- Necro (rapper)
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Necro 
Background information Birth name Ron Raphael Braunstein Also known as Mad Mooney Born June 7, 1976 Origin Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S. Genres East Coast hip hop, death rap, horrorcore, hardcore hip hop, rap metal, thrash metal, death metal Occupations Rapper, record producer, CEO, film director Years active 1990–present Labels Psycho+Logical-Records Associated acts Secret Society, Injustice, Ill Bill, Non Phixion, Q-Unique, Raekwon Website Official Website Ron Raphael Braunstein (born June 7, 1976), better known under his stage-name Necro, is a Jewish-American rapper, producer and director from Brooklyn, New York.[1][2] He is the brother of fellow rapper Ill Bill.[3]
Contents
Biography
Glenwood Projects
Necro was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in the Glenwood Housing Projects, where he lived for eight years from about 6 years old to age 14, when he moved to Canarsie. He is the son of two Israeli expatriates and of Israeli and Romanian ethnicity.[4] Necro's father was a Romanian born Israeli combat soldier and his mother an Orthodox baalat teshuva.[5]
He began his musical career at 11, playing guitar in a death/thrash metal band named Injustice. But in due time, he made a transition from metal to hip-hop.[5] In 1988, he started rapping after being influenced by his older brother, rapper Ill Bill. Necro derived his stage-name from the Slayer song "Necrophobic". Before that he called himself "Mad Mooney", which was a character from a Clive Barker book. He made his first demo in about 1990 and won a demo battle contest on the Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito show on WKCR-FM. In about 1993 Necro started rapping full time and made a demo called "Do The Charles Manson". In '95 he proceeded to rap on the Wildman Steve and DJ Riz show WBAU 90.3FM.[6][7]
Stylistic characteristics
Lyrical style
Necro lists Kool G Rap as his principal rap influence in terms of rhyme structure and cadence, as well as LL Cool J, Big Daddy Kane, KRS One and Rakim.[8]
Death rap
Necro invented the term "death rap" to describe his style of ultraviolent hip hop and to set himself apart from other genre labels created by the media. The sub-genre of rap combines death metal-esque beats with explicit raps about violence, death, the occult, and sex.[2][9][10][11]
Production
Necro is a self-taught musician and has been playing instruments since the age of ten. He started producing Hip-Hop beats in 1989 by looping up records and bought an Ensoniq EPS in 1991. In the following years he produced beats for Artists like Non Phixion, Cage, Krist and Missing Linx, who all released independent singles. The first record he produced that received airplay was "No Tomorrow" by Non Phixion in 1996, put out on Searchlight Music/FatBeats distribution.
The first wave of albums released on Necro's label were entirely produced by Necro himself. This includes the debut solo-albums of Non-Phixion members Ill Bill, Sabac Red and Goretex after he already produced 7 songs for Non Phixion's debut album The Future Is Now in 2002.[1][6]
In 2009, a beat Necro produced in 1997 was used by Raekwon on his album "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II" for the song "Gihad", which also featured Ghostface Killah.
Death metal influence
Since the inception of his rap career Necro has been tied to the genre of heavy metal, and more specifically death metal, which has altered his path into hip hop. He has been quoted in interviews citing death metal as a key influence for his rhymes, Chuck Schuldiner's Death in particular. Necro's adoration for death metal is apparent in many of his lyrical themes such as the glorification of violence, the for the discounting and persecution of Christianity, and a proclivity towards narrating the horrors of war.
Necro has also been known to reference heavy metal acts in his rhymes as well. For instance on "Underground" Necro states he will, 'penetrate your skull like a riff from Obituary's "Slowly We Rot"' and quotes Metallica's "Master of Puppets" by saying "taste me you will see, more is all you need, dedicated to, how I'm killing you". Over the years Necro has increased his referencing and collaborations with underground metal acts, as evidenced by his 2004 album The Pre-Fix for Death, which features many references and collaborations with heavy metal musicians from Obituary, Hatebreed, Slipknot, and Voivod. In addition, Necro created his own supergroup known as The Circle of Tyrants, named after a song by Celtic Frost. The Circle of Tyrants album also contains collaborations with artists from Testament, Exhumed, and Sepultura as well as song titles named after 80's thrash metal songs such as Slayer's "South of Heaven" and Metallica's "The Four Horsemen".
Injustice
Injustice was Necro's first death metal band, formed in 1986, before he was a teenager, playing guitar. With this band, alongside his brother Bill, he played live shows with bands such as Napalm Death, Sepultura and Obituary at the Brooklyn club L'Amours. Injustice recorded two demos before splitting up in 1990 due to not securing a label contract.[11][12][13][14]
Psycho+Logical-Records
Necro founded the independent record label Psycho+Logical-Records in November 1999. In seven years, Psycho+Logical-Records has released over 23 albums, moving over 300,000 units[citation needed] and grossing over 1.5 million dollars.[citation needed][1][2]
Touring
Necro has been performing live since the age of 11. Necro has headlined and sold out 1,000 capacity clubs in New York City, Los Angeles, London and Toronto.[citation needed] In 2007, Necro played the Download Festival at Donnington.[13] Some of the groups he has opened for include Run DMC, Beatnuts, Sepultura, Kool Keith, Napalm Death & Biohazard. He has headlined sold-out shows in all of NYC's mid-sized venues such as Brownie's, Wetlands, The Knitting Factory & SOB's.[6] During the summer of 2009, Necro was a featured artist on the Rock the Bells tour appearing in Toronto, New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and San Francisco.[15]
Riot at Vancouver show
On Saturday March 21, 2009 Necro had an appearance scheduled at a Vancouver, Canada nightclub (Richards on Richards). When promoters announced that the show was canceled at the last minute, fans became violent and chaos broke out. People began to throw bottles, chairs and tables at the venue's DJ (DJ Sage of the Vancouver hip hop radio show Urban Renewal Project).[16]
Controversy
Sounds of the Underground
In 2007 Necro toured with Sounds of the Underground. On July 25, 2007, he decided to leave the Sounds of the Underground tour, because he felt the tour's demographic was not receiving hip hop well.[17]
Perth incident
On June 5, 2009, Necro was fined $3000 after fracturing the cheekbone of a man who provoked him in a Perth, Australia street. Necro pleaded guilty to the assault. He was arrested at his hotel later that day, forcing the cancellation of his show at Perth's Hyde Park Hotel.[18]
Recent events
On May 18, 2010, Necro released his latest album, entitled DIE!. On July 17, 2010 Necro revealed (through his website's forum) that he is being sued by Ani Difranco due to sampling her song "Used to You" for the track "The Asshole Anthem". iTunes and Amazon subsequently removed the album from their stores, and Necro has confirmed he is in the process of re-releasing the album without this track included.
On July 21, 2011, Necro announced on his Facebook page, that he is doing a collaboration album with Kool G Rap, entitled The Godfathers, set for release in 2012. The album will feature verses from both Kool G Rap and Necro, but it will be entirely produced by Necro. The executive producers will be Necro and Domingo.
Discography
Main article: Necro discographyStudio Releases
- 1997: Get On Your Knees EP
- 1998: Cockroaches EP
- 2000: I Need Drugs
- 2001: Gory Days
- 2004: The Pre-Fix for Death
- 2005: The Sexorcist
- 2007: Death Rap
- 2010: DIE!
- 2012: Murder Murder Kill Kill EP
Compilations
- 2001: Rare Demos and Freestyles Volume 1
- 2001: Rare Demos & Freestyles Vol. 2
- 2003: Necro Presents: Brutality Pt. 1
- 2003: Street Villains Mix CD: Vol. 1
- 2003: Rare Demos & Freestyles Vol. 3
- 2005: Street Villains Mix CD: Vol. 2
Collaborations
- 2005: The Circle of Tyrants
- 2012: The Godfathers (with Kool G Rap)
Filmography
Films Year Title Role Notes 2010 The Super Dt. Sardusky Film debut 2010 Avantegarde Dt. Falconetti Directing and Necro Films
Necro went to Brooklyn College for film for two years where he had access to film making equipment. His movie 187 Reasonz Y had an anti-cop theme with a police officer getting shot in the head at the end of the film. The film department was repulsed by Necro's visions and he received no support from them.[6]
Necro's film company has already released three direct-to-video features (187 Reasonz Y, The Devil Made Me Do It and the I Need Drugs music video, all of which have received acclaim in publications such as The Source and Vibe magazine.[6]
Acting
Necro has been taking classes on acting and honing his skills in the acting department. In May 2009, he premiered in a short video-film titled, Triumph Of The Kill acting the role of a serial killer clown. The short film was premiered on YouTube and MySpace.[19][20][21]
Music videos
Solo videos
- 2000: I Need Drugs (from "I Need Drugs")
- 2003: White Slavery feat. Ill Bill (from "Brutality Part 1")
- 2005: The Prefix For Death (from "The Prefix For Death")
- 2007: Mutilate the Beat (from "Death Rap")
- 2008: Who's Your Daddy (from "The Sexorcist")
- 2008: I Wanna Fuck (from "The Sexorcist")
- 2009: The Human Traffic King (White Slavery Part 2) (from "DIE!")
- 2011: DIE! (from "DIE!")
- 2011: The Kink Panther (from "DIE!")
- 2011: Sorcerer Of Death's Construction (from "DIE!")
Non-solo videos
- 2004: Chasing the Dragon – Ill Bill feat. Necro (from "What's Wrong With Bill?")
- 2004: The Crazies – Mr. Hyde feat. Ill Bill, Goretex and Necro (from "Barn Of The Naked Dead")
- 2007: Mechanix – Danny Diablo feat. Necro, Prince Metropolitan and Skinhead Rob
Other projects
- 1996: 187 Reasonz Y (a short film directed by Necro & starring Chris Stanger)
- 1998: The Devil Made Me Do It (a short film directed by Necro & starring Gene Milman)
- 2003: Sexy Sluts: Been There, Done That (a pornographic DVD directed by Necro hosted by Jerry Butler and starring Lanny Barbie, Uncle Howie and others)
- 2009: Triumph of the Kill (a short film directed by Bryan Andre starring Necro)
- 2009: Personal Justice, a new crime re-enactment show airing on Investigation Discovery during the summer of 2009 (late July to early August). Necro will be in 3 upcoming episodes in 3 different roles.[dated info]
- 2010: The Super Necro plays a crooked cop towards the end of the film.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Walking The Thin Line Between Sex And Death With Necro
- ^ a b c Beneath The Street – Death Rap: Special Edition
- ^ http://www.hiphopug.com/ill-bill.html
- ^ Necro – "The Art of Necro" Interview
- ^ a b sputnikmusic New NECRO INTERVIEW from Jew School
- ^ a b c d e Artist Page: Necro
- ^ RapTalk.net – Exclusive Necro Interview!
- ^ Necro 6 Minutes to die/
- ^ Top Death-Rap Artists – Trish's Picks
- ^ It's, it's Horrible – Music Feature
- ^ a b Necro – Necro, Secret Society, Injustice, The Circle of Tyrants
- ^ Necro – Death Rap – Review – Stylus Magazine
- ^ a b An Interview with Death-Rapper Necro
- ^ Tartarean Desire – Injustice – Death Metal band from USA
- ^ Rock The Bells Tour – Featured Acts
- ^ Rapper Necro's No-Show Sparks Concert Riot
- ^ 'Death' Rapper NECRO Leaves SOUNDS OF THE UDNERGROUND Tour
- ^ News.com.au June 5, 2009
- ^ Necro Interview: The Sexorcist
- ^ YouTube Triumph of The Kill by Bryan Andre, starring Ron Braunstein AKA Necro
- ^ Myspace Video Triumph of The Kill by AmHi Productions
External links
- Official website
- Official website archive
- Official MySpace
- Necro at Allmusic
- Necro at the Internet Movie Database
Mixtapes Street Villains Vol. 1 • Brutality Part 1 • Street Villains Vol. 2Demos and freestyles Rare Demos and Freestyles Volume 1 • Rare Demos and Freestyles Vol. 2 • Rare Demos & Freestyles Vol. 3Instrumental albums Instrumentals Vol. 1 • Gory Days Instrumentals • Brutality Part 1 Instrumentals • The Pre-Fix for Death InstrumentalsSingles Filmography Related articles Categories:- Living people
- American rappers
- American people of Israeli descent
- American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
- American Jews
- Horrorcore artists
- Jewish American musicians
- Jewish hip hop
- Jewish rappers
- American musicians of Romanian descent
- People from Canarsie, Brooklyn
- Rappers from New York City
- Underground rappers
- 1976 births
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