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Best Halloween Hip Hop Songs from mc chris

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mc chris is a nerdcore rapper based out of Los Angeles. He voiced the character of MC Pee Pants in Adult Swim’s “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” as well as writing for “The Brak Show” and “Space Ghost: Coast to Coast”. His new album ‘mc chris is dreaming’ comes out September 30th.

Before I begin I should make it clear that I am by no means a Horrorcore expert. Horrorcore is a huge and often times disgusting genre that takes a lot of time/cocaine to sort through. So, please don’t get mad at me as I attempt to assemble my humble list of Hip Hop’s most hellish Halloween Hits.

Why should I let some cartoon voiced rapper from the 9/11 days tell me what’s what when I already know everything?”, you might be asking yourself. Well, I didn’t just make rhymes back then. I’ve actually been recording and touring ever since and I have a brand new album out that actually falls under the Horrorcore category. It’s called mc chris is dreaming and it’s all about Freddy Krueger, nightmares, dreams and, more specifically, the brain. There are three tracks inspired by Mr. Krueger as well as a series of skits where Freddy and I face off. (Freddy is played by the very hilarious John Gemberling, who you might’ve seen as Bevers on “Broad City”) The new album comes out on 9/30 so in the mean time let’s dive into the SCARIEST SONGS EVERRRR!

10. “Halloween Night” by Slim Thug (2011)

Slim Thug, out of Houston, made a mixtape appropriately albeit unimaginatively titled, “Houston” and it featured this song which actually doesn’t have a lot to do with Halloween but is creepy all the same. Masks are ski masks and trick or treat means we’ve scoped out your house and now we’re robbing you. It’s a pretty great song to play on your way to a Halloween Party. It gets extra points for references to both Freddy and Jason.

9. “Monster” by Meek Mill. (2015)

There are A LOT of songs called Monster in the Hip Hop pantheon and I listened to a good deal of them, but for some reason I liked this one best. “Monster” didn’t make the final cut and was used as a promotional track to support his first studio album, “Dreams and Nightmares.” Hey, looks like great minds think alike! Extra points for the Freddy reference, and for somehow referencing my new album in the past.

8. “Zombieland” by L.E.P Bogus Boys. (2012)

Off the “Now or Neva” mixtape, this is a song by some real life Chicago gangsters. This group has been through it; the death of its own members, incarcerations, you name it. Coming out of one of the deadliest places in America, L.E.P. Bogus Boys spin tales of street life in a way that brings me back to those first few times my horizons were broadened by Public Enemy. They never were signed or went mainstream, which gives all of their music an even greater level of authenticity. They were just too real for pop music. With a guest appearance by Lupe Fiasco, this is one of my favorite songs on the list. Extra points for references to Dracula, Mummies, Zombies, Jason Vorhees, Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen King and last but not least The Candyman. So many great references on an awesome track.

7. “Transylvania” by Tyler the Creator. (2011)

Say what you will about Odd Future or Tyler the Creator; they reinvented Hip Hop like Cubists reinvented Modern Art. It scared a lot of people off. Rhymes weren’t happening, hooks were thrown out the window. The patterns we came to know and love went bye bye. But it was good. Everything needs to get deconstructed and rebuilt over time. You gotta rotate the crops. And let us not forget, dude worked at Starbucks for two years. I see what those people go through. He gets a pass from me. Extra points for being a great song about being a Dracula.

6. “Ready for Freddy” by The Fat Boys (1988)

This is one of those songs that has to be on the list even though it’s not great. That being said Freddy played by Robert Englund actually raps on the song so that’s pretty cool. That being said Freddy is not a good rapper. Just being honest. They did this song one year after releasing the comedy classic “Disorderlies.” Maybe they were creatively spent. Unlike its Fresh Prince counterpart, this song was actually sanctioned by New Line Cinema and was featured on the “Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Master” soundtrack. The end of the video has the best freeze frame you can imagine.

5. “Demons Inside” by Eminem. (199_?)

This is an early, unfinished “free style” some call Mr. Mather’s take on Horrorcore, a genre that definitely hung its hat in Detroit in the mid 90’s, right when he was coming up. I know there’s some kind of thing with him and ICP (even I got asked to be on Psychopathic Records, I think it’s just a rite of passage.) Maybe this is a little bit of him trying that style out. Horror would always be a big part of his palette. He liked putting on that Jason mask and revving up a chainsaw (Did Jason ever use a chainsaw? Did he wear overalls? Where are the overalls coming from?) You might think “Stan” would be a much better fit, but have you heard that Dido hook? WTF is that? It’s like one half of the song is a Sleepytime Tea commercial and the other half is “A Serbian Film.”

4. “Kill My Nightmare” by Yelawolf. (2011)

Alabama rapper of Native American descent from Eminem’s label wins me over with this track. It’s off of a mixtape of the same name and it’s one of my favorite songs on this list. There’s nothing scarier than a piano. I took lessons once when I was a kid, scared the crap out of me. Never again.

3. “Haunted House of Rock” by Whodini (1983)

This is the grand daddy of Halloween jams. It was the first single on the first album from this pioneering trio out of Brooklyn. A monster mash-esque throw down takes place at “the last house on your left on a dead end street” and pretty much EVERYBODY is there: Wolfman Jack, The Grateful Dead, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Addams Family, The Invisible Man, a Wolfwoman bartender, Dracula, Witches, Frankenstein, the Bride of Frankenstein, Igor, and finally, The Monster Five (which I assume is like the Jackson Five but they’re all Thrillered out.) Extra points for eventually being on a Freddy soundtrack. “Anyway I Gotta Swing It” was featured in “Nightmare On Elm Street Five: Dream Child.”

2. “Nightmare on My Street” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. (1988)

Yo, they got straight up SUED by New Line for making this song. The music video had to be destroyed. Have you ever heard of that happening? Where something getting destroyed is part of the agreement? Pretty cool. And New Line made them put a sticker on the record that said “This has nothing to do with Nightmare on Elm Street.” Brilliant. That’ll stop Fresh Prince fans right in their tracks. This was the third single off the second studio album by this duo out of (as I’m sure you know) West Philadelphia. It was originally supposed to be part of the “Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Master” soundtrack, but it didn’t pan out. And New Line wanted to put the kibosh on the whole thing, but those Philly scrappers knew they had gold on their hands. It goes without saying that this song influenced my new album if not my whole life. I remember it scaring the crap out of me when I was kid one summer. You don’t ever want to ever hear Freddy’s voice come out of your radio and you definitely don’t want to hear him kill Jazzy Jeff. Like Jazzy doesn’t have it bad enough. Well, he’s got it better than Ready Rock C, the mysterious third member of the group that for some strange reason DISAPPEARED!

1. “Halloween” by Froggy Fresh. (2012)

Speaking of being sued. This guy got sued too or at least they threatened to sue him. He used to be called Krispy Kreme until Krispy Kreme found out about it. He considered the name Jelly Bean Jack before ultimately deciding the call himself Froggy Fresh, an upgrade to be sure. You might remember his series of viral videos coming out of Michigan in the early 2010’s. Very little is known about Tyler Cassidy, like why he has a Southern accent if the music is out of Michigan, but his first song “The Baddest” scored 11 million views on YouTube when it premiered. So, you got to give it up. This song thankfully has a sequel that features lightsabers and there’s even a Nightmare version. I love all three and hope there is many more years of Froggy Fresh in store. How can I pick this over The Fat Boys or Will “The Wild Wild West instead of the Matrix” Smith? Halloween was all about running around your neighborhood raising hell in crappy costumes. And I think these vids capture that vibe so well and they’re funny af. And honestly, I think the beats are pretty great for parody rap. Peddle Mike. Peddle Mike. Peddle Mike with all your might.

Hope you all enjoyed my list! Please give “mc chris is dreaming” a spin when it drops September 30th and catch me on tour this Fall with MC Lars and Mega Ran. www.mcchris.com for info. Happy Halloween! Now pleeeeease, do tell me what I missed.


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Managing editor/music guy/social media fella of Bloody-Disgusting

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

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Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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