The 15 Scariest Rap Songs

Greetings, ghouls, and goblins. When Halloween is upon us, we must celebrate the mayhem and mischief with the appropriate music. Ready to venture into the night and get your freak on with zombies and werewolves? Good. Here are 15 scary rap songs to get this party started.

01
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Kanye West - "Monster"

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Looking for a Halloween rap song to get the party started? Cue this monstrous posse cut and watch the crowd go wild. Bon Iver kicks things off with: "I shoot the lights out/Hide til its bright out/Whoa, just another lonely night/Are you willing to sacrifice your life?" Later, Jay-Z rattles off a list of all the creatures that spooked us out as kids: "Sasquatch, Godzilla, King Kong, Lochness, Goblin, Ghoul, a zombie with no conscience."

02
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Gravediggaz - "6 Feet Deep"

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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."

03
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Jazzy Jeff + Fresh Prince - "A Nightmare on My Street"

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 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.

04
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B.o.B. - "Ghost in the Machine"

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Driven by dour piano licks, "Ghost in the Machine" is a dark and creepy track from Bobby Ray. The reflective grandeur of transcendent emotions overwhelms B.o.B, as he cries out: "I'm terrified, like I've seen a UFO."

05
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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.

06
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Ras Kass - "Interview with a Vampire"

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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.

07
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Kid Cudi - "Maniac"

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Like a full moon rising, "Maniac" gradually unfolds with a gothic vibe. Cudi and Cage add the perfect the touch of horror with lines about a psychotic disturbance deep within. "It lives inside of me, eating what's in its way," Cage laments. If you want to turn up the surreal vibe a few notches, set this one to a strobe light.

08
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Bone Thugs N Harmony - "Hell Sent"

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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!"

09
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The Notorious B.I.G. - "Suicidal Thoughts"

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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 Thoughts" is still one hell of a spooky song 11 years after his real death.

10
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Eminem - "Stan"

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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.

11
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Tech N9ne - "What's Ya Psycho"

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Tech Nina has crafted his share of spooky songs over the years. "What's Ya Psycho?" is a monstrous anthem that can turn a graveyard into a dancehall full of zombie troupes.

12
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Geto Boys - "Mind Playing Tricks on Me"

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In "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 Bushwick 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 pounding concrete the whole time.

13
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Immortal Technique - "Dance with the Devil"

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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.

14
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Ganksta N-I-P - Horror Movie Rap

N-I-P is a certified psycho who probably deserves his own list. I mean, has there ever been a hip-hop artist scarier than this guy? Sample rhymes: "I ain't gon' lie, I feel like killing my niece." And that's just the opening salvo on N-I-P's debut LP. The rest of the track plays out like one sick horror flick, replete with severed heads and holy matrimony with a horse. Don't ask, don't neigh?

15
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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.