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6 Feet Deep

 
Album Review: 6 Feet Deep

  • Artist: Gravediggaz
  • Rating: StarStarStarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: August 09, 1994
  • Total Time: 52:17
  • Type: Contains explicit content
  • Genre: Rap

Review

6 Feet Deep is a sick joke. A lethally great and a ghoulishly comical one, but a deranged and sadistic prank nonetheless. Eschatological, gruesome, paranoid, and obsessed with death (both imposing and experiencing it), the debut from eeeeevil supergroup Gravediggaz lands somewhere in the nexus at which the bizarro universe of legendary producer Prince Paul -- who oversees the whole project while wearing the mask and wielding the shovel of the Undertaker for the occasion -- crashes headlong into RZA's dingy, farcical New York City, a haunted, inverse Oz where graffiti meets science fiction meets splatter flick in an unholy alliance that finds Freddy Krueger fiendishly pursuing the turf gangs out of Walter Hill's The Warriors down 125th and Elm Streets. Throw in a few crazed variations on Medieval torture techniques, a few too many midnight kung-fu screenings, and a few fantasies of bodily damage so giddily, demonically cartoonish that they would make Wile E. Coyote lick his lips with mischievous envy, and you have this brilliantly strange, whimsically jagged horror film in song (critics unofficially dubbed the style horrorcore) with its maimed and gnawed tongue firmly planted in cheek. If you can stomach the buckets of lyrical blood spilled herein, there is no end to the gory highlights, from the running-in-place nightmare of "Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide" to the psychotically nauseous angel-dust high of "Defective Trip (Trippin')" to the willfully objectionable "1-800 Suicide" and self-destructive "Bang Your Head," all of them terribly catchy. As a bonus, 6 Feet Deep is sure to offend the sensibilities of all middle-aged family-values crusaders and conservative-type politicians -- vampires of a different sort -- who aren't in on the joke. Overseas, the album was titled Niggamortis. With its combined allusion to mortality and example of wicked wordplay, it would have been even more apropos. Whatever it goes by, though, the album can be resurrected again and again without losing any of its devilishly good potency. ~ Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Just When You Thought It Was Over (Intro) Leroy & The Drivers (:10)
Constant Elevation (Lyrics) Robert Diggs, Paul Huston, Arnold Hamilton Gravediggaz (2:30)
Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide (Lyrics) Eugene McDaniels Gravediggaz (3:55)
Defective Trip (Trippin') Arnold Hamilton, Penelope Houston, Robert Diggs Gravediggaz (5:04)
2 Cups of Blood (Lyrics) Paul Huston, Arnold Hamilton, Robert Diggs Gravediggaz (1:24)
Blood Brothers (Lyrics) Arnold Hamilton, Robert Diggs, Paul Huston Gravediggaz (4:47)
360 Questions (Lyrics) Arnold Hamilton, Paul Huston, Robert Diggs Gravediggaz (:33)
1-800-Suicide (Lyrics) Paul Huston, Robert Diggs, Arnold Hamilton Gravediggaz (4:18)
Diary of a Madman (Lyrics) Gravediggaz Gravediggaz (4:34)
Mommy, What's a Gravedigga? Patrice Rushen, Angela Rushen Gravediggaz (1:44)
Bang Your Head (Lyrics) Arnold Hamilton, Paul Huston, Robert Diggs Gravediggaz (3:24)
Here Comes the Gravediggaz (Lyrics) Arnold Hamilton, Pedro Sime, Paul Huston, Robert Diggs Gravediggaz (3:44)
Graveyard Chamber (Lyrics) Waymon Reed, Robert Diggs, D. Collins, Paul Huston, Arnold Hamilton Gravediggaz (4:57)
Death Trap T. Thomas, A. Moon Gravediggaz (4:36)
6 Feet Deep (Lyrics) Robert Diggs, Arnold Hamilton, Paul Huston Gravediggaz (4:36)
Rest in Peace (Outro) Gravediggaz (2:01)

Credits

Jamey Staub (Assistant Engineer), RZA (Mixing), Scott Harding (Engineer), Scott Harding (Vocals), Prince Paul (Associate Producer), Kurious (Vocals), Just-Ice (Performer), Gravediggaz (Mixing), RNS (Producer), Killah Priest (Vocals), Scientific Shabazz (Vocals), Grym Reaper (Mixing), MC Serch (Vocals), Franz Verna (Assistant Engineer), Tracey Amier Witherspoon (Vocals), The Whole Darn Family (Performer), Prince Paul (Producer), Robert Robinson (?), Wildman Steve (Vocals), Prince Paul (Mixing), Chino (?), Chris Gehringer (Mastering), Gatekeeper (Mixing), Allen Toussaint (Performer), The Fugitives (?), Scott Harding (Guitar (Bass)), Gatekeeper (Producer), Donyell O. Thomas (?), Prince Paul (Scratching), James Jackson (Vocals), Raquelle Stroud (Vocals), Brother Rich (?), Mr. Sime (Producer), Scott Harding (Bass), Chris Gehringer (Engineer), Don McKenzie (Vocals), Mr. Sime (Mixing), Don Newkirk (Keyboards), Mr. Sime (Vocals), Prince Paul (Arranger), Masta Ace (?), Hellrazor (Vocals), Vernon Reid (Vocals), Prince Paul (Score), Derrick Lovelace (Vocals), Craig G (?), Skiz (Vocals), RZA (Producer), Gravediggaz (Producer), KRS-One (Performer), Carlos Bess (Assistant Engineer), The Undertaker (Mixing), Dennis Mitchell (Assistant Engineer), Ethan Ryman (Engineer), Djinji Brown (Vocals), Prince Paul (Engineer), Tim Wright (?), Scott Harding (Mixing), Booker T. & the MG's (Performer), David Warner (?), Leroy & The Drivers (Performer), Biz Markie (Vocals), Eddie Berkeley (Vocals), John Ussery (Performer)
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Wikipedia: 6 Feet Deep
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6 Feet Deep
Studio album by Gravediggaz
Released August 9, 1994
Recorded 1993-1994
Genre East Coast hip hop, hardcore hip hop, horrorcore
Length 52:17 (North America)
55:53 (Europe)
Label Gee Street/Island/PolyGram Records
524 016
Producer Prince Paul
The RZA
RNS
Mr. Sime
Gatekeeper
Professional reviews
Gravediggaz chronology
6 Feet Deep
(1994)
The Hell E.P.
(1995)

6 Feet Deep is the debut album of the horrorcore supergroup Gravediggaz. It was released August 9, 1994, by Gee Street Records.

Contents

Album information

The original title of the album was Niggamortis, but it was changed to have a better reaction with the American crowd. However, the record was called by its original title overseas. The European version also included the bonus song "Pass the Shovel."[1]

The last question on "360 Questions" is a reference to Tommy Boy Records, to which each band member had been signed at one point.

Grym Reaper's first couple of lines from “Here Comes the Gravediggaz” (You don't pull on Superman's cape/You don't spit into the wind/You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger) are from the song "Don't Mess with Big Jim," originally by Jim Croce.

Reception

The album was well received and is considered one of the most influential horrorcore albums ever; it's also notable as a unique collaboration between the two most influential producers on the East Coast at the time, Prince Paul and The RZA.

Rolling Stone (10/6/94, p. 90) - 3.5 Stars - "[Gravediggaz] evoke the atmosphere of horror movies and ominous effects, they've also been street tested, boasting hard beats and verbal skills."

Entertainment Weekly (8/19/94, p. 62) - "The album doesn't take itself very seriously, but the flustered beats, washed in minor chords, are strangely irresistible--partly because it is all so silly". - Rating: B

Q magazine (11/94, p. 129) - 3 Stars - "The foursome use death, burial and The Grim Reaper as central themes for a chilling mid-tempo stomp through America's urban problems."

The Source (9/94, pp. 91-92) - 3.5 Stars - "No, this isn't the climax of the latest Stephen King flick or Jason, part 17. It's an image created by the Gravediggaz, one of a number of new groups combining rap with horror-movie macabre to create a genre unofficially known as `horror-core'".

NME (12/24/94, p. 22) - Ranked #22 in NME's list of the `Top 50 Albums Of 1994.'

NME (Magazine) (9/10/94, p.46) - 8 - Excellent - "Gravediggaz feverishly document the low life - graveyard low." [2]

In 2009, Fangoria named it as an iconic horrorcore album.[3]

Track listing

# Title Time Producer(s) Guest(s) Samples
1 "Just When You Thought It Was Over (Intro)" 0:10 Prince Paul
2 "Constant Elevation" 2:30 Prince Paul
3 "Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide" 3:55 Prince Paul
4 "Defective Trip (Trippin')" 5:04 Prince Paul MC Serch, Biz Markie
5 "2 Cups of Blood" 1:24 Prince Paul
6 "Blood Brothers" 4:47 Gatekeeper
7 "360 Questions" 0:33 Prince Paul
8 "1-800-Suicide" 4:18 Prince Paul
9 "Pass the Shovel" (Included on the European version only) 3:36 Prince Paul
  • "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" by Bob James (from the 1975 album "Two")
10 "Diary of a Madman" 4:34 RNS, RZA & Prince Paul Killah Priest, Scientific Shabazz
11 "Mommy, What's a Gravedigga?" 1:44 Prince Paul
  • "Pigs" by Cypress Hill (from the 1991 album "Cypress Hill")
  • "Since We Said Goodbye" by The Counts (from the 1974 album "Funk Pump")
  • "Givin' It Up Is Givin' Up" by Patrice Rushen (from the 1979 album "Pizzazz")
  • "It's A New Day" by Skull Snaps (from the 1973 album "Skull Snaps")
12 "Bang Your Head" 3:24 Prince Paul
  • "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss (1977)
13 "Here Comes the Gravediggaz" 3:44 Mr. Sime
14 "Graveyard Chamber" 4:57 RZA Dreddy Kruger, Killah Priest, Scientific Shabazz
15 "Death Trap" 4:36 Prince Paul Masta Ace
  • "7 Minutes of Funk" by Tyrone Thomas & the Whole Darn Family (from the 1976 album "Has Arrived")
16 "6 Feet Deep" 4:36 RZA
17 "Rest in Peace (Outro)" 2:01 Prince Paul

Note: The source of the producers is the sleeve jacket of the album.

Album Chart Positions

Year Album Chart positions
Billboard 200 Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums
1994 6 Feet Deep #36[4] #6[4]

Singles Chart Positions

Year Song Chart positions
Billboard Hot 100 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Hot Rap Singles Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
1994 "Diary of a Madman" #82[5] #57[5] #8[5] #11[5]
"Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide" - - #32[5] #27[5]
1995 "1-800-Suicide" - - #46[5] #29[5]

References


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "6 Feet Deep" Read more