August 18, 2014

Gravediggaz "Diary Of A Madman" (Review, The Source 8/94)


"Out of the darkness, out the mist of the deep comes the Gravediggaz." The twisted brainchild of producer Prince Paul (the Undertaker), Poetic (the Grym Reaper), Frukwan (the Gatekeeper) and Wu-Tang's Prince Rakeem (RZA the Ryzarector), the Gravediggaz have created an audio horror flick that holds its own with the likes of The Shining and The Exorcist. It may seem like a gimmick, but the macabre concept works. Maybe it's the Undertaker's ridiculously ill beats. On "Diary Of A Madman," he lays ghostly wails over an earthquake bassline. On "Constant Elevation" he pairs a lighthearted piano roll with a bumping bassline. Or maybe it's the beautifully sick rhymes." Cont'd ... 


"While ultraviolence is hip-hop's latest bandwagon, few 'hardcore gangstas' can claim lyrics like guest rapper, Shabazz's: "Bear witness, as I exercise my exorcism / The evil that lurks within the sin / The terrorism / Possessed by evil spirits / Voices from the dead / I come forth with Gravediggaz and a head fulla dread / I've been examined since I was semen / They took a sonogram and seen the image of a demon." From Poetic's strung-out quiver, to Frukwan's dusted creep, to the RZA's Shaolin drawl ... the Gravediggaz go beyond gore to provide fat tracks that will rock padded cells and straight jackets from coast-to-coast. And if you think the single stretches the limits of depravity, just wait 'til you hear the album, 6 Feet Deep. Until then, lock your doors and hide the children." - The Source's Sure Shot Singles, August 1994. Original sticker from the Gravediggaz below.