History Music / Esham

** 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 ''bloory babies' heads'' part is reversed.

** Natas's music was initially in a Rap Rock 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 RapMetal sound.

* 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.

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; 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.

+Music/InsaneClownPosse, Music/{{Esham}}

+Music/InsaneClownPosse

+Music/{{MC5}}, Music/IggyPop

* GenreMashup: ''Magazine/RollingStone'' described his performance style as a Mashup of HipHop beats and DeathMetal lyrics. Esham himself said that his music, while Hip Hop, was also comparable to {{Blues}} or HeavyMetal.

* 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.

* 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]] and [[MonsterClown Homey the Clown]].

Esham self-released his debut album ''Boomin' Words from Hell'' when he was 15, 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; 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.

Esham (birth date unknown and birth name disputed) 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.

Esham self-released his debut album ''Boomin' Words from Hell'' when he was a teenager (sources vary as to what age he actually was when he released the album), 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; 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.

*** And "Devilish Mood" is essentially a mash-up of "Car Thief" (which itself sampled Music/CurtisMayfield's ''Film/SuperFly'' theme) and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn".

*** And "Devilish Mood" is essentially a MashUp of "Car Thief" (which itself sampled Music/CurtisMayfield's ''Film/SuperFly'' theme) and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn".

* 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, including Esham's verse from a Natas song[[note]]because the other members of the group weren't signed to Psychopathic[[/note]] 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]]

* 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 "666" 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.

** On his verse for Music/InsaneClownPosse's "[[Music/BeverlyKills50187 Chop! Chop!]]", Esham rapped, "I've gotta catch these carnival thrills, newborn bloody babies' heads I drill", but the ''bloory babies' heads'' part is reversed.

** On his verse for Music/InsaneClownPosse's "[[Music/BeverlyKills50187 Chop, Chop]]", Esham rapped, "I've gotta catch these carnival thrills, newborn bloody babies' heads I drill", but the ''bloory babies' heads'' part is reversed.

** 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 Music/InsaneClownPosse's "Fuck the World", which came out four years later.

* ''Judgement Day'' (1992; originally issued as two discs, ''Vol. 1: Day'' and ''Vol. 2: Night'')

* 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 George Clinton'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]]

* FemaleGroinInvincibility: On "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.

* FemaleGroinInvincibility: On "Pussy Ain't Got No Face", Esham declares, "You got to stick it in their pee hole". That's not how sex works, and a woman would find that painful.