Artist: Gravediggaz featuring Killah Priest and Scientific Shabazz
Title: "Diary Of A Madman"
Producer: RNS, The RZA, and Prince Paul
Album: 6 Feet Deep (1994) / N---amortis (European release only) (1994)
Today's playlist entry is a no-brainer, since my holiday weekend flew by and I just now realized that I had nothing ready to run on the blog's publication schedule. I'm pretty sure I won't really need to convince any of you two of this song's credentials, but for the odd reader or two who doesn't actually know what today's post is about, I'll still give you the story, since I need to fill up space.
Anyway, the Gravediggaz were a quartet who bonded in the early 1990s over the terrible experiences they all had while signed to Tommy Boy Records, but instead of merely bitching about it like most of your coworkers, they went and actually did something with their anger. The result was 6 Feet Deep (or, if you're reading this overseas, N---amortis, a title the group was pretty sure wouldn't fly in the States), a record industry satire wearing the guise of a horrorcore album, chock-full of banging beats, hardcore (and oftentimes disturbing) lyrics, and just the hint of a cheesy smile plastered onto the face of the group's ringleader, the Undertaker, better known as producer extraordinaire Prince Paul. The project, released by the label Gee Street, came with so many unanswered questions that many hip hop heads took to making shit up just to appease their curiosity: for example, most people still feel to this day that the group are horrorcore pioneers, when in fact they were just four dudes fucking around, but people always feel the need to affix classifications to simplify shit. Most people are also convinced that the Gravediggaz were a Wu-Tang Clan side project, but the fact of the matter is that The RZA, who plays The RZArector in the group dynamic (with Poetic as The Grym Reaper and Frukwan as The Gatekeeper), was a no-name artist when the quartet banded together: he was still working on the Wu-Tang Clan's debut album when this shit was recorded, even though 6 Feet Deep was released a year after that crew's breakthrough.
It's easy to understand the confusion, though. "Diary Of A Madman" is one of only three songs off of the project that The RZA produces or co-produces, and its sound is obviously Wu-esque in its nature. It also features two future Wu-affiliates, Killah Priest and Scientific Shabazz, who RZA would later sign to the offshoot group Sunz Of Man, but 6 Feet Deep contains the first recorded appearances from both men. (Scientific Shabazz would later change his moniker to Shabazz The Disciple, in case you couldn't connect the dots yourself.) As for the lyrics themselves, "Diary Of A Madman" is a full-on assault of the senses, disturbing imagery layered upon twisted tales, bleak themes, and adult situations, but the unbearable tension throughout is cut frequently by the intrusion of the wraparound device, a courtroom skit in which the group is standing trial for multiple murders (including that of a baby, apparently, according to the very first line you hear on the track), which is the most clear Prince Paul-ish aspect of the track. The man himself names this shit as one of his favorite skits he's ever recorded, and he's the master of the hip hop skit. Just the fact that there's also a song here is just a bonus.
And what a song it is. Shabazz wastes no time trying to grab the listener's ear with a hard, energetic verse on which he threatens to "evaporate" a man's ashes, dig up the body of another former opponent, and "stomp all [his] fuckin' bones". His violent threats are mixed together with rational (for someone who is supposed to be playing a madman, anyway) thoughts: had it not been for the horror-movie vibe, this could have been mixed up for some by-the-by gangsta shit. But The RZA has to fuck that all up, as his higher-pitched persona (I miss his voice when he rapped like this, but you can't have everything) finds himself nailed to a cross and "chew[s his] fucking arm off" to free himself. It's bleak, folks: the Wu wouldn't rap about shit like this. Maybe the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. But I digress.
Killah Priest more than earns his spot in the Sunz Of Man collective, mostly avoiding the pseudo-religious hyperbabble that bogs down the majority of his catalog in favor of a straightforward performance that is as dope as it is deep, even if his verse ends with someone being literally dragged down into Hell. Frukwan finishes off for the defense, doing his team no favors with an at-times disgusting trip into his process. He sounds great, no question, even as he's cut off mid-sentence at the end for the judge to give his final ruling, one made without the need for a jury, apparently.
The music adds to the eerie atmosphere, thanks to RZA, Paul, and RNS, a dude who would later help jump-start the career of a young child rapper named Shyheim, yet another Wu-affiliate. Hilariously, the spooky-ass "Diary Of A Madman" instrumental is constructed from samples of not one, but two separate songs by Johnny Mathis: "No Love (But Your Love)" and "Warm and Tender". You will certainly never look at your grandparents' record collection the same way again.
"Diary Of A Madman" is a masterpiece from start to finish, and is the finest Gravediggaz song ever recorded. It isn't my favorite Wu-influenced track from the quartet (that would be "Graveyard Chamber", also from 6 Feet Deep), but it's the quintessential Gravediggaz track: it mixes together dark humor with the musical genius of everyone in the crew (except maybe the late Poetic, who doesn't contribute for some reason), and is so over-the-top with its ridiculous examples of violence that there's no way anyone should ever take it seriously. But it's entertaining as fuck. Just maybe don't play it when your parents are around.
Anyway, the Gravediggaz were a quartet who bonded in the early 1990s over the terrible experiences they all had while signed to Tommy Boy Records, but instead of merely bitching about it like most of your coworkers, they went and actually did something with their anger. The result was 6 Feet Deep (or, if you're reading this overseas, N---amortis, a title the group was pretty sure wouldn't fly in the States), a record industry satire wearing the guise of a horrorcore album, chock-full of banging beats, hardcore (and oftentimes disturbing) lyrics, and just the hint of a cheesy smile plastered onto the face of the group's ringleader, the Undertaker, better known as producer extraordinaire Prince Paul. The project, released by the label Gee Street, came with so many unanswered questions that many hip hop heads took to making shit up just to appease their curiosity: for example, most people still feel to this day that the group are horrorcore pioneers, when in fact they were just four dudes fucking around, but people always feel the need to affix classifications to simplify shit. Most people are also convinced that the Gravediggaz were a Wu-Tang Clan side project, but the fact of the matter is that The RZA, who plays The RZArector in the group dynamic (with Poetic as The Grym Reaper and Frukwan as The Gatekeeper), was a no-name artist when the quartet banded together: he was still working on the Wu-Tang Clan's debut album when this shit was recorded, even though 6 Feet Deep was released a year after that crew's breakthrough.
It's easy to understand the confusion, though. "Diary Of A Madman" is one of only three songs off of the project that The RZA produces or co-produces, and its sound is obviously Wu-esque in its nature. It also features two future Wu-affiliates, Killah Priest and Scientific Shabazz, who RZA would later sign to the offshoot group Sunz Of Man, but 6 Feet Deep contains the first recorded appearances from both men. (Scientific Shabazz would later change his moniker to Shabazz The Disciple, in case you couldn't connect the dots yourself.) As for the lyrics themselves, "Diary Of A Madman" is a full-on assault of the senses, disturbing imagery layered upon twisted tales, bleak themes, and adult situations, but the unbearable tension throughout is cut frequently by the intrusion of the wraparound device, a courtroom skit in which the group is standing trial for multiple murders (including that of a baby, apparently, according to the very first line you hear on the track), which is the most clear Prince Paul-ish aspect of the track. The man himself names this shit as one of his favorite skits he's ever recorded, and he's the master of the hip hop skit. Just the fact that there's also a song here is just a bonus.
And what a song it is. Shabazz wastes no time trying to grab the listener's ear with a hard, energetic verse on which he threatens to "evaporate" a man's ashes, dig up the body of another former opponent, and "stomp all [his] fuckin' bones". His violent threats are mixed together with rational (for someone who is supposed to be playing a madman, anyway) thoughts: had it not been for the horror-movie vibe, this could have been mixed up for some by-the-by gangsta shit. But The RZA has to fuck that all up, as his higher-pitched persona (I miss his voice when he rapped like this, but you can't have everything) finds himself nailed to a cross and "chew[s his] fucking arm off" to free himself. It's bleak, folks: the Wu wouldn't rap about shit like this. Maybe the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. But I digress.
Killah Priest more than earns his spot in the Sunz Of Man collective, mostly avoiding the pseudo-religious hyperbabble that bogs down the majority of his catalog in favor of a straightforward performance that is as dope as it is deep, even if his verse ends with someone being literally dragged down into Hell. Frukwan finishes off for the defense, doing his team no favors with an at-times disgusting trip into his process. He sounds great, no question, even as he's cut off mid-sentence at the end for the judge to give his final ruling, one made without the need for a jury, apparently.
The music adds to the eerie atmosphere, thanks to RZA, Paul, and RNS, a dude who would later help jump-start the career of a young child rapper named Shyheim, yet another Wu-affiliate. Hilariously, the spooky-ass "Diary Of A Madman" instrumental is constructed from samples of not one, but two separate songs by Johnny Mathis: "No Love (But Your Love)" and "Warm and Tender". You will certainly never look at your grandparents' record collection the same way again.
"Diary Of A Madman" is a masterpiece from start to finish, and is the finest Gravediggaz song ever recorded. It isn't my favorite Wu-influenced track from the quartet (that would be "Graveyard Chamber", also from 6 Feet Deep), but it's the quintessential Gravediggaz track: it mixes together dark humor with the musical genius of everyone in the crew (except maybe the late Poetic, who doesn't contribute for some reason), and is so over-the-top with its ridiculous examples of violence that there's no way anyone should ever take it seriously. But it's entertaining as fuck. Just maybe don't play it when your parents are around.
Seeing as "Diary Of A Madman" is one of the most cinematic songs Paul has ever had his hands on, it makes sense that an official video was shot, although, in my opinion, it's lacking in the creepy imagery that the track itself begs for. Still effective, though. Gee Street also released it as a single, although it never picked up much traction, possibly because radio deejays kept confusing it for an Ozzy Osbourne song.
As an aside, I've always wondered just how much input RNS had on the production side of "Diary Of A Madman", since the primary beat was lifted from "Enter The Wu-Tang", one of the songs off of the early Wu-Tang Clan demo tape that can easily be found (in extremely low quality, but still) floating around on the Interweb. Or maybe RNS did all the work and it's the artist formerly known as Prince Rakeem I should be questioning. I don't know, and I don't care. But here's that song for comparison's sake.
And, for no good reason, here's a clip I found of an unreleased commercial Nintendo filmed for their then-new Super Game Boy accessory, with vocals from The RZA and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard, along with backing music from Prince Paul. Because why the fuck not, right?
Do you agree or disagree with this selection? Discuss below.
-Max
