Although some sources give him basically as an infant or little more than a pre-adolescent, Esham is 16/17 years old when he comes out with his debut, recorded on cassette in one day and released in 1989.
His production is minimal, he doesn't have many tools available to create a richer musical soundscape: drum machine, sampler and some raw, vibrant and heavy bass lines, which provide a skinny and minimal, lo-fi sound, which perfectly fits Esham's lively and violent bars and the background that the artist wants to create here, in a desert infernal. Above these simple and tight essential rhythms, with a skinny and syncopated drum machine, the rapper offers an angry and aggressive delivery, energetic and hardcore, smooth and sometimes rapid, with which he manages to properly ride his rhythms, creating solid horrorcore cuts.
It's an extraordinary album to be made entirely by a kid: it's an evil, rough, tough project with obvious metal influences, Esham is surprisingly up to most of the other MCs in play in the early nineties and he describes outrageous and violent scenes, maintaining themes such as murder, sex, drugs and constant satanic references.
Despite some mediocre songs and functional hooks that lengthen the tracks, this effort has several historical merits: the choice to create a product with raw and skeletal beats, and a violent, aggressive and dark rap lays the foundations for the creation of a whole new subgenre that Esham himself will later define it as "acid rap".
Furthermore, if the birth of the horrorcore is to be credited to the Geto Boys, it can be said that no one at East of Houston had ever tried to do so. Alone, he raises the name of Detroit with this qualitative debut in which he talks about the situation in his hometown, getting well-deserved props for being influential for all of Detroit and the surrounding area. The tape is released by Reel Life Productions, label founded by himself along with his big brother James "Dead Boy" Smith. Recommended only for horrorcore fans.
Highlights: "Esham Boomin'", "4 All the Suicidalist", "Same Old Wicket Shit", "Devil's Groove", "Red Rum".
Rating: 7.5/10.
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