Lesser-known Horror Rap Artists: Boondox, Abk, Twiztid

Anyone who knows what the term horror rap means knows who Insane Clown Posse does. That’s because Insane Clown Posse is the one musical group to have big time success with the genre of horror rap, and although they may never reach household name status, they have sold many records and made much money, more so than nearly all of their horror rap contemporaries combined. But just because ICP is everyone’s favorite horror rap group doesn’t mean that the others deserve to be ignored!

Three prominent groups that also belong to this genre are Boondox, ABK (Anybody Killa), and Twiztid. All three are signed to the record label that ICP built, Psychopathic Records, and all wear face paint similar to that of ICP.

Twiztid

Of the three, Twiztid is the only duo; ABK and Boondox are solo performers. Twiztid of comprised of two musicians, Jamie Spaniolo and Paul Methric, who perform with the stage names Jamie Madrox and Monoxide Child.

Twiztid has a long history, and although they haven’t been performing under the name for Twiztid for as long as ICP has been using their stage name, Twiztid has made quite a name for themselves. Twiztid originally performed in a hip hop trio called House of Krazees, but when that disbanded in 1997, formed Twiztid. They first impressed ICP’s Joseph Bruce when they sent him two demo tapes, and they were thereafter signed to Psychopathic Records.

The Twiztid discography consists of ten releases, the tenth called Exorcism is set to come out in early 2012.

ABK

ABK, short for Anybody Killa, is another horror rap artist signed to Psychopathic Records. The most interesting factoid about ABK is that he is of Native American ethnicity, and ABK’s stage persona is that of a Native American warrior. How many Native American rappers can you name other than ABK? Probably not many, which is why he is so unique.

This and ABK’s association with Psychopathic Records, and of course his horror rap themed music, are the reasons for his considerable success. Not many other horror rap artists have charted on the Billboard independent and heat seekers charts like ABK has.

Boondox

The last of these three prominent horror rap artists is Boondox. Boondox might be the only rapper you ever see wearing a cowboy hat, and will definitely be the only horror rap artist you ever see wearing a cowboy hat. Boondox was born David Hutto, and he performs on stage with the persona of a Killer Scarecrow. Do we see a theme here? Not only do horror rap artists paint their faces to get the message across, but they also all have stage personas to help that message too.

While Boondox does fall into similar horror rap categorization as ICP, he is more known for his southern hip hop style, which is another thing that no other horror rappers signed to Psychopathic Records can say. He, like ABK has had notable success on the Billboard independent charts, and like Twiztid, is a member of Psychopathic Records super group, Psychopathic Rydas.

Boondox has released 8 records, the most recent of which was 2011’s Backdoor Ryda EP.

By: Jack Burden

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Everyone knows ICP, but what about their similar sounding contemporaries? To learn more about ICP, Psychopathic Records and their artists Twiztid, ABK, and Boondox, please visit insaneclownposse.com.