Music / Business & brands
Esham
born 1973 · rapper, producer, label founder
One of Detroit's first hip-hop artists, who released his debut at 16 in 1989 and pioneered the dark “acid rap” that inspired horrorcore and Insane Clown Posse.
- Born
Long Island, New York
age 53- Birth name
- Esham Attica Smith
- Also known as
- The Unholy · Esham the Unholy
- Detroit years
- 1970s–present
- Field
- Music, Business & brands
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Esham Smith was born on Long Island and grew up mainly with his mother in the Seven Mile neighborhood on Detroit's east side, spending summers with his grandmother in New York. At Osborn High School he studied piano, guitar and trombone and, encouraged by his older brother James, began writing raps at a time when, as he later put it, Detroit had no real rap scene of its own. In 1989, aged 16, he released Boomin' Words from Hell, which portrayed crack-era Detroit as “Hell”; in 1990 the brothers founded the independent label Reel Life Productions. His mix of hip-hop, heavy-metal guitars and horror imagery, which he called acid rap, made him one of the city's two biggest rap names of 1990 and a direct influence on Insane Clown Posse. At Osborn he also formed the group Natas. Reel Life became Gothom Records in 1997, and Esham later signed with ICP's Psychopathic Records. He has also tried his hand at Detroit politics, making a run for mayor.
Highlights
- Debut album Boomin' Words from Hell (1989), released at age 16.
- Co-founded Reel Life Productions (1990), later Gothom Records (1997).
- Co-founded the horrorcore group Natas in 1992.
- Has released 21 studio albums; cited as a key influence by Insane Clown Posse.
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · late 1980s
Osborn High School
He studied music here and met Mastamind, with whom he formed Natas.