Sematary

Underground rapper Sematary stands at the crossroads of numerous different scenes, sounds, and subcultures. From a first listen to any of his projects, you'll hear elements of 2010s Chicago Drill in the explosive bass-boosted 808s, Shoegaze and Black Metal in the washed out guitars, and Horrorcore in his dark, eldritch bars and ominous album art. Much like artists such as Yung Lean, it's hard to pigeonhole him into any one genre or subculture — but the hundreds of millions of streams he's received on Spotify and Apple Music show that his mercurial status in the current music scene is a strength, not a weakness.

Growing up in Placer County, California and beginning his musical career as an 11-year-old playing around on GarageBand, Sematary grew up listening to a variety of artists, from Witch House pioneers Salem to rappers like Chief Keef, Sickboyrari (fka Black Kray), and Yung Lean. He attended the latter's Warlord Tour in San Francisco at age 15, a moment he credits as the impetus for wanting to make rap music. After graduating high school in 2019, he founded the collective Haunted Mound, a group of rappers and artists who share a love for the ___ sound that Sematary is credited for creating. If Bladee is the 'CEO' of his collective Drain Gang, then Sematary is very much the CEO of Haunted Mound — every artist attached to the collective was found by him, he does the artwork for each project, and he oversees the production of the group's music. In November of the same year, he released his debut mixtape Rainbow Bridge, featuring deep-fried, over-saturated artwork reminiscent of old No Limit albums and Chicago drill mixtapes, effectively setting the tone for Haunted Mound's visual aesthetics.

In October of 2021, Sematary moved into the "Butcher House," a decommissioned (you guessed it) butcher house, which serves as his place of residence, studio, and base of operations for the Haunted Mound. After two years of making music and growing Haunted Mound, Sematary dropped Rainbow Bridge 3, which garnered attention not only from fans but from bloggers, reviewers — and anyone with their ear to the underground. A surge in visibility brought a number of record labels offering deals, all of which he declined, doubling down on his DIY approach. Sematary's commitment to Haunted Mound's genre-bending sound, his rarefied visuals, and his secluded existence in the Butcher House have all contributed to his online mythos. His merch drops, frequently with 5000 or more items, sell out within minutes, snapped up by diehard fans. The Haunted Mound subreddit dissects each and every Sematary tweet or IG post ad infinitum, and 20 minute YouTube videos analyzing the "Haunted Mound iceberg" receive over 100,000 views. In 2022, Sematary announced a world tour, selling out dates from Melbourne to Poland. There was no slowing down in 2023: in January, Sematary dropped the mixtape Butcher House. From track 1, "Haunted Mound Reapers" (20M+ streams), it was a victory lap for the collective and their distinct sound, not least because the project included a feature from one of Sematary's boyhood heroes, Sickboyrari, on "Hallowed Be My Wrist".

Following the release of Butcher House, Sematary performed at Lyrical Lemonade's Summer Smash and collaborated with breakthrough Florida rapper BLP Kosher on "Huntin Wabbits" (5M+ Streams). He also released his King of the Graveyard EP, largely composed of old Black Metal samples mined from the bowels of YouTube and a throwback to the sound of his first mixtape, Rainbow Bridge. Perhaps the crowning achievement of a momentous year was collaborating with Chief Keef for "Fuck the World", masterminded by Zac FTP, creator of legendary underground streetwear brand Fuck The Population. Never one to rest on his laurels, Sematary also embarked on the 42-date North American Grey Day Tour with $uicideboy$, where he played to stadium crowds at the biggest venues of his career thus far.

2024 saw Sematary release his fifth project Bloody Angel, embark on his international Haunted

Mound Angels Tour with fellow Haunted Mound members Hackle, Buckshot, Oscar18, and Anvil, model for Palace x Vivienne Westwood, and garner critical acclaim from Interview Magazine, DAZED, Stereogum, and PAPER. Alongside executive-producing October Country, the debut project from Haunted Mound member Ghost Mountain, in March 2025, he's recently collaborated with xaviersobased on "Still Da Same", released two new solo songs, "Heart So Pure" and "Oxycodone", and is slated to perform at this year's Rolling Loud California ahead of his upcoming European Death's Wagon Tour with Ghost Mountain, Hackle, and Anvil this summer. With each step forward, however, Sematary remains laser-focused on his own work. As the leader of the Haunted Mound collective, who were selected last year as one of The FACE's Eight Names to Keep an Eye on Right Now, Sematary has also emerged as the leader of his own wave — combining the drone-influenced elements of Witch House with hard-hitting Trap to create an unforgiving, distorted sound that exists in a world all its own. Typically rapping over blown-out 808s and self-produced guitar riffs, the accompanying deep-fried visuals and haunting aesthetic have become synonymous with Sematary and Haunted Mound, evoking the feeling of rural American decay.

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BOILERPLATE:

Sematary is the underground artist known for blending elements of Chicago Drill with Black Metal and Witch House to create his own ominous sound and dark aesthetics. With hundreds of millions of streams across platforms, Sematary is the leader of a cult-like fanbase that's the subject of dissected internet lore and rabid debate. After graduating high school, Sematary founded the Haunted Mound collective, signing like-minded friends and artists Hackle, Buckshot, and Ghost Mountain. With the release of his monumental debut mixtape Rainbow Bridge in 2019, including tracks like "Bunny Suit" (22M+ Streams) and "Slaughter House" (20M+ Streams), Sematary introduced his new collective, with a unique sound and striking visual aesthetic. By the release of Rainbow Bridge 3 in 2021, Sematary had amassed a sizable online following of highly engaged fans as well as label offers from clamoring A&Rs — yet he declined them all in favor of maintaining a hands-on DIY approach. As the collective's founder and chief creative director, Sematary has a heavy hand in every facet of the group — the combination of Sematary's commitment to Haunted Mound's genre-bending sound, his deep-fried visuals, and his secluded existence in a

decommissioned butcher house, the collective's base of operations, have culminated in a mysterious online mythos. In January 2023, Sematary dropped his fifth mixtape Butcher House, which was a victory lap for the collective and their sound — including a feature from one of Sematary's boyhood heroes, Sickboyrari, on "Hallowed Be My Wrist". 2024 saw Sematary release his fifth project Bloody Angel, embark on his international Haunted Mound Angels Tour with fellow Haunted Mound members Hackle, Buckshot, Oscar18, and Anvil, model for Palace x Vivienne Westwood, and finally garner critical acclaim from Interview Magazine, DAZED, Stereogum, and PAPER. Alongside executive-producing October Country, the debut project from Haunted Mound member Ghost Mountain, he's recently collaborated with xaviersobased on "Still Da Same and, BLP Kosher on "Huntin Wabbits" (3M+ Streams). In addition to his upcoming appearance at Rolling Loud California on March 16th and his European Death's Wagon Tour with Ghost Mountain, Hackle, and Anvil this summer, Sematary has also performed at Lyrical Lemonade's Summer Smash Festival, played to stadium crowds as direct support on $uicideboy$'s Grey Day Tour, and collaborated with Chief Keef, one of his biggest musical influences, on "Fuck the World" for FTP. As the leader of the Haunted Mound collective, who were selected last year as one of The FACE's Eight Names to Keep an Eye on Right Now across music, art, film, literature, and fashion, Sematary has also emerged as the leader of his own wave — combining the drone-influenced elements of Witch House with hard-hitting Trap to create an unforgiving, distorted sound that exists in a world all its own. Typically rapping over blown-out 808s and self-produced guitar riffs, the accompanying deep-fried visuals and haunting aesthetic have become synonymous with Sematary and Haunted Mound, evoking the feeling of rural American decay.