Born from a witch’s cauldron in an alley in Detroit, Lyssa Cer emerged from the primordial ooze with a deep-seated passion for music. As KYP’s first and only female artist, she has broken boundaries with her literary lyrics and macabre melodies. Her journey through horrorcore history started when, at a Twiztid concert in Detroit in 2003, Lyssa met Demonic, Wayne Dub, Toxzik, Wicked K, Stewsie, Willy, Leatherman, and the original members of the Murder Mob. Meeting this megagroup of raw talents showed her something she never dreamed possible: kids like them could make music too.
When she met Mental Ward’s Stitchez at the Gathering in 2004, she even believed she could even make music. In 2005, Stitchez and BK of Mental Ward gave her an audition for a spot on their own label, Kill Yourself Productionz (KYP). So, in the dining room of her apartment, Lyssa wrote and recorded her first song, a track featuring BK and Demonic entitled “Creepy Crawlin’”. After declaring she hadn’t completely fucked it up, Mental Ward decided to sign Lyssa Cer to KYP, and the rest is a shitton more history.
In 2007, Lyssa Cer released her first solo album, Murder Scene Queen, the first installment in what would become her “Mother Gorelore” trilogy. Following the release of MSQ, Lyssa collaborated with TC and Demonic on the four-song ep We Ain’t Dead Yet, featuring tracks like “Deadzone” and fan-favorite “Abortion Clinic”. Next, Lyssa contributed verses to eight songs on The Bitch Chronicles, an album with collab songs including Razakel, Smallz One, and Ruby. In 2010, Lyssa, Razakel, and Smallz One reunited reunited under the moniker Dead Girlz for the lp Night of the Living Dead Girlz, the first full-length album by a female horrorcore supergroup in the genre’s history.
Lyssa Cer released her second solo album in 2011, entitled Gorelore. Now more focused, Lyssa created a concept album which takes her to hell and back before ending with a police shoot-out. Also that year, Lyssa took over KYP–making her the first female to own and also rap under a horrorcore label. With these new responsibilities, she spent the next few years focused on collaborative projects outside her typical solo fare.
Lyssa followed Gorelore by teaming up with Razakel for a third time for a full-length project. Released in 2012, the album, titled Manson Theory, has since been named to Alternative Press’s list of “20 Horrorcore Albums That Are Better Than Your Favorite Scary Movie.” Next came Lyssa’s contributions to many of the tracks on Murder Mob’s 2013 release, Ready to Ride. In 2014, Lyssa also contributed tracks and verses to the ep sampler Something Else, which was given out as a preorder bonus with Demonic’s solo album, Something Murderous.
Lyssa began working on her third solo album and the final installment of the Mother Gorelore trilogy in 2015. Titled Black Site: Prisoner 08280718, the conclusion to the Mother Gorelore story comes in two parts: Volume One is entitled Horror(Gen)Pop and Volume Two will be called Solitary Confinement. She took a music vacation from 2017-2022 in order to finish her graduate degree (which she did!), have a baby (a healthy girl!) and get married. Her self-imposed vacation has now ended, and a2023 release date is projected for both volumes of Black Site: Prison 08280718. A group project entitled “Blue Velvet” is also in the works and slated for a 2023-2024 release.
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