At 25 years of age, he had had a longer career in Hip-Hop than any other artist to come out of Detroit. A Rap overachiever, his rèumè is a litany of unrecognised accomplishments. Esham writes, produces, engineers and performs his own albums. All of his records are independent releases. Between Esham, his affilliate group Natas and ex-associate Dice, he's put out 13 LPs, five EPs and three singles since his debut, 1990's Boomin' Words from Hell. He did what would come to be called "horrorcore" before the Gravediggaz dug their first ditch and before the Flatliners came, saw and ultimatley went in the direction of their own name. He even steals some of Tupac's thunder. All Eyes On Me is falsely credited as Hip-Hop's first double CD, but the Judgement Day series prpeceded it by four years, as did Master P Presents Down South Hustlers.

These kinds of credits made people like Magic Mike, Master P and Luke Skywalker household names in their regions and at home. Esham, by his own estimation, sold 500,000 units before Soundscan began tracking his product. And though efforts to prmote his own product have matched the caliber of the aforementioned superstars, Esham is still very much underground.

Esham has not yet arrived at Overture's offices, but three women with snap-on breasts wait in the lobby. They're here to audition for the video "Twirk Yo Body", the single from Esham's latest CD Mail Dominace. Overture is located in an upscale house that has been converted into a digital studio, band chamber and offices. It's hidden on a hill, tucked in the back of a cul-de-sac with just two other houses.

Later, Esham strides in unassumingly. Wearing oversized blue jeans and a plaid "real guy" shirt, he is only given away by the "Esham tattoo on his right forearm. When we meet, I immediately ask for his take on horrorcore and weather he considers himself the father of it. "Well, um, I don't even like to consider myself a part of the whole thing." he says.

If anyone has a legitimate beef with the industry neglect of Midwestern cities like Detroit, it's Esham. He feels that while hometown artists have been rejected, hometown stlyes have been bitten. "Horrorcore is somthing fictitious. Other groups in other regions, when they pass through this area, they lookin'and listenin' too. they just took what we were doing, which was 'acid rap'. Thats what we call it. They took it back to their superiors, and they called it horrorcore. We dont even like to be affilliated with that," he speaks matter-of-factly and without anger.

Esham has worked his plan since 1988, when he started his former lable, Reel Life Productions. He was a ninth grader at Osborn high when he released his first record. While the school boasted other rap talent, like Proof, Esham had the distinction of being the only one clocking from it. His style built on Detroits reputation for Detroits rough streets and tough politics. He has spent more than a decade pushing his own product, being his own regional and national distubutor. This level of consistency has earned him a large following in Michigan, as far north as Boston and as far south as Dallas. Certain crowds have endeared themselves to Esham's "acid" from some of the most uncommon, unknown hotbeds for Hip-Hop: Albuquerque (NM), Wichita, Denver, Phoenix, Indianapolis and Columbus.

"We've had our ups and downs," Esham says of Reel Life. "But we've been pretty successful." After moving so many units on his own, Esham should have had no problem landing a distribution deal. But until last summer, there seemed to be no interest from major lables. Some were flatly uninterested. Others were Impressed by Esham's sales but leery of marketabillity of artists from this region.

A year ago, Esham hired Brian Major as his manager, who finally opened a line of communication with Unerversal. A distribution deal was discussed, but talks soon were interupted.

"We had a dance with Universal prioor to them going after Polygram," Major quips. "Then we kinda fell through the cracks." Major blames the merger. Esham, however, has a differnt take on the major record companys. "They just hypocrites, you know what I'm sayin? They'll let anybody else come in and pump any fuckin' thing they want to the people of Detroit. But it's not the same standard for artist livin' in this region. (Detroit artists) gotta go kissin' they ass, come outta there with shit on their noses. They want you on your best behavior. But they'll let Foxy Brown out her pussy all in the camera. Whatever!"

The graphic, ultraviolent style that made Eminem the country's latest pop phenom was considered too intense to digest when Esham first served it. The 1988-92 years were a period of very high controversy for hardvcore Hip-Hop. The Tipper Gores , Calvin Buttses and C. DeLores Tuckers of the world were just mounting their assults on the music mainstream critics coined "gangsta" rap. It was new. And because it tapped the pulses of cats in americas 'hoods and ghettos, it carried a more real sense of shock value. Esham's music fit this mold to the nth. His boomin' words represented more than the anger of the voiceless masses; it represented the extreme.

What censure might Esham have been forced to endure had has music reached above ground? What if the detractors had hearded him declaring allegiance to his suicidalist on Detroit dog shit ? What if they'd caught wind of the rumors that his group Natas was Satan spelled backwards and that Esham was really a Devil worshiper? What if they had recieved information that he reportedly researched what type of album imagery attracts fans of sinister music? They undoubtedly would have tryed to rip his career apart.

In that reguard, swimming away from Hip-Hops regular current may have helped him. But at other times, he's had to reinvent himself just to stay relevant. Take the spring of 1997, when stickers began appearing all over the metropolitan Detroit area. They were very plain with black lettering on white paper asking "Who is Bruce Wayne?" Little did fans know that the stickers were a campaign for Esham's album of the same name. He used the sticker campaign, and the album to introduce a new production wing-Gothom/Overcore- and remind many that he was still droppin' acid tabs in all tape decks and CD players. The graphic nature of his music had only gained momentum.

"Its the real shit. its the wicked shit. It's the shit that started everything," he says. "Everybody that's out there with dark imagery, being hard- like rock and roll, heavy-metal-type hard- they got all the shit from us! Its the truth! Even these East Coast acts. They was on some UMCs shit. 'Blue Cheese' type of shit".

Mail Dominance is the album Esham thinks that will finally turn heads who haven't been looking in his direction. He's left the demonic for the strait-up street but delivers an album thats's still rough enough to maintain the Esham legend By now though, it's not a question of needing new ears to survive. The old audiences are just as strong and populous as ever. This time E simply wants to know if your down to ride.