Prozak

Prozak, born Steven Shippy, has spent years embedded in the Detroit-area horrorcore rap world. His early work came through the groups Bedlam and Project: Deadman, after which he stepped into a solo recording career beginning in 2004. He also created Wickedstock, the yearly horrorcore festival staged in the Detroit region.

Shippy first laid down rap tracks in 1995 and launched his initial crew, Strict9ne, with childhood friend Heckles in 1997. Toward the end of the decade he grew tightly linked to the local horrorcore circuit, handling security duties for the R.O.C. and the second-generation House of Krazees collective. A friendship with Madness, also known as Curt D, prompted the pair to start Bedlam in 1999 in the mid-Michigan city of Saginaw, roughly two hours north of Detroit.

The duo put out several self-released Bedlam albums, among them multiple entries in the Chemical Imbalancez series, before signing to Long Range Distribution. That label issued Bedlamitez Rize in 2003 and Shock Treatment—originally released in 2002—in 2004. Prozak began working alone the same year, delivering his debut album Aftabirth through Long Range Distribution. He also joined forces with Mike E. Clark, a former Insane Clown Posse producer, to form the duo Project: Deadman and release Self Inflicted on MSC Music Entertainment.

Several years elapsed before he returned with his second solo album, Tales from the Sick, in 2008—his first project for the Strange Music label. Paranormal in 2012 and We All Fall Down in 2013 performed more strongly on the charts, each landing near number ten on Billboard’s rap ranking. Black Ink arrived in 2015 and featured appearances from Tech N9ne, Krizz Kaliko, and fellow Michigan natives Twiztid.