// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Ghostemane say to his date? You're a real scream.
Ghostemane | |
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Ghostemane in 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as |
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| Born | Eric Thomas John Whitney April 15, 1991 Lake Worth, Florida, U.S. |
| Origin | West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2010–present |
| Website | ghostemane |
Eric Thomas John Whitney (born April 15, 1991),[6] known professionally as Ghostemane (/ˈɡoʊstmeɪn/ GOHST-mayn) or Eric Ghoste,[7] is an American rapper and record producer. He has released eight solo albums and three collaborative albums under his Ghostemane moniker, primarily merging elements of heavy metal, hip-hop and industrial music. Whitney has also released music with a number of additional solo projects, pursuing styles including black metal as Baader-Meinhof, noise music as GASM,[4] and electronic music as Swearr.[8] He began his career in local hardcore punk and doom metal bands around Florida.[9][10] In 2015, he moved to Los Angeles, California, starting a career as a rapper, under the moniker Ill Bizz.[8] Around this same time, he was a member of the hip-hop collective Schemaposse.[11]
Ghostemane's merging of trap and metal gained him popularity on SoundCloud. In 2018, Ghostemane released his seventh studio album, N/O/I/S/E, which was highly anticipated in the underground music scene.[12]
Early life
[edit]Eric Thomas John Whitney was born on April 15, 1991, in Lake Worth, Florida to parents from New York.[13] Whitney grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida. As a teenager, he was mainly interested in hardcore punk music. He learned to play the guitar and performed in several bands,[10] including Nemesis and Seven Serpents.[9][14] He also played football while he was in high school, saying he was practically forced to by his father, who died when Whitney was seventeen.[13]
Whitney was introduced to rap music when he was the guitarist in the hardcore punk band Nemesis and a bandmate introduced him to Memphis rap.[9]
Career
[edit]
Prior to his musical career, Whitney worked in several B2B sales positions.[13] In 2015, due to not being able to musically thrive in South Florida, Whitney moved to Los Angeles, California. He also gave up his employment.[10] Meeting up with JGRXXN, Whitney joined his collective Schemaposse, which included artists such as Craig Xen and Lil Peep.[15]
In April 2016, after just 1 year with the group, Whitney left Schemaposse.[16] He subsequently released his self-produced album "Blackmage" and his first cinematic music video with his single "John Dee". Whitney eventually began to associate with fellow Florida rapper Pouya,[17] who released the video for "1000 Rounds" with Ghostemane in April 2017.[18] The video quickly went viral, and as of September 2026, it had over 40 million views.[19]
In late 2017, Whitney saw greater success when art collective TRASH GANG created and released their 1930s cartoon edit music video for his song "Mercury: Retrograde". The cartoon was a 1933 Betty Boop short, Snow-White, featuring Cab Calloway as Koko the Clown singing St. James Infirmary. The video has since climbed to over 600 million views, making it his most well known single.[20]
In October 2018 he teamed up with Zubin to release a track titled Broken.[21] Also in 2018, he released his seventh studio album, N/O/I/S/E, in which many of the songs are influenced by industrial metal, nu metal, Slipknot, Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails. In May 2020, he unveiled his latest project, a lo-fi black metal band called Baader-Meinhof, of which he is the sole member (credited as Eric Ghoste).[22]
In 2021, Ghostemane's music video "AI", directed by Nick Cinelli, was nominated for Most Bizarre at the Berlin Music Video Awards.[23]
After a five-year hiatus from making new music, Whitney released a single titled "Zero Day" in August 2026, and announced that a new album will be released soon.[24]
Artistry
[edit]Lyrically, Ghostemane's themes focus on occultism, depression, nihilism, death and illuminism. He started his career as a musician playing guitar in hardcore punk bands, and drums in doom metal bands.[10] He has stated that his biggest influence is extreme metal band Bathory.[9] He spent most of his teenage years listening to extreme metal bands such as Deicide, Death, Carcass and Mayhem.[6] In terms of rap music, Ghostemane is influenced by Southern rap groups such as Outkast and Three 6 Mafia. He has also gone on to cite Midwest rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony as an early influence.[25]
Backing band
[edit]- Parv0 – DJ
- Nolan Nunes – bass
- Marcus Johnson – drums
- Former[27]
- Mark Bronzino – guitars
- Cayle Sain – drums
Discography
[edit]As Ghostemane
[edit]Studio albums
[edit]- Oogabooga (2015)
- For the Aspiring Occultist (2015)
- Rituals (2016)
- Blackmage (2016)
- Plagues (2016)
- Hexada (2017)
- N/O/I/S/E (2018)
- ANTI-ICON (2020)
- AM:FM (2026)
Collaboration albums
[edit]- Pallbearers || Tales from the Grave (w/DJ Killa C) (2015)
- GRXXNGHOSTENAGROM (w/JGRXXN x Nedarb Nagrom) (2015)
- Elemental (w/Lil Peep x JGRXXN) (2016)
- LXRDMAGE (w/Scarlxrd) (2021)
Compilations
[edit]- Astral Kreepin (Resurrected Hitz) (2015)
- Get To Know Us (w/Lil Peep x JGRXXN) (2016)
- Hiadica (2019)
Extended plays
[edit]- Ghoste Tales (2015)
- Dogma (2015)
- Kreep [Klassics Out Tha Attic] Featuring Dj Insane (2015)
- DÆMON (w/Nedarb Nagrom) (2016)
- DÆMON II (w/Nedarb Nagrom) (2016)
- DÆMON III (w/Nedarb Nagrom) (2017)
- Dahlia I (w/Getter) (2018)
- Fear Network (2019)[2]
- Opium (2019)
- HUMAN ERR0R (w/Parv0) (2019)
- Digital Demons (w/Nolife) (2019)
- Lxrdmage (w/ Scarlxrd) (2021)
- Fear Network II (2021)
Mixtapes
[edit]- Blunts n' Brass Monkey (2014)
- Taboo (2014)
Singles
[edit]- Technicolor (2014)
- Kronol (2015)
- John Dee (2016)
- Hades (2017)
- Kybalion (2017)
- Tartarus (2017)
- Kali Yuga (2017)
- Nails (2017)
- Blood Oceans (How Many?) (w/ PHARAOH) (2018)
- D(R)Ead (2018)
- AI (2020)
- Lazaretto (2020)
- Zero Day (2026)
As Ill Biz
[edit]Mixtapes
[edit]- Revival (ft. Shepherd) (2012) (on tracks "Revival" and "Lean Wit It" only)
- No Holds Barred (2012) (exclusive mixtape for datpiff.com)
- Versatyle (2013) (unreleased)
- [Soh] [fahy] mixtape (ft. Infinite SoFi) (2013) (on track "Southside" only)
- ILL BiZ EP (ft. Infinite SoFi) (2013)
- 1991 (2014)
As GASM
[edit]Studio albums
[edit]- Www (2018)
As SWEARR
[edit]Extended plays
[edit]- Technomancer (2019)
As Baader-Meinhof
[edit]Extended plays
[edit]- EP (2016)
- Evil Beneath a Veil of Justice (2019)
- Baader-Meinhof (2020)
With Nemesis
[edit]Extended plays
[edit]- From the Neighborhood (2012)
With Seven Serpents
[edit]Extended plays
[edit]- Seven Serpents (2015)
As Eric Ghoste
[edit]- Music from the Motion Picture (2021)
References
[edit]- ↑ JAMIESON, BRII (May 23, 2019). "This is Trap Metal". Kerrang!.
- 1 2 3 "Hear Ghostemane's Crushing New Hardcore EP 'Fear Network'". Revolver. April 10, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
- ↑ Агафонов, Женя (April 10, 2019). "Ghostemane – Fear Network / Премьера релиза на Rhyme.ru". Rhyme - новости музыки. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- 1 2 3 "45 MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUMS OF 2019". Revolver. January 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
- ↑ "Album Review: Ghostemane – Anti-Icon — Kerrang!". October 21, 2020.
- 1 2 "Interview: rapper Ghostemane talks death metal influences". Metal Insider. August 23, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- ↑ "Ghostemane has announced his eighth studio album, 'Anti-Icon'". July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- 1 2 3 Law, Sam (September 2, 2020). "How Ghostemane is changing the fabric of heavy music". Kerrang!. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- 1 2 3 4 "Thanks To Ghostemane, Industrial And Metal Are Rap Now". Stereogum. September 13, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 "Ghostemane's Hardcore Past Inspired His Underground Rap Presence". Skullcandy. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- ↑ Robb, John (January 16, 2021). "Ghostemane 'Anti- Icon' : A 21st century antichrist superstar who combines black metal, industrial and rap into a dystopian whole". Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ↑ "Ghostsmane Surprise-Releases New Album 'N/O/I/S/E' a Week Early". Revolver. October 10, 2018. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
- 1 2 3 Kinda Neat (July 6, 2016), KINDA NEAT EPISODE 110: GHOSTEMANE, retrieved May 25, 2018
- ↑ Wenke, Carrick. "Underground Hype: GHOSTEMANE". Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
- ↑ "Underground Hype: GHOSTEMANE – The Blow Up – A Place for the Independent Artist". www.theblowup.co. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- ↑ No Jumper (April 18, 2016), No Jumper - The Schema Posse Interview, retrieved May 25, 2018
- ↑ "Music For The Aspiring Occultist: Ghostemane and the Collision of Metal and Underground Rap - Heavy Blog Is Heavy". www.heavyblogisheavy.com. November 14, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- ↑ "Pouya & Ghostemane "1000 Rounds" Video". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on September 18, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- ↑ Buffet Boys (April 27, 2017), Pouya x Ghostemane - 1000 Rounds [Music Video], retrieved May 25, 2018
- ↑ "GHOSTEMANE - Mercury". YouTube. September 8, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
- ↑ "Ghostemane and Zubin team up on "Broken"". The FADER. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
- ↑ Ghostemane's Black-Metal Project: Hear Baader-Meinhoff's Sinister New EP Revolver. May 26, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
- ↑ Berlin Music Video Awards (May 20, 2021). "Nominees 2021". www.berlinmva.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
- ↑ Adams, Gregory. "Hear GHOSTEMANE's first song in 5 years "Zero Day"". Revolver Magazine. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
- ↑ "GHOSTEMANE Interview With Independent Grind". unsignedhype.org. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- ↑ Angell, Jack (April 28, 2020). "LIL LOTUS IS REWRITING THE EMO PLAYBOOK AND THERE ARE NO RULES". Alternative Press. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
- ↑ "HEAR HORUS THE ASTRONEER'S NEW SONG WITH IRON REAGAN AND GHOSTEMANE GUITARIST". Revolver. January 3, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
External links
[edit]- Ghostemane on Instagram
Media related to Ghostemane at Wikimedia Commons
- 1991 births
- Living people
- 21st-century American rappers
- Alternative hip-hop musicians
- American black metal musicians
- American hip-hop singers
- American industrial musicians
- 21st-century American male rappers
- American noise musicians
- Hardcore punk musicians
- People from Lake Worth Beach, Florida
- Rappers from Florida
- Singer-songwriters from Florida
- Trap metal musicians