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"Punk is punk. It's an attitude and a lifestyle," says Eaddy, one half genre-defying, experimental band Ho99o9 (pronounced horror). The group's other half, theOGM, nods sagely, a stray dreadlock bobbing in time to the motion of his head. They've brought with them a vinyl copy of their debut studio album, United States of Horror. The artwork is an image of Christ's crucified body hanging from a knife; Jesus's head has been replaced with that of a crying baby. To the upper left, there's an image of a peace sign interlocked with an anarchist symbol. It's a juxtaposition that couldn't be better suited for a band that proclaims, "if y'all want peace then you better be ready for war."

Race, class, religion, drug abuse, necrophilia and even horror movies have all become topics of the duo's gruesome output. And even though theOGM describes himself as staunchly non-political but very aware, Ho99o9's music says otherwise - they actively rage against oppression, racism, sexism, classism, and the tragic realties of existing on societal fringes. The irony, of course, is that the barbarity that has made their music a subject of fascination and revulsion, is mined from real world experiences.

In essence, Ho99o9's music becomes a discomfiting mirror which magnifies the atrocities and deviancies of our culture. We caught up the guys to talk about the inspiration behind the album, channeling rage into actionable change, and why punk is a state of mind everyone can get behind.

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What inspired United States of Horror?

It's a life album - these are our experiences, our friends' experiences, and the things we scroll through our feeds and see. We wanted to channel all of the things we've gone through in our lives, whether it was five years ago or 10 years ago.

What about the title?

theOGM: It just felt right.

Eaddy: A good friend of mine, named Skunk, he's from this band called Spewing Cum, we used to bounce off of each other's artwork. I do art too, for the band and such. He sent me some artwork that had USH (United States of Horror) on it. This was a while ago. It was a sick ass, sick ass piece. We still haven't even used it.

The "City Rejects" video takes on Trump, police brutality and racism in the media, among other things. How much did current events and politics play into the album?

We're not really trying to be political. We're not trying to run for office and we're not trying to be cops or presidents. We are just expressing what we see in our everyday life. All of that fucking Republicans or Democrats shit is like another world that we don't even want to deal with. That shit is like a brain cramp. We prefer to be aware. Being aware is how you affect change within yourself, your people and your community.

So you guys are interested in change on a grassroots level?

Definitely, it starts from self and then community. We also just wanted to make a statement about being bold, being fierce and not taking anybody's shit.

Why did you start the album with "War is Hell"?

We wanted the first song to be very loud and abrasive. Obviously there's the intro, but then the first song is completely in your face. That's how our performances are. That's what people notice. If you come see us live, that's what it's about. We're at war right now. Look at our current leader...We just detonated bombs. We're in hell right now. War is hell. Hell is war. We're in it right now.

Is that why you say, 'if you want peace then you better be ready for war"?

Yes, destroy and rebuild. The reason why people want change is because something is fucked up. If you want peace, you have to be ready for war. You have to be ready to get your hands dirty. You have to be involved. You have to use your platform. You don't have to go out and protest, but if you have another platform use it. "Street Power" is about that. It's about taking over your territory and beating the oppressor.

You guys are huge fans of slasher films. Did any horror movies or novels influence the project?

No, they didn't have too much influence on this current project. The stuff that we released before had some movie influences. We do have one song loosely based on The Purge.

Which song?

theOGM: "Black Hole," which is the last song on the album. The lyrics are pretty much like, 'yo, don't get caught in the darkness,' you know what I'm saying? There's wild shit going on out there.

What attracts you to the macabre?

theOGM: I'm from it. I'm from the hood, literally. Fucking house getting broken into, fucking crackheads around the block, I grew up on that. I guess it's easier for us to express ourselves because we've gone through a lot. We have our own stories individually, with our parents, with friends, even going to school. Going to school is like a whole new ball game in the hood. All of those things make me comfortable with darkness.

Some of your more subversive lyrics and imagery tend to shock. Is that your intention?

theOGM: Yes. We're showing and telling about the horrors in the world, and the horrors within ourselves too. One of our covers that he [Eaddy] made says, 'You are not born a racist, you are taught to be a racist.' That, to me, means so much. I think what we do may be shocking to the people who haven't experienced that shit in the real world.

Eaddy: Yeah, the people that go through that shit on a regular basis understand that shit right away because they can relate. Yeah, there's oppression. I know it. I'm a person of color or whatever else. They get it right away. Only the motherfuckers that haven't experienced that are shocked. They're like, 'oh my God, I can't believe this is going on.'

So how do you speak to those who can't immediately relate?

Obviously we want to speak to everybody, but we're also not forcing anyone. We don't want to force because politics is forcing you. Religion forces you. Cops force you. You're being forced to do so many things. We want to reach out to everybody. We're not forcing you to listen but we do have a message. Those people who can't relate from experience can still understand too. Unless they're full-on racist or just completely ignorant.

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What were some of your early influences?

We're from New Jersey even though we live in LA now. We come from East Coast rap, that fucking grimy shit like DMX and Onyx. That's all we listened to growing up. Later, in our teen years, we started hanging out and going out to New York City. We got involved in live shows and seeing that got us digging deeper, going onto YouTube and Googling bands. Since we already had rap as our background it was cool to incorporate those other styles, especially in live performances. We wanted to be able to be visceral, energetic, explosive and real.

People have a lot of trouble categorizing your music. What kind of freedom does that give you?

We've read a few reviews from respected people explaining what they've heard, what they've seen, and how it comes together. It really doesn't go too well when you try to define us. People's minds get fucking cramped with punk, rap, noise, post punk, white noise and whatever else. It gives us way more freedom because no one expects just one thing. Every song is not the same thing over and over again. We have inspirations and sounds and noises from all over. We have flavors for all genres. Herbs and spices.

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What about the label 'punk'? You guys get that a lot. Does it mean anything to you?

theOGM: To me, it's just all about doing me and doing what I want to do.

Eaddy: Yeah, punk is punk. It's an attitude and a lifestyle that's beyond bullshit. It's just the music. You can listen to a band and it can be great and you can never know what they look like. They can be fucking albino or something. This could be the greatest punk or rock band and they can wear a mask their whole career.

From band tees to song lyrics, rappers are increasingly identifying with rockstar personas. What are your thoughts on that, especially since you draw from both?

theOGM: First, I would say to these rappers: 'If you don't listen to the band, you shouldn't be wearing the shirt.' In rap culture it's always been a thing to look good or look flashy. Motherfuckers be wearing a shirt and they don't know who the fuck is on the shirt. That's always been acceptable in rap culture. In rock culture, motherfuckers don't wear a band or represent any brand if they don't know that shit. Us really being from both of those scenes, I don't really like that shit.

Eaddy: Yeah, that shit really does not fly in my neighborhood. Right now, it's not genuine. It doesn't come from the ground up. They want to look cool. They see something that looks cool. You see every rapper wearing an Iron Maiden and Metallica shirt now. 

Stream United States of Horror in full below.

Joey Bada$$ talks his complicated ties to America in an exclusive Highsnobiety Music feature

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