controversy when a 17-year-old fan killed himself while smoking cannabis and playing Russian roulette while listening to the album.
18
19	Because his career was OvershadowedByControversy, Esham decided to no longer rap about Satan and abandon his use of the stage name "The Unholy", releasing ''Closed Casket'' as his final "Satanic Album" in 1994. [[Music/{{Eminem}} Another Detroit rapper]] later usurped Esham's controversy magnet status.
20
21	----
22	!!Albums
23
24	He has [[ArchivePanic too many releases]] to list here, but here are the primary full length albums of his catalog, excluding extended plays, mixtapes, compilations and collaboration albums.
25
26	* ''Boomin' Words from Hell'' (1990)
27	* ''Judgement Day'' (1992; originally sold separately as ''Vol. 1: Day'' and ''Vol. 2: Night'')
28	* ''[=KKKill the Fetus=]'' (1993)
29	* ''Closed Casket'' (1994)
30	* ''Dead Flowerz'' (1996)
31	* ''Bruce Wayne: Gothom City 1987'' (1997)
32	* ''Mail Dominance'' (1999)
33	* ''Tongues'' (2001)
34	* ''Repentance'' (2003)
35	* ''A-1 Yola'' (2005)
36	* ''Sacrificial Lambz'' (2008)
37	* ''Suspended Animation'' (2010)
38	* ''DMT Sessions'' (2011)
39	* ''Venus Flytrap'' (2012)
40	* ''Dichotomy'' (2015)
41	* ''Scribble'' (2017)
42	* ''Dead of Winter'' (2018)
43	* ''She Loves Me'' (2020)
44	* ''She Loves Me Not'' (2020)
45	* ''Psyops'' (2021)
46	* ''Purgatory'' (2023)
47
48	----
49
50	!! Music Videos
51
52	* "[[https://youtu.be/GZWBHYxL-O8?si=tVfZIK2e2UY9SNQJ Hellter Skkkelter]]" (1993)
53	* "[[https://youtu.be/GM4gJ2XHzN4?si=9lV1WgF-Wdotjskm Mental Stress]]" (1994)
54	* "[[https://youtu.be/Ef1pLl7NANQ?si=bQFy0imhF7e-qdtL The Fear]]" (1995)
55	* "[[https://youtu.be/tchGjKBNMe8?si=bhfr75elAuCP46hA Woo Woo Woo Woo]]" (2003)
56
57	----
58	!!ESHAM demonstrates the following tropes:
59
60	* {{Bowdlerise}}: The 2015 remastered reissue of his debut deleted the line "but what has God done for me?" from "Word After Word". Also, the original cassette cover seems to title the album "Esham's Boomin'" (the title of the first song), with "Words from Hell" as the subtitle.
61	** The ''Homey Don't Play'' remix of "Some Old Wicketshit!!!" replaces the lyric where Esham declares, "I ''am'' Satanic, so fuck y'all bitches" with the more defiant denial, "I'm ''not'' Satanic, so fuck y'all bitches"
62	** ''Judgement Day'' was originally issued as two separate discs, ''Vol. 1: Day'' and ''Vol. 2: Night'', and later [[UpdatedReRelease reissued as a double album]]. On the double album reissue, "Intro Boogieman" (the "Acid Rap Hotline" skit) was not indexed as its own track, and was instead programmed as the end of "Nine Dead Bodies".
63	** On his verse for Music/InsaneClownPosse's "[[Music/BeverlyKills50187 Chop! Chop!]]", Esham rapped, "I gotta catch these carnival thrills, newborn bloody babies' heads I drill", but the ''bloody babies' heads'' part is reversed.
64	** The album version of "Hellter Skkkelter"[[note]]off ''[=KKKill the Fetus=]'' (1993)[[/note]] is the ''radio friendly version'', while the version on the extended play of the same name, is the explicit version with different lyrics.
65	* ConceptAlbum: ''Bruce Wayne: Gothom City 1987'' is a GangstaRap Concept Album that is only loosely inspired by ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', in that Esham raps about being a rich guy named Bruce Wayne, and refers to UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} as Gothom, but it has nothing else to do with ''Batman''. ''A-1 Yola'' is another Gangsta Rap Concept Album, only this time inspired by ''Film/Scarface1983'', with the lyrics being about Esham being a wealthy drug kingpin. The outer sleeve of the album was packaged to look like the A.1. Sauce bottle, while the front cover of the booklet just showed a pile of cocaine against a black background.
66	* ConceptVideo: The DVD packaged with the original physical release of ''A-1 Yola'' contained music videos for nearly every song on the album, forming a sort of zero budget mini-movie with a lot of bad green screen effects and footage and images used with zero attempt to attain permission from the copyright holders for said video/images, which marked a turning point in the way Esham would produce Music Videos, as while he'd previously made professionally produced Music Videos,[[note]]for "Hellter Skkkelter" off ''Kill the Fetus'', "Mental Stress" off ''Closed Casket'', "The Fear", off the soundtrack for a horror movie of the same name, and "Woo Woo Woo Woo" off ''Repentence''[[/note]] starting with ''A-1 Yola'', Esham stopped making professionally produced Music Videos and made the standard style for his videos this kind NoBudget production with YouTubePoop-esque, proto-[[Series/WorldPeace Million Dollar Extreme]] editing.
67	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Averted with "Silicone":
68	-->"I'm the one that put the slugs in my mama's chest"
69	* EvilSoundsDeep: This was certainly not true when Esham started rapping, but has begun to embody this on more recent albums, though his lyrical content is ''much less'' evil and Satanic than when he started out.
70	* FemaleGroinInvincibility: On "[[DirtyRap Pussy Ain't Got No Face]]", Esham declares, "You gotta stick it in their pee hole". That's not how sex works, and a woman would find that painful.
71	* FunWithAcronyms: An interesting one. His group Natas's name is an acronym for "Nation Ahead of Time And Space", and sometimes "''Niggaz'' Ahead of Time And Space". But it's also {{Satan}} backwards. It might be a backronym, given the multiple meanings the group has given for the name.
72	* GenreMashup: ''Magazine/RollingStone'' described his performance style as a Mashup of HipHop beats and DeathMetal lyrics. Esham himself said that his style was comparable to {{Blues}} or HeavyMetal and that he considers genre categorization to be like segregation.
73	* GreatestHitsAlbum: ''Acid Rain'' is a bit of an unusual example,[[note]]not least of which because Esham never had any hits[[/note]] as Esham had just signed to Creator/PsychopathicRecords, and [[Music/InsaneClownPosse the label owners]] wanted to put something out to familiarize the label's [[UsefulNotes/{{Juggalo}} dedicated fans]] with Esham's back catalog before his first album of new music dropped. So, shortened versions of older tracks were edited together like a DJ mixtape with several tracks of newly recorded raps by Violent J[[note]]from Insane Clown Posse[[/note]] telling the story of Esham's career in rhyme form,[[note]]likely the only reason "Panic Attack" was included was so Violent J could say, "look, I did a song with Esham five years ago!"[[/note]] even overdubbing a new part on the song "Everyone"[[note]]Violent J did not appear on the original ''Tongues'' version of this song.[[/note]] -- all leading up to four new songs and a remix of the old song "How Do I Plead to Homicide?", where the instrumentation of the original was entirely replaced by new instrumentation.[[note]]Most likely because Psychopathic couldn't clear the samples of Music/SteveMillerBand's "Fly Like An Eagle" and Creator/SamKinison's UsefulNotes/CharlesManson routine.[[/note]]
74	* HollywoodSatanism: Esham was well known for his {{Horrorcore}} style. In his lyrics, he would refer to himself as "[[{{Satan}} The Black Devil]]", and in one song (guess what it's called), he [[MadnessMantra repeats the phrase]] "[[NumberOfTheBeast 666]]" [[MadnessMantra over and over against a Heavy Metal riff]]. Needless to say, his career has been OvershadowedByControversy since he debuted, and he would be frequently accused of actually worshipping The Devil because his ShockRock [[JustForFun/XMeetsY Meets Hip Hop]] performance style was taken literally, as opposed to simply being entertainment.
75	* IHaveManyNames: He is also known to go by Esham the Unholy, Esham the Boogieman, [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne]], Converse,[[note]]his name in Psychopathic Rydas[[/note]] Mr. Spade,[[note]]his name in Soopa Villainz[[/note]] Black [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] and [[MonsterClown Homey the Clown]].
76	* NewSoundAlbum: ''Judgement Day'' introduced more of a RapRock sound compared to his debut, with heavy {{Sampling}} of Rock and Heavy Metal bands.[[note]]Including Music/ZZTop, Steve Miller Band, [[Music/GeorgeClinton Funkadelic]] and Music/BlackSabbath.[[/note]] ''Closed Casket'' was Esham's last album to feature Satanic lyrics and extensive Sampling. ''Dead Flowerz'', the very next album, features less frequent Sampling, a more Hip Hop sound and no SatanicPanic-baiting. This would set a template for his releases to come, as Esham would more actively court Hip Hop radio airplay throughout his career, with far less reliance on Horrorcore tropes. Perhaps the biggest divergence from his Horrorcore style was the '99 album ''Mail Dominance'' which was an overt PopRap album really actively vying for radio airplay with standard Hip Hop lyrical themes ("Twirk Yo Body"). The album directly proceeding it, ''Bruce Wayne: Gothom City 1987'', was also absent of Horrorcore themes. And in a complete [[Headscratchers/HomePage headscratcher]], Esham's two albums for Psychopathic Records were both in a Gangsta Rap style.
77	** Natas's music was initially in a sampledelia style heavily utilizing Sampling similar to Esham's second, third and fourth solo albums, but after Natas released two albums, ''Life After Death'' and ''[=Blaz4me=]'', they switched their sound to a less sample-oriented Hip Hop sound emphasizing Horror Synth, on ''Doubelievengod'' and ''Multikillionaire: The Devil's Contract''. Then they used a live band for instrumentation on ''[=WicketWorldWide.COM=]'', ''Godlike'' and ''N of tha World'', giving their songs more of a Rap Rock sound.
78	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Rapper Bizarre has gone on record saying that after D12[[note]]Music/{{Eminem}}'s former rap crew[[/note]] heard Esham rap "Hailie's in a coma, Hailie's in a coma",[[note]] referring to Hailie Jade, Eminem's daughter[[/note]] and Esham threw a bottle at D12's tour bus, the group, minus Eminem, chased and beat down Esham for disrespecting Em's daughter and throwing a bottle at the bus.[[note]]For context, Hailie Jade would have been about 6 years old when the Esham song "Chemical Imbalance" came out, so, yeah, writing a lyric about another man's 6 year old child going into a coma isn't the smartest thing to do, even if Eminem ''didn't'' have a reputation for being a PapaWolf.[[/note]]
79	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: "I Don't Owe U Shit" has the lyrics "[[ShareTheMalePain like Bobbitt, cuttin' off dicks]]" and "[[Series/{{Waco}} we burn up shit like David Koresh]]", references to events that ''just'' happened. And "Cyberkill" references UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} and the Trenchcoat Mafia while the tragedy was still fresh in people's minds.
80	* {{Sampling}}:
81	** Among the more interesting samples featured on the ''[=KKKill the Fetus=]'' album include the sample of Music/AliceInChains' "[[https://www.whosampled.com/sample/126319/Esham-Symptoms-of-Insanity-Alice-in-Chains-Dirt/ Dirt]]" on "Symptoms of Insanity", and Music/BodyCount's "[[https://www.whosampled.com/sample/125868/Esham-Hellterskkkelter-Body-Count-There-Goes-the-Neighborhood/ There Goes the Neighborhood]]" on the single "Hellter Skkkelter", not only because of how recently these Metal songs were released and the fact that Esham was sampling ''current'' Metal bands instead of the typical 1970s {{Funk}} and {{Soul}} recordings typically plundered for Hip Hop production at that time, but because of how it's not at all obvious that these are where the samples came from, since he hid his sources pretty deeply when he flipped them by pitch shifting them and altering the speed of the samples.
82	** Another interesting one comes on "Drive U 2 Suicide" off ''Closed Casket'' where Esham [[https://www.whosampled.com/sample/549200/Esham-Drive-U2-Suicide-Beastie-Boys-Posse-in-Effect/ reverses a sample of]] Music/BeastieBoys vocals for an interesting effect.
83	** Speaking of the Beastie Boys, huge chunks of the backing track for "13 Ways" off ''Judgement Day'' are [[https://www.whosampled.com/sample/749173/Esham-13-Ways-Beastie-Boys-And-What-You-Give-Is-What-You-Get/ uncredited beat-jacking from the Beasties' instrumental "And What You Give Is What You Get"]], originally from their extended play ''An Exciting Evening at Home With Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego''.
84	*** And "Devilish Mood" is essentially a Mashup of "Car Thief" (which itself sampled Music/CurtisMayfield's ''Film/SuperFly'' theme) and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn".
85	** The instrumental for "Crib Death" is not so much ''sampled'' from 24-7 Spyz's Heavy Metal instrumental "John Connelly's Theory" as it is [[https://www.whosampled.com/sample/165249/Esham-Crib-Death-24-7-Spyz-John-Connelly%27s-Theory/ Esham just straight up rapping over it]].
86	** And then there's the title track from ''Closed Casket'', where Esham [[https://www.whosampled.com/sample/63647/Esham-Closed-Casket-Cypress-Hill-Lick-a-Shot/ samples "Lick a Shot"]] by Music/CypressHill and flips the B-Real line "had a bad dream, woke up in a casket" into a MadnessMantra.
87	* SimilarlyNamedWorks: Esham's Rap Rock double album ''Judgement Day'' is not to be confused with the Rap Rock soundtrack album to the movie ''Film/JudgmentNight'', which featured collaborations between Rappers and Rock bands like Cypress Hill and Music/PearlJam, Music/IceT and Music/{{Slayer}}, or Music/DeLaSoul and Music/TeenageFanclub.
88	** Natas has an album called ''Life After Death'' (1992). Not to be confused with [[Music/LifeAfterDeath the 1997 album]] by Music/TheNotoriousBig, which was Biggie's final album completed during his lifetime and first posthumous release.
89	** Natas released a 1995 song called "Fuck da World", not to be confused with Music/TupacShakur's "Fuck the World", [[Music/MeAgainstTheWorld which was released the same year]], or Insane Clown Posse's "Fuck the World", which came out four years later.
90	** The rap group 11/5 released an album called ''A-1 Yola'' in 1996, 9 years before the better-known Esham album of the same name.
91	* TakeThat: It would be very difficult to keep track of everyone that Esham has dissed in his lyrics or keep up to speed with his beefs, because Esham is known to have a very contentious personality, to the point where many of the people he's beefed with are often [[WeUsedToBeFriends former friends]], and in some instances, he's dissed people who believed they were on friendly terms, even contributing guest rap verses to the same album Esham dissed them on. It's also not easy to tell whether Esham's beef with someone is serious or some kind of Creator/AndyKaufman-style trolling, so it would be pointless to even list everyone Esham has dissed in his lyrics over the course of his career. To keep things simple, just presume that the Natas song "Fuck da World" really does apply to everyone in Esham's case.
92	* ThemeTune: In 1995, Esham recorded the theme for a {{Horror}} Movie called ''The Fear'' (presented, but not written or directed, by Creator/WesCraven), which had a slightly unusual soundtrack for its time, as it entirely consisted of Horrorcore songs, including tracks by Music/{{Gravediggaz}} and ICP. The soundtrack would turn out to be the only saving grace from the movie, as most viewers, as well as ICP, found the movie to be ''really, really bad''. It's about a demon that posseses a wooden carving that becomes a kind of evil Literature/{{Pinocchio}} named Morty and...you get the picture. Among the movie's biggest headscratchers was who thought that naming the villain of a Horror Movie "Morty" was a good idea? It also unfortunately gives Esham's Theme Tune an element of {{Narm}}, as there's no way to take Esham shouting "Morty!!" over and over seriously, even paired with his "nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide" chant, even if the first thing you think of when you hear it isn't [[WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty a teenage boy who travels the galaxy with his grandpa]].
93	* UpdatedReRelease: The original cassette and CD releases of his debut album contained different songs. When the album was remastered in 2015, the additional tracks from the 1990 CD were amended to the original cassette track listing as bonus tracks. However, [[{{Bowdlerise}} the blasphemy on "Word After Word" was deleted]].
94	** ''Judgement Day'' was reissued as a box set in 2006, containing both original volumes, two volumes of previously unreleased recordings from the same time period (''Vol. 3: Ascending'' and ''Vol. 4: Descending''), a disc of newly recorded music (''Martyr Sity'') and a [[ConcertFilm Concert DVD]] of Esham performing at the Gathering of the Juggalos.
95	** All of the extended plays Esham released from 1991 to '94 were combined into a single disc and reissued as ''The EP Collection (1991-1994)'' in 2016, due to them all being out of print and it being less expensive in 2016 to put out one disc of mostly 4 song extended plays than to put out four discs with only about 15 minutes of music each, so Esham probably saved some money doing this.
96	* WolverinePublicity: Part of what built his profile in The90s and [[UsefulNotes/The2000s Early 2000's]] was the random collaborations and compilation appearances. Esham showed up on [[Music/CarnivalOfCarnage Insane Clown Posse's debut]], the P-Funk compilation ''Dance on the Wild Side'',[[note]]Performing a rap remix of Music/GeorgeClinton's "Bubblegum Gangster".[[/note]] performed the intro on a Music/KidRock song,[[note]]"Live", off ''Music/EarlyMorninStonedPimp''[[/note]] did a song with the AlternativeMetal band The Workhorse Movement and had two exclusive songs on the Rap Metal compilation ''Race Riot''.[[note]]One featured Violent J from Insane Clown Posse.[[/note]]

Context Music / Esham