Ghostemane, aka Eric Whitney, is an American rapper and singer. Growing up in Florida, Ghostemane initially played in local hardcore punk and doom metal bands.
He moved to Los Angeles, California after starting his career as a rapper. He eventually achieved success in underground music.
Thanks to the combination of rap and metal, Ghostemane became popular on SoundCloud among underground artists: Scarlxrd, Bones, Suicideboys. In 2018, Ghostemane released the album N/O/I/S/E. It was highly anticipated in the underground due to heavy influence from industrial and nu metal bands.
Childhood and youth Ghostman
Eric Whitney was born April 15, 1991 in Lake Worth, Florida. His parents moved to Florida from New York just a year before Eric was born.
His father worked as a phlebotomist (a person who collects and performs blood tests). Eric grew up with a younger brother. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to a new home in West Palm Beach, Florida.
As a teenager, he was mainly interested in hardcore punk music. He learned to play the guitar and performed with several bands including Nemesis and the Seven Serpents.
From childhood, Eric studied very well. He had high grades in school. In addition, he also played football almost all of his childhood.
Eric aspired to be a musician from a young age. However, the presence of a strict father kept him from trying diligently to fulfill his dream. His father "forced" him to play football in high school. Eric was later told to join the US Marines.
Everything changed when his father passed away. Eric was 17 at the time. He was deeply saddened by the death of his father, but also gained confidence that he could do whatever he wanted in life.
However, Eric's dreams were somewhere else. He was very interested in reading philosophy, the occult and various sciences, especially astrophysics. By his mid-teens, he also became very interested in the doom metal genre of music.
Whitney received a high GPA in high school and went to college to study astrophysics. He also continued to play in his bands such as Nemesis and Seven Serpents.
After graduating from college, Eric decided to focus on making money. He started working in a call center. Some time later, he got a promotion. However, he could not forget about music all this time.
The beginning of a rap career Ghostman
Whitney was introduced to rap music when he was the guitarist in the hardcore punk band Nemesis. And his colleague introduced him to one rapper in Memphis. Eric recorded his first rap song with the Nemesis members just for fun.
However, he became interested in rap as it provided more creative freedom than rock music. The members of his group were not very interested in rap music. Ghostemane has learned how to edit videos, photos in Photoshop to create his own album covers and music videos.
First releases by Ghostmain
Eric has released several mixtapes and EPs online. His debut mixtape Blunts n Brass Monkey was released in 2014. During this time, Ghostemane used the name ill Biz as his stage name. In the same year, he released another mixtape, Taboo. This EP was released independently by the rapper in October 2014. It featured Evil Pimp and Scruffy Mane as invited guests.
Working full-time in Florida, Ghostemane has released many singles on Sound Cloud. By that time, he had built an underground fan base and gradually became popular. He knew that there was no place in his hometown for the music he was interested in. He decided to take the big step and moved to Los Angeles in 2015.
In 2015, Ghostemane released their debut EP, Ghoste Tales. And then some more EPs like Dogma and Kreep. In the same year, he released his debut album Oogabooga.
Popularity is on the rise
In 2015, when he thought that a musical career was developing, he left his job and started making music in his spare time. After coming to Los Angeles, he met JGRXXN and joined the rap collective Schemaposse. It also included the late rapper Lil Peep, as well as Craig Xen.
In April 2016, the Schemaposse team disbanded. Ghostemane is now alone again, without a rap group to back him up. However, he has worked with rappers such as Pouya and Suicideboys.
In April 2017, Pouya and Ghostemane released the single 1000 Rounds. It went viral and gained over 1 million views shortly after its release on YouTube. The duo also announced the release of the mixtape they worked on together in May 2018.
In October 2018, Ghostemane teamed up with rapper Zubin to record the single Broken.
Then Ghostemane released his album N / O / I / S / E. Eric drew inspiration for it from Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails. Many songs from the album were also written under the influence of the legendary heavy metal band Metallica.
The style and sound characteristics of Ghostemane
One of the reasons for his amazing underground success was the genre of music itself. Often touching on dark topics (depression, the occult, nihilism, death), his songs have become popular among like-minded people.
Ghostemane's music has an enveloping and dark atmosphere.
A self-proclaimed hardcore child inspired both by the geniuses of fast and technical rap from the southern and midwestern regions, and by heavy metal bands.
The rhythm of his songs often changes several times per track, from menacing moaning vocals to piercing screams. His songs often sound like it's Ghostemane performing the song with the same Ghostemane.
He uses this duality of vocals to display a world view, using the depth of philosophical research and knowledge of the occult. His early musical influences are Lagwagon, Green Day, Bone Thugs-N Harmony and Three 6 Mafia.
