Hardcore rappers Ho99o9 (pronounced “Horror”) have been blowing up the underground scene from day one back in 2012. Vocalists theOGM and Eaddy got their start in New Jersey and despite their humble beginnings, these two are maneuvering their way into the mainstream like pros. The two have been pegged as creative geniuses who talk about the nasty side of life in an experimental thrashy punk-rap hybrid musical style that’s proven infectious. On top of that, these gentlemen are fashionable to a fault and charismatic as hell. Before they hit the road for their Spring leg of touring, we sat down with them to get a feel for why they just don’t care, fashion into function and some of their greatest fears.
mxdwn: Your music tends to embody a sort of darker, politically incorrect content. How did that happen?

theOGM: I mean, from living. We come from backgrounds we struggle with hood, it’s shit like that… Bottled up aggression and bottled up anger – that’s pretty much what it is.

Eaddy: We didn’t want to take the route as the regular rappers who talk about guns and drugs and how many bodies they shot.

mxdwn: Did your direction happen pretty organically when you guys came together?

theOGM: Yeah, it definitely happened organically. I mean, we were already into the same things and we love dark shit like horror flicks. Things like that really excite us. It’s kind of like a no-brainer. And then with the music, we grew up on hardcore rap. So, it rolled together.

mxdwn: What kind of collaborations would you guys want to do?

theOGM: You know, that’s crazy. We never really thought about any collaborations that we would want to do. We like working with different producers and sounds. If we could work with really dope producers and make new sounds and stuff like that; but as far as artists go, I don’t know. I don’t think right now we want to work with anybody like that, but we are fans though. It’s not like fuck everybody. We are fans, but we just don’t want to work with anybody right now.

mxdwn: Are you still figuring out your own sound?

theOGM: Yeah, we got our things. We’re just trying to carve our own way so that nobody misconstrued it.

Eaddy: We don’t want to be riding somebody else’s wave or saying this person put us on…

theOGM: We don’t want to be featured just because somebody put us on or anything like that.

Eaddy: We just want to do it ourselves.

mxdwn: You guys kind of have found your own way. You are pretty stylish fellows. How has fashion affected your function?

theOGM: We’ve always been into style. That’s the crazy thing. Before all of this, this is how we dressed back home. We were always into that.

Eaddy: We’d wear like black and tight jeans. People just tend to look at you different like what we wear offends people walking down the street… It touches them in a certain way where they feel obligated to be like, “You’re this,” or, “You’re that.”

mxdwn: How have you overcome those obstacles?

Ho99o9 (collectively): Just don’t care.

theOGM: It’s just like tough skin. I mean, you can’t let nobody dictate what you want to do like dressing or anything.

mxdwn: You definitely catch a lot of attention and even have a sort of cultish following. How has that helped you guys progress?

theOGM: To be honest, that’s the base of it. The core of our fans are people that come to our shows. They’re following us. Shows in like New Jersey, New York, LA – we live in LA now – most of our shows are real intimate shows. Real fans come out to those kinds of things. They want to be a part of it. They are in it.

mxdwn: What can we expect to see at your shows?

theOGM: Who knows.

Eaddy: I don’t even think we know.

theOGM: Yeah, we really don’t. We just go off the energy and the vibe, and whatever happens happens.

mxdwn: Since you’re blowing up overnight, how do you feel playing live shows have helped you?

theOGM: That’s what we love doing. We love creating music. That’s one aspect of it – creating it in the studio – and then performing it is liberating. That’s where you get to let it explode and let it all out. It’s fun.

Eaddy: It’s fun because we’re ultimately fans of other artists, too. So, we go to shows and we have fun. It’s just like it feels good. I want to be in the crowd too.

mxdwn: Who inspires you?

theOGM: To be honest, Quentin Tarrantino.

Eaddy: Prince.

theOGM: Prince. We like Onyx, DMX, those are like old. As far as current, my peers, man. We work with a really solid team… Like Eaddy said, we’re fans too. So, we go to shows and turn it up.

Eaddy: Friends back home.

theOGM: Jersey all day man.

Eaddy: Dealing with your mom, taking out the garbarge…

mxdwn: So mom’s responsible for everything?

theOGM: She don’t even know it! My mom’s a hater. She never believed or supported what I was doing til it got turnt up because she didn’t know what I was doing. So, that kind of thing fuels me up like when people are just like, “Ah, you’re not going to do shit. You’re just going to be a bum.” That fuels me right there.

mxdwn: The fear of the unknown can also fuel people’s actions. What are your fears?

theOGM: Man, everything that I talk about in my songs. All my lyrics, those are my fears. People ask why do we talk about dark shit. These are my fears. These are things that I think about like dying or kicking somebody in the teeth. I’m scared to get kicked in the teeth and get my shit knocked out, so we talk about it. It’s like looking in the mirror.

Eaddy: My only fear is a Nestle chocolate milkshake.

theOGM: Not the chocolate one, the strawberry one.

mxdwn: Why is that?

Ho99o9 (collectively): Because those things is bad.

theOGM: They do bad things to your stomach! And Mexican food in the morning.

Eaddy: That’s my only fear – strawberry milkshakes.

Photo courtesy of Ho99o9.com