# Gravediggaz
**Gravediggaz** were an American hip-hop group from New York, formed in 1993, whose violent blend of hardcore rap, horror imagery, and black humor led the press to label their style "horrorcore"[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gravediggaz-mn0000662067). The four members worked under graveyard personae: the Undertaker (Prince Paul, who produced [De La Soul](https://www.edgepedia.org/de-la-soul)), the RZArector (the RZA of the [Wu-Tang Clan](https://www.edgepedia.org/wu-tang-clan)), the Grym Reaper (Poetic, also known as Too Poetic), and the Gatekeeper (Frukwan)[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gravediggaz-mn0000662067) • [2](https://www.xxlmag.com/today-in-hip-hop-gravediggaz-releases-6-feet-deep/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1993 in New York, NY; members Prince Paul, RZA, Poetic, Frukwan[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gravediggaz-mn0000662067) |
| Genre | Horrorcore: hardcore rap mixed with heavy metal and horror elements[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gravediggaz-mn0000662067) |
| Debut album | *6 Feet Deep*, released August 9, 1994; issued in Europe as *Niggamortis*[2](https://www.xxlmag.com/today-in-hip-hop-gravediggaz-releases-6-feet-deep/) |
| Best-known songs | "Diary of a Madman," "1-800-Suicide," "Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide"[2](https://www.xxlmag.com/today-in-hip-hop-gravediggaz-releases-6-feet-deep/) |
| Albums | *6 Feet Deep* (1994), *The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel* (1997), *Nightmare in A-Minor* (2002), *6 Feet Under* (2004)[3](https://www.allmusic.com/album/6-feet-under-mw0000696699) |
| End of the group | Poetic died in July 2001 from complications of colon cancer; the group continued after his death, in keeping with his wishes[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gravediggaz-mn0000662067) • [2](https://www.xxlmag.com/today-in-hip-hop-gravediggaz-releases-6-feet-deep/) |
## Formation and the debut album
The group was one of rap's first supergroups, drawing members from acts already central to 1990s hip-hop: Prince Paul, who produced De La Soul; RZA, the producer behind the Wu-Tang Clan; Frukwan from Stetsasonic; and Poetic, formerly of the [Brothers Grimm](https://www.edgepedia.org/brothers-grimm)[4](https://trouserpress.com/reviews/gravediggaz/) • [2](https://www.xxlmag.com/today-in-hip-hop-gravediggaz-releases-6-feet-deep/). The release of the debut followed RZA's negotiation of the Wu-Tang Clan's deal with Loud Records, which gave him freedom to work on outside projects[2](https://www.xxlmag.com/today-in-hip-hop-gravediggaz-releases-6-feet-deep/). A secondary account attributes the impetus for forming the group to a feud between Prince Paul and [Russell Simmons](https://www.edgepedia.org/russell-simmons), whose Def Jam label had recently signed the horrorcore group Flatlinerz[5](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/39866/Gravediggaz-6-Feet-Deep/).
*6 Feet Deep* arrived in the summer of 1994 with supernatural imagery and songs built on shock, including "Diary of a Madman," "1-800-Suicide," and "Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide"[2](https://www.xxlmag.com/today-in-hip-hop-gravediggaz-releases-6-feet-deep/). Prince Paul oversaw the project as lead producer, performing as the Undertaker, and the album's ghoulish humor kept its gore at a cartoonish distance[6](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r203147) • [4](https://trouserpress.com/reviews/gravediggaz/). The album's initial title, *Niggamortis*, was judged too hard a sell for American audiences, so the US release was renamed; in Europe the original title stood[2](https://www.xxlmag.com/today-in-hip-hop-gravediggaz-releases-6-feet-deep/). The album produced one Billboard Top 100 hit, "Diary of a Madman"[2](https://www.xxlmag.com/today-in-hip-hop-gravediggaz-releases-6-feet-deep/), and its heavy-metal leaning tracks "Diary of a Madman" and "Bang Your Head" helped the record reach listeners beyond standard rap audiences[5](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/39866/Gravediggaz-6-Feet-Deep/).
The music also traveled by other routes. "Bang Your Head" found favor with alternative radio programs in Europe, and in 1996 the group appeared on *The Crow: City of Angels* soundtrack alongside rock acts, with a track connected to Tricky's *The Hell EP* (1995)[7](https://www.bboytechreport.com/2013/10/04/retrospective-classic-gravediggaz-6-feet-deep/) • [8](https://gunnarvinyl.com/blogs/magazine/gravediggaz-liner-notes).
## The second album and a change of direction
*The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel*, released on Gee Street on September 16, 1997, marked a deliberate shift away from gothic horror. The group described its zombie fixation as a metaphor for "raising the mentally dead" rather than comic-book thrills[9](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/gravediggaz-the-pick-the-sickle-and-the-shovel-gee-street-gee-1000562-1238711.html). Prince Paul's contribution shrank to helping out on one of the album's 15 tracks, leaving Poetic, Frukwan, and RZA to carry the record, with Wu-Tang Clan production accomplices filling the gap[9](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/gravediggaz-the-pick-the-sickle-and-the-shovel-gee-street-gee-1000562-1238711.html).
**Reviews treated the shift as growth.** AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that between the two albums RZA had become a dominant force in hip-hop production, and found the second album's layered, sample-driven sound and socially conscious rhymes a "quantum leap forward" reflecting the creators' intelligence[10](https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-pick-the-sickle-and-the-shovel-mw0000025840). Other commentary placed the album's subject matter in social commentary, Five Percent teachings, and visions of impending doom rather than gore[11](https://timeisillmatic.me/2026/01/13/gravediggaz-the-pick-the-sickle-and-the-shovel-october-14-1997/).
## Later years and breakup
RZA and Prince Paul called it a day after the second album; most fans followed at that point[3](https://www.allmusic.com/album/6-feet-under-mw0000696699). Poetic, whose rap flow had been central to the group's standing in the underground, developed invasive metastatic cancer and died in July 2001, before the release of *Nightmare in A-Minor* (2002)[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gravediggaz-mn0000662067) • [12](https://www.rapreviews.com/2001/10/gravediggaz-nightmare-in-a-minor/). The group continued on in keeping with his wishes[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gravediggaz-mn0000662067).
The 2004 album *6 Feet Under*, released by Cleopatra Records, was essentially a two-man effort: Frukwan rapping alone and Arnold Hamilton producing everything except the True Master-produced "Burn in Hell"[3](https://www.allmusic.com/album/6-feet-under-mw0000696699). AllMusic's review judged that Frukwan's persistence did the group's legacy a disservice and that the group effectively ended with Poetic's death[3](https://www.allmusic.com/album/6-feet-under-mw0000696699).
## Influence
XXL credited the group with effectively inventing the horrorcore subgenre with *6 Feet Deep*, and named [Insane Clown Posse](https://www.edgepedia.org/insane-clown-posse), Tech N9ne, D12, Cage, Necro, and [Three 6 Mafia](https://www.edgepedia.org/three-6-mafia) among artists in whom the group's influence can be heard[2](https://www.xxlmag.com/today-in-hip-hop-gravediggaz-releases-6-feet-deep/). The Hundreds pointed to traces of the group's influence in later rap acts such as [Odd Future](https://www.edgepedia.org/odd-future) and Flatbush Zombies[13](https://thehundreds.com/blogs/content/gravediggaz).
## References
1. [Gravediggaz Biography, AllMusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine)](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gravediggaz-mn0000662067)
2. [Gravediggaz Drop '6 Feet Deep' Album: Today in Hip-Hop, XXL (B.J. Steiner, 2013)](https://www.xxlmag.com/today-in-hip-hop-gravediggaz-releases-6-feet-deep/)
3. [6 Feet Under Review, AllMusic (Jason Birchmeier)](https://www.allmusic.com/album/6-feet-under-mw0000696699)
4. [Gravediggaz, Trouser Press](https://trouserpress.com/reviews/gravediggaz/)
5. [Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Deep album review, Sputnikmusic](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/39866/Gravediggaz-6-Feet-Deep/)
6. [6 Feet Deep Review, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r203147)
7. [Retrospective Classic - Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Deep, BBoy Tech Report (2013)](https://www.bboytechreport.com/2013/10/04/retrospective-classic-gravediggaz-6-feet-deep/)
8. ['6 Feet Deep': Gravediggaz's Bloodcurdling Debut, Gunnar Vinyl](https://gunnarvinyl.com/blogs/magazine/gravediggaz-liner-notes)
9. [Gravediggaz: The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel, The Independent (Andy Gill, 12 September 1997)](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/gravediggaz-the-pick-the-sickle-and-the-shovel-gee-street-gee-1000562-1238711.html)
10. [The Pick, The Sickle and the Shovel Review, AllMusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine)](https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-pick-the-sickle-and-the-shovel-mw0000025840)
11. [Gravediggaz - The Pick, The Sickle, And The Shovel, Time Is Illmatic](https://timeisillmatic.me/2026/01/13/gravediggaz-the-pick-the-sickle-and-the-shovel-october-14-1997/)
12. [Gravediggaz - Nightmare in A-Minor, RapReviews (2001)](https://www.rapreviews.com/2001/10/gravediggaz-nightmare-in-a-minor/)
13. [20th Anniversary of the Best Rap Album You Don't Know, The Hundreds](https://thehundreds.com/blogs/content/gravediggaz)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical practice and theory › Popular music genres › Hip hop artists, groups, producers, and DJs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license