Gravediggaz

Gravediggaz
Gravediggaz, from left to right: The Rzarector, The Undertaker, The Gatekeeper and The Grym Reaper (deceased)
Background information
Origin	New York City, Long Island, U.S.
Genres	East Coast hip hop, hardcore hip hop, horrorcore
Years active	1991–2002; 2010-2016
Labels	Gee Street/Island/PolyGram Gee Street/V2/BMG Empire Musicwerks/BMG
Associated acts	True Master, Tricky, Killah Priest, Scientific Shabazz, Dreddy Kruger
Members	The Gatekeeper The RZArector The Undertaker
Past members	The Grym Reaper (deceased)

Gravediggaz is an American hip hop group from New York City, known for its dark sense of humor and abrasive, menacing soundscapes. The group was formed in 1991, bringing together Prince Paul (The Undertaker), Frukwan (The Gatekeeper), Poetic (The Grym Reaper) and RZA (The RZArector). It came about largely due to the efforts of Prince Paul. The group pioneered the small hip-hop subgenre of horrorcore.

The group's first album was originally to be titled Niggamortis; however, this potentially risqué title was changed to 6 Feet Deep for the American market (European versions of the album retained the original title, and also included the bonus track "Pass the Shovel"); it was released on August 9, 1994. The four members adopted Gravedigga alter egos for their work with the group: RZA became The RZArector, Poetic became The Grym Reaper, Prince Paul became The Undertaker and Frukwan became The Gatekeeper. In 1995, the three rapping members (without Prince Paul) released a collaborative EP titled "The Hell EP" with UK trip hop artist Tricky.

The second full-length Gravediggaz album The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel was less humorous, dealing more with social and political issues; it also used calmer and more conventional production. Prince Paul played a considerably smaller role in the making of this album, with many of the production duties now taken care of by RZA and his Wu-Tang affiliates (including True Master and 4th Disciple).

A bootleg Gravediggaz album surfaced in 1998, called Scenes From The Graveyard. It featured seven unreleased tracks plus some remixes from the first two albums.