As a sub-genre often deemed as cartoonish and overlooked because artists use elements of shock rock in their imagery, horrorcore has never reached a huge following by the mainstream until Eminem exploded in the late 1990s and early 2000s with his first three albums (The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show) and D12’s sophomore album, D12 World. However, despite that brief explosion for the genre, it never managed to stay in people’s ear for a long time. It was not until the first few works by members of Odd Future and the new emerging dark trap wave, that horrorcore has received some form of shine once again. Nevertheless, the genre has managed to stay alive in the underground thanks to artists like Insane Clown Posse and Brotha Lynch Hung. While horrorcore has mainly stayed alive in the United States, artists in Puerto Rico have explored the genre a bit. One of the first examples of horrorcore in Puerto Rican hip hop can be credited to Vico C’s “Viernes 13” song series, which featured a story deeply embedded in the Friday the 13th film franchise. However, these tunes can never be compared with the horrifying and gory imagery presented in the early American horrorcore of the Geto Boys and Gravediggaz, whose sound helped create how we know the genre today. Vico C’s “Viernes 13” series took a more comedic approach in the style DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s “A Nightmare on My Street” and the Fat Boys’ “Are You Ready for Freddy” and it is this approach, mixed with a bit of the gory visuals from artists like the Insane Clown Posse, that can be found in Meca Uno’s latest entry in his “Rap or Trick” EP series. Kicking off Meca Uno’s latest “Rap or Trick” project is “Corre Gritan,” a story-driven lyrical display that shows his Vico C, Cypress Hill and Insane Clown Posse influences. He then pays a bit of a homage to Vico C’s classic “Viernes 13” with “El Cuco,” a tune that samples the Friday the 13th franchise as he provides a story of his own. Afterwards, he provides “Joe’s Myersiano,” a 1980s boom bap influenced song, a vibe which he continues with the following track “El Fantasma en Patineta.” Subsequently, Meca Uno delivers another story-driven tune with “GhostFace Máscara,” a lyrical song that shows the artist’s love for the Scream film franchise. Finally, the project ends with “Con Las Dr Martens,” a boom bap tune influenced by the sound of 1980s golden age hip hop. Meca Uno’s “Rap or Trick Vol. 4” is a short, but to-the-point homage to horrorcore serving as a perfect soundtrack for the Halloween and Fall vibes. While horrorcore and horror-influenced hip hop might not receive love from the mainstream, this EP and many other projects continue to show the sub-genre is still alive.
All of the pictures in this article were found in Meca Uno’s Facebook page Listen to “Rap or Trick Vol. 4” on Spotify
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AuthorFernando E. E. Correa González is the author behind over 30 self-published poetry books. He has been published by literary magazines & journals [Id]entidad, El Vicio del Tintero, Sábanas Magazine, Smaeralit, The Occulum, Tonguas and Hound Magazine. Other than writing, Correa is also the host of FENCast, a podcast dedicated to documenting the Puerto Rican independent art scene. Aside from this, he experiments with filmmaking, photography, drawing, painting, multimedia and transmedia. He currently lives in his native Puerto Rico. Archives
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