Natas (Nation Ahead of Time And Space, originally Niggas Ahead of Time And Space'', also satan backwards) was an American hip hop group from

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

best known as representatives of the subgenres

horrorcore Horrorcore, also called horror hip hop, horror rap, death hip hop, or death rap, is a subgenre of hip hop music based on horror-themed and often darkly transgressive lyrical content and imagery. Its origins derived from certain hardcore hip h ...

and

rap rock Rap rock is a fusion genre that fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock's most popular subgenres include rap metal and rapcore, which include heavy metal and hardcore punk-oriented influences, resp ...

. Their last studio album "N of tha World" was released in 2006 through Warlock/Sony Red. In 2009, they released the mixtape "The Vatican". Currently original members

Esham Esham is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. Esham released his debut studio album, '' Boomin' Words from Hell'', in 1989. Since then, he has gone on to release 15 studio albums in total and is best known as a representative of the hip ...

and

Mastamind Gary Reed (born December 28, 1972), also known as Mastamind, is an American rapper from Detroit best known as a representative of the hip hop subgenre horrorcore. A founding member of Natas, he was formerly signed with Reel Life Productions befo ...

are recording a reunion album according to Mastamind's official Facebook account.

History

Esham met

as a student at Osborne High School, who gave him a three-song demo tape of his music, leading the two to form the group with Esham's longtime friend, T-N-T, deciding on the name Natas, an acronym for "Nation Ahead of Time and Space", and because it was "Satan" spelled backwards. In 1992, Natas released its first album, ''

Life After Death The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...

'' on Esham's

Reel Life Productions Reel Life Productions, also known as Gothom Records, is an independent record label based in Detroit, Michigan most associated with the hip hop subgenre horrorcore. The label was founded in 1989 by James H. Smith and his younger brother, rapper E ...

. Following the release of this album, Esham, Natas and Reel Life Productions were the subject of much controversy when a 17-year-old fan killed himself while smoking

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

and playing Russian roulette while listening to ''Life After Death''. In 2002, Natas released its only charting album to date, '' Godlike'', which peaked at #35 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Top Independent Albums chart, #45 on the Heatseekers chart and #56 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. This was the last album of new material recorded by the group, until FUQERRBDY. Previously recorded material was released in 2006 and 2009 on ''N of tha World'' and ''The Vatican''. In 2013 it was announced on Mastamind's official Facebook account that a new Natas album has been planned and after the release of his next album "The Ultimate Price" they will begin recording the album with an expected 2014 release date. This was later confirmed by Esham and then later by Mastamind's label Lyrikal Snuff Productionz. On December 8, 2013 once again via his official Facebook account, Mastamind announced that recording of the new Natas album was completed and was in the mixing stages. Esham, Mastamind, and the official Natas Facebook confirmed that '' FUQERRBDY'' was to be released on July 15, 2014. On December 20, 2014, Natas member T-N-T was killed in a car accident. With the death of T-N-T, Natas broke up. Esham has said in his interview with Faygoluvers, for his 16th album Scribble, "There won't be another Natas album".

Style and influence

Natas refers to its performance style as "acid rap", comparing the lyrics to hallucinations induced by

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

. Acid rap has been described as a fusion of hip hop beats and

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

lyrics. Esham defined the genre as analogous to "modern day

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

rheavy metal".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

writer Jason Birchmeier said that Mastamind's rapping "owes little to any conventional style". Natas is known for using live instrumentation, as well as for highly

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

-based instrumentation which

compared to that of

the Bomb Squad The Bomb Squad were an American hip hop production team known for its work with hip hop group Public Enemy. The Bomb Squad is noted for its dense, distinct, innovative production style, often utilizing dozens of samples on just one track. The ...

and

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

. Natas' lyrics focus on topics ranging from women and violence to spirituality, expressing self-reliance.

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' (1992) * '' Blaz4me'' (1994) * ''

Doubelievengod ''Doubelievengod'' is the third album by Natas, released in 1995. Music and lyrics Describing the music and lyrics, Allrovi called ''Doubelievengod'' "a much more mature album in terms of both production and rapping. Most obviously, the pla ...

'' (1995) * '' Multikillionaire: The Devil's Contract'' (1997) * '' WicketWorldWide.COM'' (1999) * '' Godlike'' (2002) * '' N of tha World'' (2006) * '' FUQERRBDY'' (2014)

Mixtapes

* '' The Vatican'' (2009)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Natas African-American musical groups Detroit hip hop groups Horrorcore groups Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 2002 Rappers from Detroit Reel Life Productions artists Underground hip hop groups Musical groups from Detroit American musical trios 1992 establishments in Michigan Rap rock groups