iSound

For years, the name Esham has been synonymous in Detroit with the underground rap scene. Not many beyond the 313 have known about this mysterious hip hop legend or how an entire school of rappers came to be influenced by the genre he invented and dubbed "Acid Rap." Nevertheless, Esham's legacy has made a lasting impact on the hip hop world. More popular acts have come into Detroit and noticed what was happening on the scene, some even adopting the style as their own. In the mid-1990s, a genre called Horrorcore developed from his seed, with the most notable group to come out being the side project of Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, called Gravediggaz. A wider national audience was now aware of this hip hop genre, but few had still discovered the roots of it all. Esham came on the scene in 1990 with the release of his debut album, Boomin' Words From Hell, which quickly became a hit in his hometown of Detroit. Though this album was produced when he was only 15, he came out with a furiou...