"Yeah, 7 Mile. It didn't have gangs, but it's a lot of thugs in Detroit," said acid rapper Esham, about his hometown on 7, not 8, Mile Road. "But I can guarantee you this: ain't no white boys running up to all the brothers in Detroit and punching them."
It's a less-than-subtle reference to Esham's fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, but this does not mean he's at all jealous of his success. He just does not like him, or "8 Mile," the film based on his life story in Detroit.
"Oh my God, what the f--- was that? Pro gay? What is that, a pro gay movie about fags? I don't know, where the f--- did they get this s---?"
Esham appears with Psychopathic Records rappers Insane Clown Posse and Anybody Killa this Friday at the Showplace Theatre. Outside of Detroit, Esham lacks the name recognition of his multi-platinum adversary, but the effect of Esham's music has been nationwide. He is the godfather of acid rap - or "wicked s---" as Esham calls it - a hardcore style of hip-hop that makes gangsta rap sound like church hymns.
Recently, Esham inked a deal with Psychopathic Records. On Dec. 10, the label will release "Acid Rain," a greatest hits compilation featuring six new songs. Despite the company's association with Insane Clown Posse and their juggalo cohorts, it's not likely Esham's seeking a conversion. ICP readily cite Esham, whose albums since his 1990 debut, "Homey Don't Play," were a direct influence over the band's horrorcore style.
Esham and ICP's latest collaboration this past Thanksgiving involved charity.
"We decided to give some turkeys out, just spread the love, y'know?" Esham said. "We went to focus hope centers and gave over a thousand turkeys away. People seemed to really enjoy themselves. It was a cool thing; season's greetings."
Acts of generosity might defy popular expectations from the artist who rapped on his track "KKKill the Fetus," "The body's premature, the mother is a whore/Contemplatin' suicide, so what you waitin' for?"
As he got older - Esham began rapping at age 13 - the acid rap artist toned down the venom in his lyrics. Beneath the violent veneer of Esham's words is the story of a young teenager who could not stop contemplating his own gritty interpretation of the hip-hop coming out of New York City in the 1980s.
"Back in the day, I called (my raps) 'suicidalist,' and there was a lot of deep-thinking, I liked to be alone a lot," Esham said. "As time went on ... a lot of people could relate to them. And there were more sick thoughts than you could ever really dream of. But I kept them on the record and people really enjoyed that."
The rapper maintains it was the grisly quality to his "wicked s---" that caught on in Detroit in the early 1990s. Although major labels experimented with morbid forms of rap - marginally popularized by the supergroup Gravediggaz - by virtue of his longevity, Esham was the originator.
His recent contributions are more noticeable in the music emerging from Detroit today. Esham made a guest recording on Kid Rock's song "Live," before his breakout success. On "Still Don't Give a F---," off his debut hit, "The Slim Shady LP" Eminem said, "I'm a cross between Manson, Esham and Ozzy."
Before he came around, Esham insists there was no versatile rap scene in existence.
"Anybody who said there was a scene is lying if they don't mention Esham or ICP, 'cause we made the scene," the rapper said, affirmatively.
Esham said his brand of music was incorrectly known as "devil rap" and people did not "understand that the flow was so potent." Esham said no one had ever heard of rap such as his, which became popular through "word of mouth."
"There was no radio," he said. "We didn't advertise or s---. It was the way it sounded. Once you heard it, you were hooked. The radio still don't play our records now; we could go to the radio with a f---ing song called 'I love the radio,' but everybody knows about the s--- because we've been in the game so long."
Esham isn't bothered by the intense focus placed on mainstream Detroit rappers influenced by his style. He foresees that the added publicity can only increase the popularity of underground acts like himself.
However, he does not hold back the profanity when discussing rappers who show him disrespect. The origins of his falling out with Eminem and the rapper's hip-hop homies, D12, is rooted in contention. Esham believes Proof, a member of D12, was envious of him and had it out for Esham since the day they met.
The two attended the same high school, but while Esham already had albums out, Proof "used to dance outside of (Esham's) classroom door."
Following a stage fight involving Esham at a D12 show, tensions worsened when Eminem, in the song "Kill You," from "The Marshall Mathers LP" said, "I ain't 'acid rap' but I rap on acid."
On his album "Tongues" in 2001, Esham brought Eminem's daughter into the fray when he rapped on the song "Chemical Imbalance," "Hailie's in a coma/Hailie's in a coma."
"I don't give a f--- about his daughter," Esham said. "Tell him to meet me somewhere, me and him, one on one. I'll beat the s--- out of him. His daughter can watch. Tell everybody, Dre, I don't give a f---."
A match made in Hell, both D12 and the rap group NATAS, which featured Esham, played on the Warped Tour in 2001. At their gig in Camden, NJ, an estimated 30 to 40 members made up of D12 and their assorted entourage jumped Esham, along with NATAS rapper TNT. As a result, Esham was hospitalized with a ruptured eyeball and concussion. Both acts were kicked off the tour.
Esham regards the incident as an "attack on his life." Wishing to move on, he refused to press charges. The rapper also disbanded his rap group NATAS, although Esham said the break was not due to the Warped Tour attack. He does not intend to reunite the group.
Although focused on his new projects and the tour with the Psychopathic Records crew, Esham spewed more criticisms against his rival's cinematic debut, calling 8 Mile "a fantasy; some Harry Potter-type s---."
"Why is he trying to play the race card? Why does he keep trying to tell people he had it so bad 'cause he white? I don't understand that. Detroit is one of the most segregated places in the United States," Esham said.
Though advanced in his career, Esham is not willing to stop reaching a broader audience, even after holding an underground following. He feels calmed, but not content, and for Esham, that is key for retaining originality.
"I'm so angry, that's why I got everything to say. It's like I got so many records but nobody's heard me ... and that's what keeps me driving," he said. "Rapping is like sword fighting. You know what I'm saying? You can drop somebody down with the quickness. That's the best part of being a rapper ... I dissed Eminem. Hard as hell, him and his daughter. He won't be able to face me or diss me back."
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
