Did I Like This? (The South Park Psycho)

Because I enjoyed my first re-listening to 90s hip-hop so much, I dove a bit more into it and realized two things: 1) I know a lot of albums from 1990 to 1992, but almost nothing from 1993, making a radical change in course for my music taste (and for the worse since it was time for Eurodance), which also means I listened to all of that rap music between the ages of 10 to 12. That amazes me and will continue to do so when I listen to more albums. 2) I know a lot of albums from that period. And this was the beginning of the 90s without the internet. I didn’t even have a lot of money, so I have no idea how I got all that music. I had a good friend with similar tastes but that doesn't explain where all the music came from.

Anyway, the second album that came to mind was an album I didn’t remember the artist or title from. I spent some time figuring out what it was until I just googled for “violent rap albums” and found it. I could have saved that one for later but I really wanted to see if this obscure album was as weird as I remembered it. The artist is called Ganksta N-I-P and the album The South Park Psycho.

What I remember: However I got this album, I found it weird from the get-go. I’m sure it was given to me for appreciating its violent contents, which I remember to be freakishly extreme. Meaning more than other rap songs, which especially with gangster rap, tended to be violent enough. But what I remember most is that the album ends with a song that contradicts the whole album by sadly lamenting how cruel this world is or something like that. I’m not entirely sure what the last song was about but I remember that it made this already weird album even weirder. I remember laughing about that last song. Let’s see if it still works.

What I say now: This really is an album that mostly speaks for itself. Let's take a look at the Intro in which we are told the following:

Right about this motherfucking time you’re being entertained by the craziest motherfucking rapper on Earth. Which is me: Ganksta motherfucking N-I-P.

This made me laugh out loud, especially the 'which is me' since it would have been great if it was somebody else to entertain us now.

The first song Horror Movie Rap starts out with a nursery rhyme about killing and eating someone. It then details all the things Ganksta N-I-P likes to do which is killing people in various ways. But women (or 'hoes' as he affectionately calls them) love him because he’s a 'pleaser'. The song shows off exactly the kind of extreme violence I was remembering. It’s insanely over-the-top. It's beyond over-the-top. It climbs to the top, rips its heart out and rapes it. And then some.

The next songs talks about gang violence, bragging about being tough and hardcore and rich, so it’s mostly standard gangsta rap fare, except for the continuing details of creative and sick violence, naturally including rape and cannibalism (even self-cannibalism, if that’s a word). It’s not without some fun, if you can call it that. It’s not easy to take lines like 'Your head is a tennis ball and I’m about to serve' seriously, but that’s what most of the album is like. It’s also not without its sickening parts like the song appropriately titled Disgusting that deals with sex in the sick way you can come to expect from the album at that point.

Again, it’s ridiculous and as excessive as possible. And if just one or two songs were like this, I could argue this is some kind of satire but after the intro and twelve more songs in that vein it’s hard to still think that. And then there’s that last song. It’s called Damned Shame and it starts with a dialogue.

A: Ah, N-I-P, what’s up?

N-I-P: Life’s been terrible. Everybody killing each other, man, we need to stop.

Then he tells it to us, 'straight up', how gangs kill each other over drugs and money.

Straight up madness

Six dead bodies results in sadness

That's sadness? I would figure a nail in your throat, hands that are cut off or shooting a woman through her vagina might lead to more sadness (just three examples from another song on that album called Slaughter), but there goes your double standard.

His neighbourhood is so dangerous that you need to have a gun or you’ll be killed. There is a cautionary tale of two brothers who get into a fight and one kills the other. Police brutality is next, criticizing that 'cops are supposed to help not to whip on our brother’s ass.' And all of this is called 'a damned shame' by N-I-P. It’s one of those few rap songs that aim for making the listener feel sad (Brenda’s Got a Baby by 2Pac is another one). The message of the song is reasonable but in the context of the album it’s completely insane. After the introductory dialogue I was thinking it might be some sort of joke, that he was making fun of people who think his lyrics are dangerous, but the song is then played out so straight, almost too much since at times it’s unintentionally funny (his rap partner is always commenting on his lyrics with things like 'yup' or 'damn' or 'aha' or just repeating things or asking questions - it's hilarious).

But why is that song there? Especially at the end, as the one that we leave the album with. We spend 13 songs hearing about gore and violence and then we’re supposed to feel sad because people kill each other over trivial things? He sings about killing people all the time for no reason at all! He finds about 1,000 different ways of killing someone! And about 50 ways to rape women! This is so weird. But it is exactly as I remembered it. It didn’t make sense to me then and I’m no wiser now. It’s still a silly album, the songs are mostly okay as songs but the content is deplorable and revolting for the most time unless you take it as a joke. Not an album that needs to be remembered but it has a place in my heart somewhere. I hope Ganksta N-I-P doesn’t rip it out of my chest and eat it.