Insane Poetry

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Insane Poetry is a hip-hop group that helped establish the horrorcore subgenre in the 1980s and still exists today.

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In 1986, Andrew “Drew” Holiman, better known as Cyco (formerly Psycho), was a high-school senior in Cerritos, California, where MC battles were daily events in the parking lot and cafeteria. Cyco and his friend Madman formed a group and developed a style of horror-influenced hip-hop that they termed the Terrifying Style, which years later would become known as horrorcore. After high school, Cyco (then known as Drew-Rock) landed a job as a DJ with the legendary Los Angeles-based hip-hop radio station KDAY (1580 AM). While at KDAY, he began to develop his lyrical skills and eventually was introduced to DJ Streek and Shakespear the One-Man Riot to form the hip-hop group Insane Poetry. In 1988, they released their first single, “Twelve Strokes Till Midnight,” which appeared one year later as part of a 5-song Vinyl E.P. In 1991, Cyco landed guest appearances on Rodney O & Joe Cooley's “Get Ready to Roll” and KMC's “Three Men with the Power of Ten.”

As Insane Poetry began to gain notoriety through its association with Rodney O & Joe Cooley, they were signed by now-defunct Nastymix Records, home of such artists as Sir Mix-A-Lot and Kid Sensation, and began to work on their first album. Cyco wanted to make it a full album of nothing but horror rhymes. He was originally going to title the LP Edge of Sanity, but as he was putting together the album he started to realize that the group's music had a sense of reality-based horror and decided to rename the album Grim Reality. He added a documentary-style twist to the B-side of the record, which consisted of tales of real-life horror, social commentary, and atrocities. By the time the record was released, Shakespear was replaced by a new member named Em-Dee. Grim Reality was critically acclaimed when it was released in 1992 but, unfortunately, sold only 35,000 copies due to lack of advertising and promotion. Problems with accounting and money management by the label hindered the progress of Grim Reality, and ultimately led to the demise of Nastymix Records. After a 4-year hiatus, Insane Poetry was back on the scene with a new member in the group, Pope, and a new LP called Blacc Plague. The record was released on React Records and was a mix of street, gangsta, and horrorcore hip-hop. As was the problem with Grim Reality and Nastymix Records, React Records failed to pump enough money into Blacc Plague for desirable sales to be procured. Discouraged with the lack of promotion for Blacc Plague, Insane Poetry left the label.

In 1999, Insane Poetry resurfaced on Blackberry Records with a 3-song EP titled Let ’Em Know. Later that year, Insane Poetry appeared on M-Boogie's “Laid In Full” and DJ Revolution's “R2K.” Cyco also released a single with Dilated Peoples member Iriscience called “On Deadly Ground.” In 2001, Cyco teamed up with hip-hop producer Jason “JP” Pearl and formed a label called Grim Reality Entertainment. They began working on a new album titled Faith in Chaos, which would touch upon many similar themes as Grim Reality but with a modern approach. The album, once again, was a critical success for Insane Poetry. It received praise for its creative blending of street, reality, and horrorcore hip-hop. Faith in Chaos helped re-establish Insane Poetry as a force in hip-hop and has paved the way for an exciting future for Grim Reality Entertainment.

[edit] Discography

His Majesti - Armed & Dangerous/Slow & Ill 12" Single (1887) (Same Line Up, Different Name)
The Insane Poetry EP (1988)
Grim Reality (1992)
How you gonna reason with a Psycho LP (1992)
Blacc Plague (1996)
Faith In Chaos (2003)
Fallen From Grace (Upcoming)
Creative Destruction Mixtape (Upcoming)