Esham
| Esham | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Esham Attica Smith |
| Also known as | Mr. Spade Converse Esham the Unholy |
| Born | Long Island, New York, U.S. |
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop, acid rap, horrorcore, rap rock |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper, record producer |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Labels | Reel Life, Psychopathic Records, Overcore records |
| Associated acts | Natas, Mastamind, T-N-T, Dice, Kid Rock, Insane Clown Posse, Twiztid, Soopa Villainz, Kool Keith, Daniel Jordan |
| Website | www |
Esham Attica Smith, best known by his stage name Esham is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan known for his hallucinogenic style of hip hop which he refers to as "acid rap". That style of music fuses rock-based beats and lyrics involving subjects such as death, drug use, evil, paranoia and sex.
Esham and his brother James Smith ran the biggest-selling independent hip hop label in Detroit, Michigan throughout the 1990s. Their influence spawned an entire subgenre within hip hop that eventually fueled the careers of Kid Rock, Eminem, D12, Royce Da 5'9'', Tech N9ne, ICP and many more.
Born Esham Attica Smith in Long Island, New York, Esham grew up splitting time between the Seven Mile neighborhood on the East side of Detroit, where he lived with his mother, attending Osborn High School, and lived with his grandmother in New York during summers. He studied piano, guitar, and trombone in high school, and listened to artists such as Sugar Hill Gang, Run-DMC, Ozzy Osbourne and Kiss. Esham began to write original lyrics, and was encouraged by his older brother, James H. Smith, to seriously pursue a career in hip hop. According to Esham, "He felt like I had a dope flow, and he thought I could bring something new to the game, just coming from the city of Detroit. Back then, it wasn't really a [rap] music scene in Detroit. Everybody was just imitating what everybody else was doing." In the second grade, Esham met Champtown, who was also an aspiring rapper. The two performed together at open mic events Seafood Bay. In one occurrence, Champtown and Esham were forced to rap for a drug dealer at gunpoint.
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