Hip-hop is free-expression that we have all come to love. However, hip-hop has a dark side that subjects you to listen to dark and twisted lyrics. Some of the genre’s most successful and favorite artists have all taken odd roads to the booth. All throughout hip-hop, artists sometimes channel an odd ideal for creative inspiration. They tell tales of murder, demonic affiliation, and dangerous thought struggles. Halloween is this upcoming Friday, and if you are feeling in the mood for songs that send chills through your spine, here are my Top Ten spookiest songs.

10. “Dance with the Devil” by Immortal Technique – This track is eerie because of the tragic tale within. Men are trying to gain their street credibility by brutally hurting a woman, with its unexpected ending, you can bet on an uneasy feeling. The lyricists highlight the consequences of participating in evil crimes. The main character of the song pays a severe price when he realizes the woman they beat to pieces was his mother. The man looks for a way out of the situation on top of a building, the only way out is down. Immortal Technique ends their graphic tale with  “and you’ll be one of God’s children who fell from the top, there’s no diversity because we’re burning in the melting pot, so when the devil wants to dance with you, you better say never because a dance with the devil might last you forever.” The story is true.

9. “Stan” by Eminem – If you know the story of Eminem’s obsessed fan Stanley, then you can understand why it made the countdown.  “Hey Slim, that’s my girlfriend screaming in the trunk/If she suffocates, she’ll suffer more.” Weird lyrics right? The song becomes even more gruesome. All of this craziness came from Slim Shady not responding to fans. Well, Eminem sure got his point across about how far fans will prove their celebrity obsession.

8.  “Lucifer” by Jay-Z – Jay-Z has been in the “underworld” limelight for supposed subliminal messages against Christian beliefs, though it has not been proved, this song however does exist. It can be classified as spooky regardless of positive/negative intent. The lyrics are deep, and thought provoking. With lyrics like, “He got them dark forces in him, but he also got a righteous cause for sinning, them to murder me so I got to murder them first.”

7. “Murder was the Case” by Snoop Dogg – “Pumping on my chest and I’m screaming, stop breathing, I see demons.” Creepy view, huh?

6. “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” by Geto Boys – “My hands were all bloody from punching on the concrete, my mind is playing tricks on me.” It seems everyone is going insane, from paranoia to plain fear to thinking they saw a man they shot in the past. They are seeing things that are not there-either their mind was playing them or just leaving them.

5. “Interview with a Vampire” by RassKass – He has a conversation with God in this song asking questions that he has wondered. This song is strange because of the beat and the abrasive tone that God uses with Rass. Anybody would be taken aback to hear a voice like that. Another thought: If he is talking to God, why does the title say a vampire?

4. “Mystic Stylez” by Three Six Mafia- All of this groups earlier songs were kind of, well, satanic, and it’s happened again. This song goes past creepy directly to bone chilling. They say, “Devils in me, so I can get so violent.” This surpasses just talking of evil to having a demonic inhabitant within.

3. “Hell Sent” by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – “Nine, ten, we’re out to kill again/Put back on earth to destroy all worshipers of peace:” why would they want to do that? With an intro like that, it is good they switch to fighting evil at the end. It is just that the minds of these rappers get so twisted with their thoughts and lyrics in this storyline.

2. “Diary of a Mad Man” and “6 Feet Deep” by Gravediggaz. Their name is strange enough but their lyrics go right down terror lane. These two songs possess all the qualities of a complete Halloween Hip-Hop track. With names like Killer Priest, you can only imagine what their lyrics are like. The ending to “Mad Man” says enough- “Stab you with a dagga of Jacob’s ladder, thoughts become shattered, confused, and, tragic, fiery thoughts of gravediggaz.”

So, be careful what you take in, and listen carefully before you sing-along. Happy Halloween!