''U.S.A.'' (stands for "''Under Satan's Authority''") is the only studio album by American

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 ...

trio

Flatlinerz Flatlinerz is a horrorcore group from New York City. They are responsible for introducing the term "horrorcore" with their 1994 release '' U.S.A. (Under Satan's Authority)''.Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

. Recording sessions took place at

Chung King Studios Chung King Studios was a recording studio that operated in New York City under that name from 1986 to 2015. It was founded by producer John King and engineer Steve Ett with financial backing from the Etches brothers, occupying three different locat ...

, Next Level Studios, and

Greene St. Recording Greene St. Recording was a New York City recording studio, located at 112 Greene Street in SoHo, Manhattan, until its closure in 2001. It was one of the early headquarters of hip hop music during the 1980s and 1990s. History Greene St. began in ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

was handled by Tempest,

Rockwilder Dana Stinson (born February 2, 1971), better known by his stage name Rockwilder, is an American hip hop record producer and rapper. A long term friend of Def Jam rapper Redman, Rockwilder got his start producing for East Coast hip hop artists ...

, Crush, DR Period and Kool Tee, with Kenny Lee and

Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. Simmons' ...

serving as executive producers. It features guest appearances from Gravemen, Kool Tee, Mayhem, Omen, Rockwilder and the Headless Horsemen. The album peaked at number 65 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

and number 24 on the

Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

and found controversy for its satanic themes. Also, the three music videos the group shot for the album, " Live Evil", "

Satanic Verses The Satanic Verses are words of "satanic suggestion" which the Islamic prophet Muhammad is alleged to have mistaken for divine revelation. The verses praise the three pagan Meccan goddesses: al-Lāt, al-'Uzzá, and Manāt and can be read in ear ...

" and "Rivaz of Red", were barely played because of things such as frontman Redrum rhyming while hanging from a noose and Gravedigger rhyming from a crucifix. The album only sold 36,000 copies and the group, along with the Headless Horsemen and Omen, was dropped from Def Jam. Three singles were released, but only " Live Evil" made it to the charts, making it to #35 on the

Hot Rap Singles Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

. In 2009, ''

Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released i ...

'' named it as an iconic horrorcore album.

Track listing

Sample credits * Track 4 contains elements from "

Crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

" by

EPMD EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is a concatenation of the members' names "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon ("E" a.k.a. ...

and "Party Groove (Instrumental)" by

Showbiz and A.G. Showbiz and A.G. (also shortened as Show and AG) is an American hip hop duo from The Bronx Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, composed of record producer Rodney "Showbiz" Lemay (born July 7, 1969) and rapper Andre "A.G." Barnes ...

* Track 5 samples the song "Seven Days, Seven Nights" by Sue Ann Carwell * Track 7 contains a sample from "Step in the Arena" by

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo, consisting of Texas record producer DJ Premier and Massachusetts rapper Guru. For the entirety of their association, they were based out of Brooklyn, New York. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 20 ...

* Track 14 embodies portions of "

Tonight's da Night "Tonight's da Night" is the third single released by Redman from his debut album, '' Whut? Thee Album''. It features a jazzy beat produced by Erick Sermon and Redman himself, and contains samples from many songs, including "All Night Long" by Mar ...

" by Redman and "I'm Gonna Take Your Love" by Brother to Brother

Personnel

*Jamel "Redrum" Simmons – main artist, vocals, sleeve notes *Darnell "Gravedigger" Cunningham – main artist, vocals, sleeve notes *Juan "Tempest" Clarke – main artist, vocals, producer, sleeve notes *Tadone "Kool Tee" Hill – featured artist, producer *Devon "Omen" Purkiss – featured artist *Gravemen – featured artist *Mayhem – featured artist *Dana "

" Stinson – featured artist, producer *J. Leroy of the Headless Horsemen – featured artist *M. Gardner of the Headless Horsemen – featured artist *Nora T. – backing vocals *Anthony "Trace Bass" Brown – bass *Richard "Rich" Keller – bass, electric guitar, recording, mixing *Darryl "DR Period" Pittman – keyboards, percussion, programming, producer, arranger *Thomas "Crush" McQueen – producer *Divine Campbell – co-producer, arranger *Kenny Lee – executive producer *

– executive producer *

Danny Clinch Danny Clinch (born 1964) is an American photographer and film director. Biography Born in Toms River, New Jersey, Clinch graduated from Toms River High School East in 1982. After attending Ocean County College, he attended the New England Scho ...

– photography *John Blackford – illustration *The Drawing Board – design

Charts

Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1994 debut albums Flatlinerz albums Def Jam Recordings albums Albums produced by Rockwilder Obscenity controversies in music Albums recorded at Chung King Studios Albums recorded at Greene St. Recording