- published: 03 Aug 2014
- views: 161455
Horrorcore is a subgenre of hip hop music based on horror-themed and often darkly transgressive lyrical content and imagery. Its origins derived from hardcore and gangsta rap artists such as the Geto Boys, who often incorporated supernatural or occult themes into their lyrics and, unlike most gangsta rap artists, pushed the violent content and imagery in their lyrics beyond the realm of realistic urban violence to the point where the violent lyrics became gruesome, ghoulish, unsettling, or slasher film-esque. The term horrorcore was popularized by openly horror-influenced hip hop groups such as Flatlinerz and Gravediggaz.
It has been argued that Jimmy Spicer's 1980 single "Adventures of Super Rhyme" was perhaps the first example of anything that resembled horrorcore, due to the segment of the song in which Spicer recounts his experience of meeting Dracula. Following this were groups like Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, and songs like Dana Dane's "Nightmares," which spun more frightening, imaginative narratives.