Necro (rapper)

Necro

Ron Braunstein (born 1976) known better by his stage name, Necro, is an indie death rap, hardcore hip hop rapper from Brooklyn, New York known in the hip hop community for his exceptionally explicit lyrics. He invented the term "death rap" to describe his style of ultra-violent hip-hop and to set himself apart from other genre labels created by the media. He is also the brother of rapper Ill Bill.

Biography

Necro is recognized for his work as an established recording artist, rap producer , film director and as the owner/CEO of Psycho+Logical-Records(founded in November, 1999)where Necro releases all his own albums as well as other artists. In just 7 short years, Psycho+Logical-Records has released over 23 albums, moving over 300,000 units & grossing over 1.5 million dollars. All this done without any major label support following the DIY method independently. Necro has headlined & sold out 1,000 cap. clubs in New York, Los Angeles, London & Toronto all in 2006 where he embarked on his first tour ever, The Drugs, Gory Death & Sex Tour.

His 2000 debut LP, I Need Drugs, set the stage for Necro's brand of irreverent and often humorous commentary on the dark side of reality.

Necro was born to Jewish immigrants from Israel and raised in Brooklyn, NY, where he has lived his entire life. He has been writing and recording music since the late 1980s, playing guitar in bands until 1990, where at the age of 13, he switched his interest toward hip hop. He began receiving recognition for his music as early as 1991, when he won a demo contest on the Stretch and Bobbito Radio Show in NYC. He made appearances on this show and other radio shows over the next few year. Since 1996, Necro has released a series of top 5 college radio singles, including his 12" release, "Bury You With Satan" which reached #1 ranking in two of the top trades.

Necro's second CD, Gory Days, was his quickest selling release at the time. The album contains fourteen tracks of Necro's extremely graphic rhymes over his own original brand of hip hop production.

Performing live since the age of 11, Necro has opened for groups such as Run-DMC, Immolation (band), Beatnuts, Sepultura, Kool Keith, Napalm Death & Biohazard. He has headlined shows in all of NYC's mid-sized venues such as Brownie's, Wetlands, the Knitting Factory & SOB's.

Necro's film production company, the aptly named Necro Films, has 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.

Death metal influence

Necro in the studio w/ John Tardy & Trevor Peres of Obituary & Dan Lilker of Nuclear Assault-S.O.D.-Brutal Truth.

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. Having played alongside such acts as Napalm Death, Sepultura, and Obituary with his band Injustice, Necro gained insight to the morbid underworld of death metal. He has been quoted in interviews citing death metal as a key influence for his sadistic rhymes, King Diamond and Chuck Schuldiner's Death in particular. Necro's adoration for death metal is apparent in many of his lyrical themes such as the Cannibal Corpse / Six Feet Under like glorification of gruesome violence, the Deicide / Morbid Angel tendency to discount and persecute Christianity, and the Bolt Thrower / Slayer proclivity towards narrating the horrors of war.

Necro and his Psychological labelmates have also been known to reference underground metal acts in their 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 am killing you". Over the years Necro has increased his referencing and colloborations with underground metal acts, as evidenced by his 2004 album "Pre Fix For Death",

File:Necro..The Pre-Fix For Death.jpg

The Pre-Fix For Death album cover - artwork drawn by legendary metal artist, Edward J. Repka.

which features many references and collaborations with heavy metal musicians from Obituary, Hatebreed, Slipknot, and Voivod. In addition Necro and labelmates Goretex, Ill Bill, and Mr. Hyde have started their own supergroup known as "Circle of Tyrants", which is also a song by Celtic Frost which is covered by Obituary on the "Cause Of Death" LP, that contains collaborations with artists from Testament, Exhumed, and Sepultura as well as song titles named after 80's thrash metal classics such as Slayer's "South of Heaven" and Metallica's "Four Horsemen".

It has also become a tradition on Psycho+Logical for each release to have one song have a corresponding metal version, such as Necro's "Push it to the Limit (feat. Jamey Jasta)", Ill Bill's "Chasing the Dragon", Mr. Hyde's "The Crazies" and Sabac's "A Change Gon' Come (feat. Antwon Lamar Robinson)".

He is currently working on his next solo album due to be released this summer

Discography

Injustice

(Necro's early death metal band, that included his brother on bass and vocals)

• The Cursed Earth (1989 Demo)
• Inhuman Condition (1990 Demo)

Albums

• I Need Drugs (2000)
• Gory Days (2001)
• Gory Days Special Edition CD/DVD (2002)
• Necro Presents: Brutality Part 1 (2003)
• The Pre-Fix for Death (2004)
• The Sexorcist (2005)
• Circle of Tyrants (2005)
• Secret Society (2007)

Mixtapes

• Rare Demos and Freestyles Vol. 1 (2000)
• Rare Demos and Freestyles Vol. 2 (2001)
• Rare Demos and Freestyles Vol. 3 (2002)
• Brutaility Pt. 1 (2002)
• Street Villains Vol. 1 (2003)
• Street Villains Vol. 2 (2005)

Collaborations

Circle Of Tyrants (Necro, Ill Bill, Goretex + Mr. Hyde)

• The Circle Of Tyrants (2005)
• Whiteboyz In The Game Volume 1

Productions

1. Non-Phixion — "No Tomorrow" released on Searchlite/Fat Beats — 1996
2. Cage — "Agent Orange" b/w "Radiohead" released on Fondle 'em — 1997
3. Necro — "Get On Your Knees" b/w "Underground" released on Fat Beats — 1997
4. Non-Phixion — "Five Boros" released on Searchlite/Fat Beats — 1997
5. Missing Linx — "Loc'd" released on Ink/Fat Beats — 1998
6. Non-Phixion — "I Shot Reagan" b/w "Refuse To Lose" and "This Is Not An Exercise" released on Uncle Howie/Fat Beats — 1998
7. Necro — "Self-titled EP" released on Uncle Howie/Fat Beats — 1998
8. Necro — "The Most Sadistic" b/w "You're Dead" and "Your Fucking Head Split" released on Psycho+Logical-Records/Landspeed — 2000 #4 on Gavin-#4 on Hits.
9. Ill Bill — Gangsta Rap b/w "How To Kill A Cop" released on Psycho+Logical-Records/Landspeed — 2000 #3 on Gavin-#4 on Hits.
10. Al Tariq — "Feel This Shit" b/w "Black Nasty Motherfucker" released on Psycho+Logical-Records/Landspeed — 2000 #5 on Gavin-#4 on Hits.
11. Non-Phixion — "Black Helicopters" b/w "They Got" released on Uncle Howie/Matador — 2000
12. Missing Linx — "What It Is" from the "Exhibit A" EP released on Stimulated/Loud — 2000
13. Non-Phixion — Seven tracks — due out 2001

Films

1. "187 Reasonz Y — (shot on super 8 mm in black and white) — 1997
2. "The Devil Made Me Do It" — (shot on 16mm film in color b/w Fleabag A Shmuck and A Cunt (4 2 Dollars) shot on 16mm black and white reversal film "Get Me That Bread" (Freestyle skit)) — 1998
3. "I Need Drugs" music video – (shot on High 8 in color and edited on an Avid b/w a live performance at Brownies and 4 freestyle acting skits) — 2000
4. "Sexy Sluts: Been There, Done That" — 2003

External links

• NECROHIPHOP.com The official Necro and Psycho+Logical-Records website.
• Necro at IMDb

• Wayback Archive An archive of Necro's site from Mar 04, 2000 to Mar 28, 2005