Fusing horror, psychedelia, street pain, and shock value, Esham carved out an entirely new subgenre decades before the world would play catch up:

Acid Rap.

Esham got his start while growing up on Detroit’s east side during the crack era.

It was the kind of environment where paranoia came easily, but so did a natural survival instinct and a yearning for more.

Esham saw signs of a crumbling city all around him and made up his mind early on that he would do things on his own terms, even if the whole world doubted him.

By age 13, he picked up rapping and began producing beats on borrowed equipment, and by 16, he had already released his debut album “Boomin’ Words from Hell,” a piece overflowing with horrorcore themes, drug hallucination vibes, and gritty, bass-heavy beats that either made people want to tap in or run away scared.

It wasn’t just music; it was rebellion in the form of rap.

At a time when it seemed like the entire world was preoccupied with the East Coast/West Coast hip-hop divide, Esham was busy creating something else entirely: an entirely new genre he’d go on to brand “acid rap.”

This wasn’t peace and love music.

This was brain melt, spiritual decay, and paranoia transmuted into art.

Esham dropped projects like “KKKill the Fetus,” “Judgement Day,” and “Dead Flowerz,” in short order, each one more experimental and brutal than the last.

He had no major label backing him, let alone radio play; yet his bass-rattling tapes still spread across the 313 like wildfire.

Backed by lyrics that pushed boundaries and covered everything from death to suicide to hellish hallucinations, and forced to grow up with nothing but instinct and rage, Esham co-founded Reel Life Productions with his brother James (also known as Dead Boy) in the late 1980s.

It was one of the first independent rap labels out of Detroit, which saw Esham slinging his own tapes, marketing himself in local shops, and cultivating a fan base through word of mouth long before the internet came around making the underground cool.

Today, his influence can be found in a number of places.

Insane Clown Posse has said they consider him a direct inspiration, and even Slim Shady himself studied his flow and name-dropped him a few times, as well as fellow acid rap artist

Danny Brown and rappers like Proof and D12.

In short:

Esham has never fell out of favor in Detroit’s underground rap scene.

Through all the highs and lows that come with making music, he has continued rapping, producing, and evolving.

His catalog speaks to that work ethic, featuring 30+ years of music spanning everything from horrorcore to funk to gospel-tinged confessional tracks.

Esham is one of the few Detroit artists who can wear the crown of a legend without ever making his way to the charts.

He has simply never yearned for mass appeal – only the creative freedom you can hear in his beats and feel in his lyrics and consistency.

He helped build the identity of Detroit hip hop long before it had a national platform – loud, loyal, and always evolving.

Victoria Jackson (Editor In Chief)

Victoria Jackson is a lifelong student and sharp-eyed documentarian of all things Detroit, from its rich musical roots and cultural icons to its shifting neighborhoods, storied architecture, and underground legends. With her finger firmly on the pulse of both the city’s vibrant past and its rapidly unfolding future, she brings a deeply personal, historically grounded lens to every piece she writes.

Published on: September 20, 2025