![]() Where Esham's early albums were soundscapes pieced together from rock samples and some lo-fi drum machines and bass guitar, his albums began to take on a more conventional production feel, using less samples and more polished beats. More significant, though, was the changes that took place in the beats and in the subject matter. That year also saw the release of the second NATAS album, Blaz4me, followed by the Maggot Brain Theory EP and Closed Casket, both released in 1994, and another NATAS album in 1995, Doubelievengod.nnWith each album following the Judgment Day series, Esham's work had continued to evolve in terms of craft, with increasingly meticulous production and better rapping. In late 1992 came the Hellterskkkellter EP, which foreshadowed Esham's next album, 1993's KKKill the Fetus. Also featuring fellow Detroit rappers Mastamind and TNT, NATAS' debut album, Life After Death, was nearly as hardcore as Esham's solo material, though a bit more pornographic. Furthermore, Esham also debuted his group project, NATAS (supposedly an acronym for Nation Ahead of Time and Space, rather than "Satan" spelled backwards as many presume). Titled Judgment Day and released in two separately sold volumes, the album showed the artist having evolved also in terms of rapping and production (using a broad palette of rock samples ranging from Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" to Black Flag's "Rise Above"), in addition to his more horrifying subject matter. ![]() Furthermore, he also happened to produce every beat on his first album in addition to busting every rhyme, a truly remarkable accomplishment given his young age, especially considering the album's still-impressive quality.nnAfter Boomin' Words From Hell, Esham churned out two quick four-song EPs, Homey Don't Play and Erotic Poetry, before returning in 1992 with an ambitious double album that found him furthering his descent into decadence. ![]() With his older brother handling the business side of the music, including the birth of Esham's own label, Reel Life Productions, the rapper concentrated on his rhymes. Yet the fact that he self-released his debut album, Boomin' Words from Hell, three years later in 1989 while in high school was definitely out of the ordinary. Given his participation in New York's burgeoning late-'80s rap movement during his summers, it wasn't that out of the ordinary that he was writing his own rhymes by the time he was ten. Smith) divided his time between New York and Detroit, spending summers with his grandmother in the hip-hop mecca participating in that culture's mid- to late-'80s boom, while spending the remainder of the year with his mother in the depressed, post-industrial, musical melting pot of East Detroit. Yet despite his impressive credentials, by the end of the '90s, the Detroit rapper still hadn't extended his reach beyond his cult following, unlike other Detroit artists such as Eminem, Kid Rock, and ICP, and other similar rap groups such as Three 6 Mafia and Brotha Lynch Hung.nnAs a youth, Esham (born Esham A. Beyond his knack for rock-influenced beats and exploitative-themed rhymes, Esham also proved himself to be a prolific artist, releasing over an album a year after debuting with his first album in 1989 at the tender age of 16. Long before rock acts such as Limp Bizkit began rapping, long before rappers such as Kid Rock began rocking, Esham was integrating a rock influence into his rap in the early '90s, crafting a unique style of self-declared "acid rap." In fact, this term is rather fitting, given Esham's taste for hallucinogenic rhymes revolving around paranoia, death, drugs, sex, and downright evil - an extremely decadent synthesis of all things nightmarish. As an underappreciated cult artist, Esham's harsh hardcore rap thrived in this hometown of Detroit, Michigan, for years before an ensemble of artists with a similar style began crossing over into the mainstream in the late '90s.
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