Top 10 Spooky Rap Songs of All Time

By Henry Adaso

Intricate conversations with otherworldly beings. Trippy tales. Hair-raising accounts of demonic encounters. No Halloween party is complete without these 10 spooky rap songs.

10. DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince - "A Nightmare on My Street"

After seeing Nightmare on Elm Street, Fresh Prince finds he can't go to sleep because he's been visited by Freddy Krueger. Freddy asks to be his partner-in-rhyme, but Prince ridicules him and sends him home instead. "Yo Fred, I think you got me all wrong/I ain't partners with nobody with nails that long. Look, I'll be honest this team won't work." Reality only sets in the end when Freddy decides to kill Jazzy Jeff. This one gave me shivers when I was a kid.

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9. Snoop Dogg - "Murder was the Case"

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No need for ghosts and goblins here, the mere thought of dying is terrifying enough for Snoop. Hear him testify: "I'm shaking and they breaking, tryin' to save the Dogg, pumping on my chest and I'm screamin'. I stop breathing, damn I see demons. Dear God, I wonder can you save me? I can't die, my Boo-Boo's bout to have my baby." Snoop's plea for mercy gets an even eerier thump from Dr. Dre's cinematic production.

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8. Ras Kass - "Interview with a Vampire"

© EMI

Backed by a gnarly soundtrack, Ras Kass strikes up an intricate conversation with supernatural beings. Otherworldly sound effects come alive as the dialogue shifts from creationism to Armageddon.

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7. Bone Thugs - "Hell Sent"

© Enterprise Music

There are at least 10 references to Lucifer in "Hell Sent," which finds Bone Thugs bragging about "taking demons hostages" and starting a riot in hell. Wish Bone unleashes the fiercest assault towards the end, "A demon told me that Lucifer said meet him at the black hole. I told him "I'm a be there; ain't no b*tch in my soul!"

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6. Big L - "Devil's Son"

Big L had a dream (more like a nightmare) in which he pictured himself as the devil's son and decided to write a song about it. Backed by dramatic horns and pounding drums, L rhymes about running into a church strapped. This horrorcore treat from Big L's 1993 demo tape is definitely not for the faint of heart.

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5. The Notorious B.I.G. - "Suicidal Thoughts"

© Bad Boy

Fed up with his personal failures, Biggie gives himself a death sentence on "Suicidal Thoughts." His friend (Diddy, in this case) attempts to dissuade him, but Biggie is too far down the windpipe to reconsider. We'll never know if B.I.G. was really as depressed as the song indicates, but "Suicidal Thoghts" is still one hell of a spooky song 11 years after his real death. For a more dramatic version, check out this E&L remix.

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4. Eminem - "Stan"

© Interscope

You only need to listen to "Stan" once before realizing that this ill-fated account of a psychotic Eminem worshipper is simply unforgettable. "Stan" unmasks a vulnerable Eminem, one that turns up the pathos several notches while barely raising his voice. Dido's ethereal crooning adds more soot to the tale.

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3. Gravediggaz - "6 Feet Deep"

© Island/Polygram

No Hip-Hop Halloween playlist is complete without at least one song from Gravediggaz, who specialized in blood-thirsty throwdowns. "6 Feet Deep," the title track from their controversial debut, spots unsettling vocals and a decidedly moody beat. "Your world is black. You drop into a hole."

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2. Immortal Technique - "Dance with the Devil"

Darkness permeates "Dance with the Devil" from start to finish, as Immortal Technique tells an elaborate tale of a man named Billy. Billy's hunger for social acceptance drove him to commit all sorts of atrocities, including one that involves a close relative. The song's hazed-out jazzy vibe, coupled with Tech's psychopathic recital, is incredibly chilling.

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1. Geto Boys - "Mind Playing Tricks on Me"

Paranoia gets the best of Scarface as he stands alone in his four-corner room staring at candles, seeing images. "He owns a black hat like I own. A black suit and a cane like my own," 'Face rhymes. "It's f***ed up when your mind's playing tricks on you." Turns out he was staring at his own reflection. The vertically challenged Buswhick Bill then teams up with 'Face and Willie D to fight off a 7-ft tall enemy. The giant disappears only for Bill to realize he'd been ferociously pummeling the concrete all along.

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