''Boomin' Words from Hell'' is the debut studio album by the American musician

Esham Esham Attica Smith (born September 20, 1973), known mononymously as Esham, is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. Emerging as one of the first ever hip hop artists from Detroit, Esham released his debut studio album, '' Boomin' Words fr ...

. It was released in 1989, and reissued the following year.

Production

''Boomin' Words from Hell'' was recorded in one day.

Lyrical themes

The lyrics of ''Boomin' Words from Hell'' developed from the turmoil of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

at the time, including the era's rise in crack use. According to Esham, "It was all an expression about 70s-'80s drug cartel Young Boys Incorporated, Mayor

Coleman Young Coleman Alexander Young (May 24, 1918 – November 29, 1997) was an American politician who served as mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 1974 to 1994. Young was the first African-American mayor of Detroit and has been described as the "single mo ...

, the city we lived in and just the turmoil that our city was going through at the time. We referred to the streets of Detroit as 'Hell' on that record. So that's where my ideas came from." According to Esham, the album's lyrical content was so dark that it was the subject of many rumors:

"People got the first album, and they would just make up stories. They'd get into an accident and be like, 'I got into an accident because I was playing that tape.' It wasn't like we helped ourselves when we described what was in people's heads. It wasn't to shock people, though, but to get people involved in what we were doing. We had to get peoples' attention. ..We said a lot of things that people wanted to say but didn't say. We talked about a lot of political and social ssuesthat people didn't want to talk about."

Release

''Boomin' Words from Hell'' was first issued in 1989. It was promoted via word of mouth. Following the album's initial release, the album was reissued with an alternate track listing and artwork in 1990. Word After Word was also censored in the second half of the line, "I'm not an atheist / But what has god done for me?". A 25th anniversary reissue of the album, containing songs from the original release as well as the 1990 version, was released on February 13, 2015.

Reception

Esham found it difficult to develop a fanbase, because many wrote off the dark content of his lyrics and imagery as

shock value Shock value (or shock factor) is the potential of an image, text, action, or other form of communication, such as a public execution, to provoke a reaction of sharp disgust, shock, anger, fear, or similar negative emotions. In advertising Sho ...

, while hip hop fans did not connect to the album because of Smith's heavy metal influences. In ''All Music Guide to Hip-Hop'' Jason Birchmeier writes that "Many of the songs here are fairly mediocre relative to Esham's later work, but there are a few gems here that foreshadow his subsequent work." Rap Reviews reviewer John-Michael Bond wrote that "the fully realized darkness that surrounds both soundtrack and verses on ''Boomin Words...'' stands as a stark reminder that just because someone's a kid doesn't mean he can't have anything to say."

Track listing

Personnel

* Esham – programming, production, engineering, mastering * Mike E. Clark – engineering, keyboards * Reginal Nelton – executive producer * Greg Reilly – mastering * James H. Smith – executive producer

References

{{Authority control 1989 debut albums Albums produced by Esham Esham albums Self-released albums Reel Life Productions albums Horrorcore albums