6 Feet Deep

6 Feet Deep (also titled Niggamortis in some regions) is the debut album of the American hip hop supergroup Gravediggaz. Formed by former Tommy Boy Records artists Prince Paul, RZA, Frukwan and Poetic, the group utilized horror-themed imagery and lyrics combined with black comedy and satire to vent their frustrations with the hip hop record industry. The album's concept satirizes the hardcore hip hop and gangsta rap of the early 1990s. Released on August 9, 1994, by Gee Street Records, the album helped usher in horrorcore.

Production

The conception of the Gravediggaz group came at a low point in the careers of each of the group's members, each of which had at one point or another been signed to Tommy Boy Records and had not had good experiences with the label. Prince Paul had also contributed drums to the RZA's early single "Ooh We Love You Rakeem". Bennun connects Gravediggaz' lyrics not only to the hardcore rap lyrics of the Geto Boys and Cypress Hill, but also to EC Comics' Tales From The Crypt. According to John-Michael Bond in his review for Rap Reviews, the album's unifying theme is hate, which Gravediggaz use as "a metaphor for murdering the mindless drivel that infected early '90s rap". "2 Cups of Blood" samples it's keyboard loop from Larry Willis' "Inner Crisis."

| rev2 = Chicago Tribune

| rev2score =

| rev3 = Christgau's Consumer Guide

| rev3Score =

| rev4 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev4score = B

| rev5 = NME

| rev5score = 4/5

| rev6 = RapReviews

| rev6Score = 9.5/10

| rev7 = Rolling Stone

| rev7score =

| rev8 = The Source

| rev8score =

| rev9 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev9score = 5/10

The album was released on August 9, 1994. It was released under the title Niggamortis outside of the United States. The Chicago Tribune concluded that, "Even with their rotten language and funereal imagery, the Gravediggaz's grim rapping is not the lurid, flesh-chopping of, say, Insane Poetry." In 2022, Rolling Stone placed it at number 177 on their list of the 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time. The magazine's writer Mosi Reeves said, "As a major label-backed attempt to bring horrorcore to the mainstream, Gravediggaz were a notable failure. But plenty of heads found pleasure in this bugged-out satire of hardcore values, fire-and-brimstone theology, and horror movie tropes."

Track listing

All tracks written by Anthony Berkeley, Robert Diggs, Arnold Hamilton and Paul Huston and produced by Prince Paul except where noted.

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

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! scope="col"| Chart (1994)

! scope="col"| Peak<br /> position

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|-

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Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (1994)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)

| 100

|}

Singles

{| class="wikitable"

!rowspan="2"| Year

!rowspan="2"| Album

!colspan="4"| Peak<br/>position

|-

! Billboard Hot 100

! Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks

! Hot Rap Singles

! Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales

|-

|rowspan="2"|1994

| "Diary of a Mad Man"

|align="center"| #82

|align="center"|#57