Gravediggaz
Encyclopedia
Gravediggaz is an American 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...

 group from New York City, well known for its dark sense of humor and abrasive, menacing soundscapes. The group was formed in 1994 and was effectively a supergroup, bringing together Prince Paul (The Undertaker), Frukwan
Frukwan
Frukwan Sun-Star Allah-Bey is a Moorish American hip hop musician. He is best known as The Gatekeeper from the hip hop group Gravediggaz and was a member of the pioneering hip hop band Stetsasonic.- Early life :...

 (The Gatekeeper), Too Poetic (The Grym Reaper) and RZA
RZA
Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known by his stage name RZA , is an American Grammy-winning music producer, multi-instrumentalist, author, emcee, and occasional actor, director, and screenwriter. A prominent figure in Hip Hop, RZA is the de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan. He has produced almost...

 (The Rzarector). The group is widely credited as being one of the most influential and pioneering groups in the small hip-hop subgenre 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:...

.

Biography

The group's first album was originally titled Niggamortis; however, the potentially risqué title was changed to 6 Feet Deep for the American market (European versions of the album retained the original title, and also included the bonus track "Pass the Shovel"). Released on August 9, 1994, 6 Feet Deep was a mix of black humor, cartoonish violence reminiscent of the Geto Boys
Geto 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...

, esoteric references to the Nation of Gods and Earths, and some of Paul's darkest production. The four members adopted Gravedigga alter egos for their work with the group: The RZA became Rzarector, Poetic became the Grym Reaper, Prince Paul became the Undertaker, and Frukwan became the Gatekeeper. The three rapping members (without Prince Paul) released a collaborative EP
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...

 titled "The Hell EP" with UK trip hop
Trip hop
Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...

 artist Tricky
Tricky
Tricky is an English musician and actor. As a producer and a musician, he is noted for a dark, rich and layered sound and a whispering sprechgesang lyrical style. Culturally, Tricky encourages an intertwining of societies, particularly in his musical fusion of rock and hip hop, high art and pop...

 in 1995.

The second full-length Gravediggaz album, The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel
The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel
The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel, released October 14, 1997, is the second album by the Gravediggaz, an influential horrorcore hip hop supergroup...

, was less humorous. The album dealt more with social and political issues than 6 Feet Deep; it also used calmer and more conventional production. Prince Paul played a considerably smaller role in the making of this album, with many of the production duties now taken care of by RZA and his Wu-Tang associates (including True Master
True Master
True Master is an American hip-hop producer and very occasional rapper. He is closely affiliated with the Wu-Tang Clan and an original member of its production team, sometimes referred to as Wu-Elements. He derives his rap nom de plume from the martial arts movie of the same name...

 and 4th Disciple
4th Disciple
Selwin Bougard, now known as El-Divine Amir Bey, better known by his stage name 4th Disciple, is a hip hop producer and engineer who was one of the founding members of Killarmy and one of the best-known Wu-Tang-affiliated producers.- Biography :...

).

A bootleg Gravediggaz album surfaced in 1998, called Scenes From The Graveyard. It featured 7 unreleased tracks plus some remixes from the first two albums.

The Gravediggaz recruited DJ Diamond J around the turn of the millennium. Poetic finally succumbed to colon cancer in July 2001. Frukwan stated in an interview not long after Poetic's death that a new album using leftover Poetic material would be released. Nightmare in A-Minor
Nightmare in A-Minor
Nightmare in A-Minor is the third and final studio album by the hip hop supergroup Gravediggaz.By this time, RZA and Prince Paul had left the group, and Poetic died after his 2-year fight with Colon cancer on July 15, 2001, at 1:45 EST...

, the third official album for Gravediggaz, was released independently in 2001; it featured two of the original members, Poetic and Frukwan. This album was their darkest work yet. It includes many references to Poetic's struggle with colon cancer, as well as a focus on the more apocalyptic themes of the teachings of the Five Percent Nation. Although RZA did not take part in the making of the album, some Wu-Tang Clan affiliates
Wu-Tang Clan affiliates
The hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan has various "affiliates" which receive support, financial and otherwise, from the Wu-Tang Clan. This is a list of musical groups and producers that are officially affiliated with the group, mostly through the RZA. The association of these affiliates with Wu-Tang...

 such as 4th Disciple, True Master and Beretta 9 were involved. The album was mostly produced by Poetic and Frukwan themselves. A different version of the album (minus the song "Better Wake Up") was released to widespread critical acclaim in 2002. Some of the tracks previously created by Poetic were replaced, or altered.

In 2003 Frukwan released his debut solo album, Life
Life (Frukwan album)
Life is the debut solo album by American rapper and former Stetsasonic and Gravediggaz member Frukwan, released on the BMG label in 2003 .-Track listing:#"Intro"#"Enough"#"It Gets Deep"#"Life"#*Featuring Maraj#"Never Give Up"...

. The fourth Gravediggaz album 6 Feet Under was released in 2004 and featured songs from Nightmare in A-Minor
Nightmare in A-Minor
Nightmare in A-Minor is the third and final studio album by the hip hop supergroup Gravediggaz.By this time, RZA and Prince Paul had left the group, and Poetic died after his 2-year fight with Colon cancer on July 15, 2001, at 1:45 EST...

and Life
Life (Frukwan album)
Life is the debut solo album by American rapper and former Stetsasonic and Gravediggaz member Frukwan, released on the BMG label in 2003 .-Track listing:#"Intro"#"Enough"#"It Gets Deep"#"Life"#*Featuring Maraj#"Never Give Up"...

which was mentioned in an interview on wu-International. According to Frukwan, he had nothing to do with the release from Cleopatra Records and noted that the Titles were changed without permission, further showing an unauthorized release. Legal remedies were noted as being addressed.

More recently The Gravediggaz 2 More Cups Of Blood was released, minus any material from Poetic.
The new release was long overdue, and fans welcomed a well timed Halloween release. As of 2011, it was revealed that the group has been recording a reunion album, minus the late Poetic. RZA has said he only needs about 3 more songs and Prince Paul agreed to be part of the project. Shabazz The Disciple
Shabazz the Disciple
Shabazz the Disciple or Scientific Shabazz, is a rapper from the Red Hook Houses of Red Hook, Brooklyn. He is an original member of the Sunz of Man and Da Last Future.- Biography :...

 & Killah Priest
Killah Priest
Walter Reed, better known as Killah Priest, Iron Sheik from the Middle East, or Masada, is an American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan affiliate who was raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant & Brownsville neighbourhoods in Brooklyn. He is known for intensely spiritual lyrics loaded with metaphors and religious...

 will be heavily involved in the album.

Style and influence

According to Frukwan
Frukwan
Frukwan Sun-Star Allah-Bey is a Moorish American hip hop musician. He is best known as The Gatekeeper from the hip hop group Gravediggaz and was a member of the pioneering hip hop band Stetsasonic.- Early life :...

, the group's name means "digging graves of the mentally dead, and it stood for resurrecting the mentally dead from their state of unawareness and ignorance." Gravediggaz is widely known as a pioneer in the genre 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:...

, focusing primarily on issues presented as macabre black humor (such as suicide, death, killing, psychopathy, hell, etc..), as a way of presenting social criticism towards the music industry.

Discography

  • 6 Feet Deep
    6 Feet Deep
    6 Feet Deep is the debut album of the horrorcore supergroup Gravediggaz. It was released August 9, 1994, by Gee Street Records. The album was re-issued in 1997.- Album information :...

    (1994)
  • The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel
    The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel
    The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel, released October 14, 1997, is the second album by the Gravediggaz, an influential horrorcore hip hop supergroup...

    (1997)
  • Nightmare in A-Minor
    Nightmare in A-Minor
    Nightmare in A-Minor is the third and final studio album by the hip hop supergroup Gravediggaz.By this time, RZA and Prince Paul had left the group, and Poetic died after his 2-year fight with Colon cancer on July 15, 2001, at 1:45 EST...

    (2002)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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