Esham
Encyclopedia
Rashaam Attica Smith, better known by his stage name
Esham (East Side Hoes And Money), is an American
rapper
from Detroit, Michigan
known for his hallucinogenic style of hip hop
which he refers to as "acid rap", which fuses 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 is considered to be one of the originators of horrorcore
, rap rock
and rap metal
. Counting Boomin' Words from Hell, he has released thirteen studio albums, seven extended play
s and three compilation albums.
Despite developing a small cult following
, few of his albums have been commercially successful, with his highest level of success being achieved during a brief stint on Psychopathic Records
, where he released his album with the most consecutive charts, A-1 Yola.
and Kiss
. Esham began to write original lyrics, and was encouraged by his older brother, James H. Smith, to seriously pursue a career in hip hop. According to Esham, "He felt like I had a dope flow, and he thought I could bring something new to the game, just coming from the city of Detroit. Back then, it wasn't really a [rap] music scene in Detroit. Everybody was just imitating what everybody else was doing." In the second grade, Esham met Champtown
, who was also an aspiring rapper. The two performed together at open mic events Seafood Bay. In one occurance, Champtown and Esham were forced to rap for a drug dealer at gunpoint.
At the age of 13, Smith released his debut album, Boomin' Words from Hell
, in 1989. Of the album, Smith stated, "It was the crack era, [...] and that's where all that really came from. It was all an expression about ['70s-'80s drug cartel] Young Boys Incorporated
, Mayor Coleman Young
, the city we lived in and just the turmoil that our city was going through at the time. We referred to the streets of Detroit as 'Hell' on that record. So that's where my ideas came from." In 1990, Esham and James H. Smith founded the independent record label Reel Life Productions
, which reissued his debut album with an alternate track listing and artwork. Esham found it difficult to develop a fanbase, because many wrote off the dark content of his lyrics and imagery as shock value
, while hip hop fans did not connect to Esham's albums because of his heavy metal
influences.
In 1991, Esham met Joseph Bruce
, a member of the group Inner City Posse
, who praised Esham and Reel Life Productions, and gave Esham a copy of the group's EP Dog Beats
, beginning the two rappers' friendship and professional relationship.
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. In All Music Guide to Hip-Hop, 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."
, 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. In 1992, Esham appeared on Carnival of Carnage
, the debut album of Insane Clown Posse
, released on October 18. He produced three tracks and rapped on the album's final track. In November, Natas released their debut album, Life After Death
. Following the release of this album, 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 Life After Death. 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."
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." 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
.
, which charted at #57 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Esham later signed a distribution deal with Overcore, a subsidiary of Overture Music, which later became distributed by TVT Records
. In June 2001, Gothom released Kool Keith
's Spankmaster
album, which featured several contributions by Esham, as well as Smith'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
. In August 2001, Esham and D12
were kicked off the Warped Tour
after members of the group allegedly physically attacked Smith over the lyrics of his song "Chemical Imbalance," which contained a reference to the daughter of D12 member Eminem
, who was not present during the tour.
, releasing the compilation Acid Rain
. It was announced that Esham would be moving away from the horror themes of his previous efforts. 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. 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."
His follow-up album on Psychopathic A-1 Yola, saw Esham achieving his highest consecutive level of charting
success, as it peaked at 176 on the Billboard 200, his highest selling album on that chart to date, as well as peaking at #6 on Top Heatseekers, #12 on the Independent Albums chart, #23 on the Top Rap Albums chart, and #48 on the Top R&B chart. Allrovi wrote, "During the course of A-1 YOLA, Esham takes the form of street hustler, kingpin, vampire, and all sorts of underworld characters, injecting his undiluted personality into each three-to-four-minute sketch. His sonic backdrop remains raw but fresh, drawing an impressive amount of energy out of sparse beats."
Following this release, Esham left Psychopathic in 2005 to relaunch Reel Life/Gothom. 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.
, which appears semi-regularly on his official website; however he has had minimal success. On August 26, 2008, Smith released his eleventh studio album, Sacrificial Lambz
. It peaked at #50 on the Billboard
Top Heatseekers chart
and at #42 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and is the only album Smith has released since leaving Psychopathic which charted on Billboard. In October, Smith started a petition to run for mayor of Detroit, but was denied the petition and did not run. Smith has stated "The jump to running for mayor is a pretty drastic change, but I just want to take a stance. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."
On July 28, 2009, Smith released I Ain't Cha Homey, a follow-up to his 1991 EP Homey Don't Play. Following the release of the album, rumors surfaced that it was a diss
towards Insane Clown Posse, which Smith claimed were untrue. Joseph Bruce responded to the album stating "we were hanging out with the guy every day! How can we ever hang out again? I didn't know you felt that way about us. You know, you'd hang out with us during the day then you go home and write that shit? That's insane, you know. So, we're not talking. And I've known him all my life." On August 3, 2010, Smith released his twelfth studio album, Suspended Animation
. In 2011, Esham released the EP Secret Society Circus and the album DMT Sessions, which was followed by a documentary directed by Smith, Death of an Indie Label, which was originally announced as a bonus feature on a deluxe edition of DMT Sessions, but was instead uploaded onto Gothom Inc.'s YouTube channel. Smith was also interviewed for the documentary The Untold Story of Detroit Hip-Hop, which is being produced by Detroit rapper Champtown.
. Smith's lyrics have focused on themes such as death, drug use, evil, paranoia and sex, and have included references to Satan
. Smith refers to his performance style as "acid rap," comparing the lyrics to hallucinations induced by LSD. Esham's style has also been described as horrorcore
hip hop.
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
. According to Smith, "I've been able to entertain people for 20 years. I just try to uplift people now. The latest things I do, I'm trying to get a message out to people, while I'm entertaining them at the same time."
Esham's music style has been described as a fusion of hip hop beats and death metal
lyrics. Esham defined his style as analogous to "modern day blues
[or] heavy metal". Rappers influenced by Esham include Insane Clown Posse
, Eminem
and Kid Rock
. According to author Cheryl Lynette Keyes, Esham's "metal sound with a hip-hop feel" formed the musical basis for acts such as Korn
, Limp Bizkit
, Everlast
and Kottonmouth Kings
.
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Esham (East Side Hoes And Money), is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rapper
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
from Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
known for his hallucinogenic style of hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
which he refers to as "acid rap", which fuses rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
-based beats and lyrics involving subjects such as death, drug use, evil, paranoia and sex.
Releasing his debut album, Boomin' Words from Hell
Boomin' Words from Hell
Boomin' Words from Hell is the debut album of Esham A. Smith. It was first released in 1989, when Smith was 13 years old, and was reissued the following year.-Lyrical themes:...
while still in high school, Smith is considered to be one of the originators of horrorcore
Horrorcore
Horrorcore is a subgenre of hip hop music based in horror-themed lyrical content and imagery. While the style is rarely popular, some performers have sold well in the mainstream scene.-Origins:...
, rap rock
Rap rock
Rap rock is a cross-genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock is often confused with rap metal and rapcore, subgenres that include heavy metal-oriented and hardcore punk-oriented bands, respectively....
and rap metal
Rap metal
Rap metal is a subgenre of rap rock which fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop music with heavy metal.-History:Rap metal originated from rap rock, a genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with rock...
. Counting Boomin' Words from Hell, he has released thirteen studio albums, seven extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
s and three compilation albums.
Despite developing a small cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
, few of his albums have been commercially successful, with his highest level of success being achieved during a brief stint on Psychopathic Records
Psychopathic Records
Psychopathic Records, also known as "The Hatchet", is an American independent record label based in Farmington Hills, Michigan that specializes in hip hop music. The label was founded in 1991 by Alex Abbiss and hip hop group Insane Clown Posse....
, where he released his album with the most consecutive charts, A-1 Yola.
Early career
Born Rashaam Attica Smith in Long Island, New York, Esham grew up splitting time between the Seven Mile neighborhood on the East side of Detroit, where he lived with his mother, attending Osborn High School, and lived with his grandmother in New York during summers. He studied piano, guitar, and trombone in high school, and listened to artists such as Sugar Hill Gang, Run-DMC, Ozzy OsbourneOzzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
and Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
. Esham began to write original lyrics, and was encouraged by his older brother, James H. Smith, to seriously pursue a career in hip hop. According to Esham, "He felt like I had a dope flow, and he thought I could bring something new to the game, just coming from the city of Detroit. Back then, it wasn't really a [rap] music scene in Detroit. Everybody was just imitating what everybody else was doing." In the second grade, Esham met Champtown
Champtown
Champtown is an American rapper, disc jockey, film director and teacher from Detroit, Michigan. Founder of the Straight Jacket independent record label, Champtown is known for helping establish the careers of a number of Detroit hip hop artists, including Kid Rock and Eminem. He has also worked...
, who was also an aspiring rapper. The two performed together at open mic events Seafood Bay. In one occurance, Champtown and Esham were forced to rap for a drug dealer at gunpoint.
At the age of 13, Smith released his debut album, Boomin' Words from Hell
Boomin' Words from Hell
Boomin' Words from Hell is the debut album of Esham A. Smith. It was first released in 1989, when Smith was 13 years old, and was reissued the following year.-Lyrical themes:...
, in 1989. Of the album, Smith stated, "It was the crack era, [...] and that's where all that really came from. It was all an expression about ['70s-'80s drug cartel] Young Boys Incorporated
Young Boys Inc.
Young Boys Incorporated, also known as Y.B.I. was among the first African-American drug cartels that operated on street corners.They controlled 80% of the heroin traffic in Detroit, Michigan from the summer of 1978 through 1982....
, Mayor Coleman Young
Coleman Young
Coleman Alexander Young served as mayor of Detroit in the U.S. state of Michigan from 1974 to 1993. Young became the first African-American mayor of Detroit in the same week that Maynard Jackson became the first African-American mayor of Atlanta.-Pre-Mayoral career:Young was born in Tuscaloosa,...
, the city we lived in and just the turmoil that our city was going through at the time. We referred to the streets of Detroit as 'Hell' on that record. So that's where my ideas came from." In 1990, Esham and James H. Smith founded the independent record label Reel Life Productions
Reel Life Productions
Reel Life Productions, also known as Gothom Records, is an independent record label based in Detroit, Michigan that specializes in hip hop music. The label was founded in 1988 by James H. Smith and his younger brother, rapper Esham...
, which reissued his debut album with an alternate track listing and artwork. Esham found it difficult to develop a fanbase, because many wrote off the dark content of his lyrics and imagery as shock value
Shock value
Shock value is the potential of an action , image, text, or other form of communication to provoke a reaction of disgust, shock, anger, fear, or similar negative emotions.-Shock value as humor:...
, while hip hop fans did not connect to Esham's albums because of his heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
influences.
In 1991, Esham met Joseph Bruce
Joseph Bruce
Joseph Frank "Joe" Bruce is an American rapper, record producer, professional wrestler and actor. Bruce is most commonly known as Violent J of the Insane Clown Posse . He is the co-founder of the record label Psychopathic Records, with fellow ICP rapper Joseph Utsler and their former manager,...
, a member of the group Inner City Posse
Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group is composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the "wicked clowns" Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore...
, who praised Esham and Reel Life Productions, and gave Esham a copy of the group's EP Dog Beats
Dog Beats
Dog Beats is a 1991 EP by Inner City Posse, later to be known as Insane Clown Posse. It was the first record ever released by Psychopathic Records.- Production :...
, beginning the two rappers' friendship and professional relationship.
After releasing two EPs, Erotic Poetry
Erotic Poetry
Erotic Poetry is the first extended play by Esham A. Smith. Released in 1991, it is the rapper's second release, after Boomin' Words from Hell.-Track listing:...
and Homey Don't Play
Homey Don't Play
Homey Don't Play is the second extended play by Esham. Released in 1991, the EP marks the debut of "Homey the Clown", a persona Smith would later revive for his 2009 EP I Ain't Cha Homey. According to Insane Clown Posse member Joseph Bruce, the EP's cover, which depicted Esham wearing clown paint,...
, Esham completed the double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
Judgement Day, and its two volumes, Day and Night were released separately on April 9, 1992. In All Music Guide to Hip-Hop, 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."
KKKill the Fetus, Closed Casket and Dead Flowerz
As a student at Osborn High School, Esham met MastamindMastamind
Mastamind is an American rapper from Detroit. A founding member of Natas, he was formerly signed with Reel Life Productions before forming his own label, Toxsic Records.-Biography:...
, who gave him a three-song demo tape of his music, leading the two to form the group Natas
Natas (group)
Natas is an American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan.-History:Esham met Mastamind as a student at Osborne High School, who gave him a three-song demo tape of his music, leading the two to form the group with Esham's longtime friend, T-N-T, deciding on the name Natas, an acronym for "Nation...
with Esham's longtime friend, TNT. In 1992, Esham appeared on Carnival of Carnage
Carnival of Carnage
Carnival of Carnage is the debut album by American hip hop group Insane Clown Posse, released on October 18, 1992, by Psychopathic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place from 1991 to 1992 at Miller Midi Productions and The Tempermill Studio. The album is the first Joker's Card in the...
, the debut album of Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group is composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the "wicked clowns" Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore...
, released on October 18. He produced three tracks and rapped on the album's final track. In November, Natas released their debut album, Life After Death
Life After Death (Natas album)
Life After Death is the debut album of Natas, released in 1992.- Controversy :Following the release of this album, 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...
. Following the release of this album, Esham, Natas and Reel Life Productions were the subject of much controversy when a 17-year-old fan killed himself while smoking cannabis
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
and playing Russian roulette
Russian roulette
Russian roulette is a potentially lethal game of chance in which participants place a single round in a revolver, spin the cylinder, place the muzzle against their head and pull the trigger...
while listening to Life After Death. 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."
On November 22, 1994, Esham released his fourth studio album, Closed Casket
Closed Casket
Closed Casket is the fourth studio album by Esham A. Smith, released on November 22, 1994 and distributed by Reel Life Productions/Warlock Records.- Lyrics and music :...
. 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." In May 1996, Esham released his fifth studio album, Dead Flowerz
Dead Flowerz
Dead Flowerz is the fifth studio album by Esham A. Smith. Released in 1996, it peaked at #38 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.-Track listing:All tracks by Esham A...
. It peaked at #38 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
.
Gothom Records (1999–2001)
In June 1997, Esham rebranded Reel Life Productions as Gothom Records, and released the album Bruce Wayne: Gothom City 1987Bruce Wayne: Gothom City 1987
Bruce Wayne: Gothom City 1987 is the sixth studio album by Esham A. Smith, released in 1997.-Track listing:# "Comerica"# "You Still Ain't Shit to Me" feat TNT & Moebadis# "7 Mile Road"# "Lowlafalana"# "Change Ya Mind" feat Mastamind & TNT...
, which charted at #57 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Esham later signed a distribution deal with Overcore, a subsidiary of Overture Music, which later became distributed by TVT Records
TVT Records
TVT Records was an independent US record label founded by Steve Gottlieb. Over the course of its 25 year history the label released some 25 Gold, Platinum and Multi-platinum releases. Its roster included Nine Inch Nails, Ja Rule, Lil Jon, Underworld, The KLF, Sevendust, Brian Jonestown Massacre and...
. In June 2001, Gothom released Kool Keith
Kool Keith
Keith Matthew Thornton, better known by his stage name Kool Keith, is an American rapper from The Bronx, New York. A founding member of Ultramagnetic MCs, Kool Keith has recorded prolifically both as a solo artist and in group collaborations. Kool Keith is the self-proclaimed inventor of...
's Spankmaster
Spankmaster
'Spankmaster is the sixth album by Kool Keith. It was released on June 5, 2001 on Esham's Gothom Records. The album was mildly successful making it to #48 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, #11 on the Independent Albums and #16 on the Top Heatseekers charts in the U.S.-Track listing:#"Concert Intro"-...
album, which featured several contributions by Esham, as well as Smith's eighth album, Tongues
Tongues (Esham album)
Tongues is the eighth studio album by Esham, released in 2001. The album was also the final album Esham would release on Gothom until Sacrificial Lambz in 2009.-Track listing:-Personnel:*Esham - vocals, rap*Dayton Family - performer...
, 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
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. In August 2001, Esham and D12
D12
D12, an acronym for The Dirty Dozen, is an American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan. D12 has had chart-topping albums in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia...
were kicked off the Warped Tour
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...
after members of the group allegedly physically attacked Smith over the lyrics of his song "Chemical Imbalance," which contained a reference to the daughter of D12 member Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
, who was not present during the tour.
Psychopathic Records (2002–2005)
In 2002, Esham signed to Psychopathic RecordsPsychopathic Records
Psychopathic Records, also known as "The Hatchet", is an American independent record label based in Farmington Hills, Michigan that specializes in hip hop music. The label was founded in 1991 by Alex Abbiss and hip hop group Insane Clown Posse....
, releasing the compilation Acid Rain
Acid Rain (album)
Acid Rain is the third compilation album by Esham. Released in 2002, it is the first of three albums by the rapper released on Psychopathic Records, followed by the studio albums Repentance and A-1 Yola.-Track listing:...
. It was announced that Esham would be moving away from the horror themes of his previous efforts. 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. 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."
His follow-up album on Psychopathic A-1 Yola, saw Esham achieving his highest consecutive level of charting
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
success, as it peaked at 176 on the Billboard 200, his highest selling album on that chart to date, as well as peaking at #6 on Top Heatseekers, #12 on the Independent Albums chart, #23 on the Top Rap Albums chart, and #48 on the Top R&B chart. Allrovi wrote, "During the course of A-1 YOLA, Esham takes the form of street hustler, kingpin, vampire, and all sorts of underworld characters, injecting his undiluted personality into each three-to-four-minute sketch. His sonic backdrop remains raw but fresh, drawing an impressive amount of energy out of sparse beats."
Following this release, Esham left Psychopathic in 2005 to relaunch Reel Life/Gothom. 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.
Decline (2006—present)
Since leaving Psychopathic, Esham relaunched Reel Life Productions, and produces a podcastPodcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
, which appears semi-regularly on his official website; however he has had minimal success. On August 26, 2008, Smith released his eleventh studio album, Sacrificial Lambz
Sacrificial Lambz
The album peaked at #50 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and at #42 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.-Track listing:-Charts:Album - Billboard...
. It peaked at #50 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Top Heatseekers chart
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
and at #42 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and is the only album Smith has released since leaving Psychopathic which charted on Billboard. In October, Smith started a petition to run for mayor of Detroit, but was denied the petition and did not run. Smith has stated "The jump to running for mayor is a pretty drastic change, but I just want to take a stance. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."
On July 28, 2009, Smith released I Ain't Cha Homey, a follow-up to his 1991 EP Homey Don't Play. Following the release of the album, rumors surfaced that it was a diss
Diss track
A diss track or diss song is a song primarily intended to disparage or insult another person or group. While musical parodies and attacks have always existed, the trend became increasingly common in the hip hop genre as part of the hip hop rivalry phenomenon...
towards Insane Clown Posse, which Smith claimed were untrue. Joseph Bruce responded to the album stating "we were hanging out with the guy every day! How can we ever hang out again? I didn't know you felt that way about us. You know, you'd hang out with us during the day then you go home and write that shit? That's insane, you know. So, we're not talking. And I've known him all my life." On August 3, 2010, Smith released his twelfth studio album, Suspended Animation
Suspended Animation (Esham album)
- Musicians :* Esham A. Smith - performer, executive producer* Daniel Jordan - performer* King Solomon - performer* Ruin Your Life - live instrumentation, production** Tony Raines** Ryan C.** Skeels** Tony Butchart- Other personnel :...
. In 2011, Esham released the EP Secret Society Circus and the album DMT Sessions, which was followed by a documentary directed by Smith, Death of an Indie Label, which was originally announced as a bonus feature on a deluxe edition of DMT Sessions, but was instead uploaded onto Gothom Inc.'s YouTube channel. Smith was also interviewed for the documentary The Untold Story of Detroit Hip-Hop, which is being produced by Detroit rapper Champtown.
Style
Esham's lyrical style, which author Sara Cohen says "utilize[s] shocking (and blatantly over the top) narratives to give an over-exaggerated, almost cartoon-like version of urban deprivation in Detroit", was derived from the style of the Geto BoysGeto Boys
Geto Boys is a rap group from Houston, Texas, consisting of Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill. The Geto Boys earned notoriety for its lyrics which included misogyny, gore, psychotic experiences, and necrophilia...
. Smith's lyrics have focused on themes such as death, drug use, evil, paranoia and sex, and have included references to Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
. Smith refers to his performance style as "acid rap," comparing the lyrics to hallucinations induced by LSD. Esham's style has also been described as horrorcore
Horrorcore
Horrorcore is a subgenre of hip hop music based in horror-themed lyrical content and imagery. While the style is rarely popular, some performers have sold well in the mainstream scene.-Origins:...
hip hop.
"People were literally scared of my records. There have been so many rumors about me and my records. People got the first album, and they would just make up stories. They'd get into an accident and be like, 'I got into an accident because I was playing that tape.' It wasn't like we helped ourselves when we described what was in people's heads. It wasn't to shock people, though, but to get people involved in what we were doing. We had to get peoples' attention. [...] We said a lot of things that people wanted to say but didn't say. We talked about a lot of political and social [issues] that people didn't want to talk about."
Following accusations of Satanism
Satanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...
, Smith decided that Closed Casket
Closed Casket
Closed Casket is the fourth studio album by Esham A. Smith, released on November 22, 1994 and distributed by Reel Life Productions/Warlock Records.- Lyrics and music :...
would be the last album to feature such themes, and that he would no longer rap about the Devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
. According to Smith, "I've been able to entertain people for 20 years. I just try to uplift people now. The latest things I do, I'm trying to get a message out to people, while I'm entertaining them at the same time."
Esham's music style has been described as a fusion of hip hop beats and death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
lyrics. Esham defined his style as analogous to "modern day blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
[or] heavy metal". Rappers influenced by Esham include Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group is composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the "wicked clowns" Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore...
, Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
and Kid Rock
Kid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...
. According to author Cheryl Lynette Keyes, Esham's "metal sound with a hip-hop feel" formed the musical basis for acts such as Korn
Korn
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...
, Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 1995, the group's lineup consists of Fred Durst , Wes Borland , Sam Rivers , John Otto and DJ Lethal . The band achieved mainstream success with their second studio album Significant Other, released in 1999...
, Everlast
Everlast (musician)
Erik Francis Schrody , better known by his stage name Everlast, is a Grammy Award-winning American rapper and songwriter, known for his solo hit "What It's Like" and as the front-man for rap group House of Pain. He is also part of the hip-hop supergroup La Coka Nostra, which consists of members of...
and Kottonmouth Kings
Kottonmouth Kings
Kottonmouth Kings is an American rap rock group from Placentia, Orange County, California. Kottonmouth Kings officially formed in 1994, and describe themselves as "psychedelic hip-hop punk rock"...
.
Discography
- Boomin' Words from HellBoomin' Words from HellBoomin' Words from Hell is the debut album of Esham A. Smith. It was first released in 1989, when Smith was 13 years old, and was reissued the following year.-Lyrical themes:...
(1989) - Judgement Day (1992)
- KKKill the Fetus (1993)
- Closed CasketClosed CasketClosed Casket is the fourth studio album by Esham A. Smith, released on November 22, 1994 and distributed by Reel Life Productions/Warlock Records.- Lyrics and music :...
(1994) - Dead FlowerzDead FlowerzDead Flowerz is the fifth studio album by Esham A. Smith. Released in 1996, it peaked at #38 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.-Track listing:All tracks by Esham A...
(1996) - Bruce Wayne: Gothom City 1987Bruce Wayne: Gothom City 1987Bruce Wayne: Gothom City 1987 is the sixth studio album by Esham A. Smith, released in 1997.-Track listing:# "Comerica"# "You Still Ain't Shit to Me" feat TNT & Moebadis# "7 Mile Road"# "Lowlafalana"# "Change Ya Mind" feat Mastamind & TNT...
(1997) - Mail DominanceMail DominanceMail Dominance is the seventh full length studio album by Esham A. Smith, released in 1999.-Track listing:-Personnel:*Esham - performer*Sue Gillis - background vocals*Mastamind - vocals*TNT - vocals*Laura Ruby - background vocals...
(1999) - TonguesTongues (Esham album)Tongues is the eighth studio album by Esham, released in 2001. The album was also the final album Esham would release on Gothom until Sacrificial Lambz in 2009.-Track listing:-Personnel:*Esham - vocals, rap*Dayton Family - performer...
(2001) - Repentance (2003)
- A-1 Yola (2005)
- Sacrificial LambzSacrificial LambzThe album peaked at #50 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and at #42 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.-Track listing:-Charts:Album - Billboard...
(2008) - Suspended AnimationSuspended Animation (Esham album)- Musicians :* Esham A. Smith - performer, executive producer* Daniel Jordan - performer* King Solomon - performer* Ruin Your Life - live instrumentation, production** Tony Raines** Ryan C.** Skeels** Tony Butchart- Other personnel :...
(2010) - DMT Sessions (2011)
- Holy Black Mamba (2011)