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Insane Clown Posse

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Insane Clown Posse

The Insane Clown Posse (ICP) is an American horrorcore/hip hop/rapcore duo originally from Wayne, Michigan, consisting of Violent J (Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (Joseph Utsler). They almost always display themselves in character in full black and white "evil clown" makeup that could be compared to the corpse paint of black metal musicians or the makeup of the rock group KISS. Violent J's makeup is usually drawn as a happy face, while Shaggy's is an angry face. The group has obtained two platinum and seven gold albums, and has a dedicated following of fans, known as Juggalos.

History

Early history (1989 - 1991)

The first name the group was known by was The JJ Boys in 1989, a trio consisting of Violent J, Shaggy 2 Dope, and John Kickjazz a.k.a John Utsler. The group formed while its members were still in their early teens. Kickjazz is Shaggy 2 Dope's brother, and performed on Inner City Posse albums Enter the Ghetto Zone, Bassment Cuts, and Dog Beats. John Kickjazz left the group before Carnival of Carnage was released. Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope still wanted ICP to be a trio, and so brought in a local rapper named Kalyn Garcia (also known as Greeze-E). Garcia appeared on Beverly Kills 50187.[citation needed] He subsequently left as well, and ICP have remained a duo ever since. ICP formed Psychopathic Records with manager Alex Abbiss in 1991. Abbiss managed the group until June 2006, when he retired from the label. [1]

First albums (1992 - 1995)

In 1992, ICP released Carnival of Carnage, on their independent label Psychopathic Records, which they designated as "The First Joker's Card". The group hinted that the next five major-release albums would be numbered in this fashion. They also stated that "the end will consume us all" once the Sixth Joker's Card was revealed, and that their fans would know all there is to know about the Dark Carnival (alternately referred to as "The Dead Carnival" on The Riddlebox)— something that the band refers to on every album as a powerful force which has spoken to them.

In 1994 the band released the second Joker card The Ringmaster on Psychopathic Records followed by The Riddlebox in 1995 on Jive Records.

Milenko/Jeckel Brothers era (1996 - 1999)

In 1997 The Duo Released the 4th Joker Card, The Great Milenko.

The album was recorded at the studios of Hollywood Records, a Disney-owned record label. After recording was completed, a board of Disney representatives threatened to halt the release of the album unless some significant changes were made to its material. Fearing that their major-label debut would never see the light of day, ICP obliged and was forced to remove three whole songs from the album, and alter the content of others. However, just hours after the album's initial release, it was unexpectedly pulled from the shelves. ICP's upcoming tour was cancelled, and they were dropped from the record label. It was later revealed that Disney had received much criticism from certain religious organizations, and, in fear of tarnishing their reputation, forced Hollywood Records to drop the act.

A media frenzy soon followed, fueled by ICP appearances on MTV expressing outrage over their plight by Hollywood Records. Originally unwilling to nullify ICP's recording contract and relinquish ownership of the album, a deal was eventually reached with Island Records to promptly release the album in an uncut form. In the end, the controversy turned out to be a blessing in disguise for ICP; the high-profile debacle had created huge public interest in the group and their music The first single "Halls of Illusions" and the second, "Hokus Pokus" both recives some, but very little, airplay on MTV. The album went on to become certified platinum.

In 1999, they released the 5th Joker Card, The Amazing Jeckel Brothers.

The Amazing Jeckel Brothers debuted at number four on the Billboard charts, just beneath the Backstreet Boys during the boy band craze, two years after the Disney scandal. The single "Another Love Song" had a video made and it was put in MTV's reqular rotation. The duo also made an appearance at The Woodstock 99 Festavil. The Amazing Jeckel Brothers would prove to be ICP's biggest success in the mainstream.

The Amazing Jeckel Brothers was certified Gold.

Bizzar Bizaar era (2000 - 2001)

In 2000 the ICP Took a break from the joker cards but still returned to the studio. The result was Bizaar and Bizzar. Both albums were released on the same day.

Before the release of these albums, Sharon Osbourne, on The Howard Stern Show, bet Insane Clown Posse that their next record wouldn't sell more than 200,000 copies, and if it did she would pay them a large sum of money. Insane Clown Posse have said they were going to donate the money to charity.[citation needed] She had originally said 50,000 albums to which they responded that it would sell 200,000.[citation needed] Together Bizaar and Bizzar have sold over 200,000, selling over 100,000 copies each.[citation needed]

ICP also clashed with MTV with the release of their videos "Lets go all the way" (which was a cover song from the band Sly Fox.) and "Tilt - A - Whirl". MTV agreed to show the videos, but broadcasted them late at night. Eventually ICP requested that every Juggalo/Juggalette vote for the video "Lets go all the way" on MTV's Daily top 10 show, TRL. Despite the overwhelming amount votes and the Juggalo attendance at the TRL taping, MTV refused to play the video. ICP was rejected in favor of more "popular" bands. This was also confirmed by Violent J's brother Robert Bruce (A.K.A. Jumpsteady), who was in attendance at the taping. MTV was confronted with this and refused to acknowledge they had any part in it, but that assertion is contradicted in Violent J's biography Behind the Paint.

Bizaar album cover

The Sixth Joker's Card (2003 - 2004)

Violent J: "There is one Sixth Joker's Card, but there are two versions." While the face of the Sixth Joker's Card was "The Wraith" (or simply Death), The Wraith had two "exhibits" to present to all who will listen; The Wraith: Shangri-La (Heaven) and The Wraith: Hell's Pit (Hell). Each of The Wraith's exhibits was given its own album.

In November 2002, ten years after the first Joker's Card was released, The Wrath:Shangri La was released. The album was frowned upon by critics, even to the point where it was somewhat labeled "The Worst Album of All Time by Blender Magazine when ICP were labeled the worst artist of all time it said it was their worst album. Despite the negativity the album spawned a successful single "Juggalo Homies" which had heavy radio airplay and a Music Video that was played on networks like MTV2 and Fuse.

In August 2004, They Released The Wraith: Hell's Pit. The album was better accepted by critics but did not recive as much media attention. "Bowling Balls" was released as a radio promo and a video was on the DVD bonus disc to the album.

The Wrath:Shangri La

Future plans (2005 - present)

The band is currently working on a new album The Tempest.

For a long time, the release date was listed simply as "2006". The final release date, September 19 2006, was revealed in the liner notes of Shaggy 2 Dope's solo album, 'Fuck the Fuck Off'. On August 31, Insane Clown Posse released news that The Tempest will be delayed a "couple" of months. On December 5th, 2006, it was announced that The Tempest will be arriving on March 20, 2007.

Collaborations

Key collaborations include, but are not limited to:

Fan base and criticism

Main article: Juggalo

Fans of ICP are called Juggalos (female fans may be alternately referred to as Juggalettes). "Juggalo" is derived from one of Violent J's alter-egos, "The Juggla", a psychotic carnival juggler from the ICP song of the same name, and somehow the fans came to be known as "Juggalos" in homage. Juggalos often paint their faces in black-and-white clownface makeup, especially at concerts headlined by Psychopathic Records artists.

The term Juggalo came from the area that ICP grew up in, that being Southwest Detroit, Michigan. In the book Behind the Paint, Violent J, Joseph Bruce, details the adoption of several slang terms that have been incorporated into "Juggalo" culture, including "juggalo", "ninja", and "neden". Juggalo is the Southwest Detroit equivalent of "homie" or friend. Ninja is also interchangeable with juggalo, as "homie" or friend. Neden is a slang term for a vagina.

ICP have been voted the worst band of any genre of music in various magazine polls including Spin, Blender[2] and Rolling Stone.[citation needed] They have also been criticized for the extreme violent and misogynistic lyrical content of their music [3][4].

ICP also had a publicized "beef" with Eminem. Among other actions taken on their side of the feud, ICP recorded over one of Eminem's songs (My Name Is into Slim Anus). This diss song was a shot at Dr. Dre and Eminen as gay lovers, ICP merely replaced certain words in Eminem's song. Eminem responded in his Multi-Platinum album, The Marshall Mathers LP in his song "Marshall Mathers," as well as in a Skit on the same album. ICP finally responded with the original track "Nothing but a Bitch Thang." . Originally released as a free download on ICP's website, the track was later re-released on Forgotten Freshness 3, as well as in the Pendulum series of comic books. Though ICP addressed certain aspects, many critics regarded the track as derivative, the majority of it consisting of accusations of homosexuality of both Eminem and Dr. Dre; Eminem, however used the same tactic on "Ken Kaniff" on The Marshall Mathers LP.

On February 1 2006, self-proclaimed Juggalo Jacob D. Robida attacked people in a gay bar in New Bedford, Massachusetts with a handgun and a hatchet, a weapon featured on the logo of ICP's record label, Psychopathic Records. Mr. Robida wore a swastika tattoo and flaunted Nazi insignia and paraphernalia on his website, and was a former teen cadet in the Junior Police Academy. [5] On February 5, he killed a traffic officer at a routine stop. When police stopped him, he killed the passenger in the car and opened fire on the police. He was shot twice in the head during the shootout with the police and died later in the hospital. [6]

On February 7 2006, Insane Clown Posse released a statement on the Robida attacks. Alex Abbiss, ICP's manager, extended ICP's condolences and prayers to the families of the victims. "This guy had problems," said Abbiss, and "anyone going into a bar swinging an axe and shooting a gun ... would clearly have to be insane and out of their mind to do this." He went on, "it's quite obvious that this guy had no clue what being a Juggalo is all about. If anyone knows anything at all about ICP, then you know that they have never, ever been down or will be down with any racist or bigotry bullshit." Abbiss claimed ICP was being scapegoated by the media.

Professional wrestling

The Insane Clown Posse have long been involved in professional wrestling. In 1998, they were brought in by the then World Wrestling Federation, now known as World Wrestling Entertainment. ICP also wrestled for the other two major North American companies during the late nineties: WCW (1999) and ECW (1997). In 2003 they were heavily involved in TNA even having Dark Carnival matches during Jeff Jarretts heel turn. They also ran their own independent promotion: Juggalo Championshit Wrestling. Two video games have been loosely based on their promotion: Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This At Home and its sequel Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood. Fans of professional wrestling do not like ICP as wrestlers because they were never trained as wrestlers, and are quite terrible at wrestling. Almost every one of their matches has been heavily criticized by the IWC due to the poor match quality.

Discography

Albums

Album cover Date of release Title Label U.S. Billboard peak U.S. sales
October 18, 1992 Carnival of Carnage Psychopathic Records ' -Up for Gold certification[citation needed]
March 8, 1994 The Ringmaster Psychopathic Records - Gold
Oct 10, 1995 The Riddle Box Jive Records/Psychopathic Records #16 (Heatseekers) Gold
File:Greatmilenko.jpg June, 24 1997 The Great Milenko Island Records/Psychopathic Records #63 Platinum
File:Jake Jeckel.jpg May 25, 1999 The Amazing Jeckel Brothers Island Records/Psychopathic Records #4 Gold
October 31, 2000 Bizaar Island Records/Psychopathic Records #20 -250,000+
October 31, 2000 Bizzar Island Records/Psychopathic Records #21 -250,000+
November 11, 2002 The Wraith: Shangri-La Riveria/Psychopathic Records #15 -
August 31, 2004 The Wraith: Hell's Pit Psychopathic Records #12 -
March 20, 2007 The Tempest Psychopathic Records - -

EPs

Album cover Date of release Title Label U.S. Billboard peak U.S. sales
File:50187.JPG 1993 Beverly Kills 50187 Psychopathic Records - 200,000+
August 5, 1994 The Terror Wheel EP Psychopathic Records - 200,000+
1996 Tunnel of Love EP Psychopathic Records - 300,000+
May 17, 2005 The Calm Psychopathic Records #32 -

Compilations, remixes, etc.

Album cover Date of release Title Label U.S. Billboard peak U.S. sales
August, 18 1998 Forgotten Freshness Volumes 1 & 2 Island records/Psychopathic Records #46 Gold
December, 18 2001 Forgotten Freshness Volume 3 Island Records/Psychopathic Records #10 (Independent Albums) -
File:Icp-forgotten-freshness-vol4.jpg November, 29 2005 Forgotten Freshness Volume 4 Psychopathic Records #88 -
November 14, 2006 Wraith: Remix Albums Psychopathic Records - -

Singles

Year Title U.S. UK Album
1994 Chicken Huntin' - '- The Ringmaster
1995 The Jokers Wild - - The Riddlebox
1997 Halls of Illusions - #56 The Great Milenko
1998 Hokus Pokus - #53 The Great Milenko
1997 Santa's a Fat Bitch #67 - Forgotten Freshness Volumes 1 & 2
1998 Piggy Pie - - The Great Milenko
1999 Another Love Song - - The Amazing Jeckel Brothers
1999 Fuck The World - - The Amazing Jeckel Brothers
1999 Terrible - - The Amazing Jeckel Brothers
2000 Tilt-A-Whirl - - Bizaar
2000 Let's Go All The Way - - Bizzar
2003 Juggalo Homies - - The Wraith: Shangri-La
2004 Bowling Balls - - The Wraith: Hell's Pit
2005 The People - - Forgotten Freshness Volume 4

Hallowicked give-aways

  1. "Dead Pumpkins" (1994)
  2. "Mr. Rotten Treats" (1995)
  3. "Witches & Warlocks" (1996)
  4. "Mr. Johnson's Head (Remix)" (1997)
  5. "Pumpkin Carvers" (with Twiztid & Kottonmouth Kings) (1998)
  6. "Sleepwalker" (1999)
  7. "Hallowicked 2000 Box Set" (Includes Bizaar, Bizzar, Freek Show, Hallowicked 2000 EP, Hallowicked shirt, Hallowicked sticker, Hallowicked flier, certificate of authenticity) (2000)
  8. "Every Halloween" (2001)
  9. "Children of the Wasteland" (Blaze Ya Dead Homie) (2001)
  10. "Waited Till Halloween" (Twiztid) (2001)
  11. "Silence of the Hams" (Violent J & Esham) (2002)
  12. "Dead Body Man 2002" (Blaze Ya Dead Homie) (2002)
  13. "Thug Pit" (with Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, Kottonmouth Kings, Tech N9ne, & Esham) (2003)
  14. "Murda Cloak" (with Anybody Killa) (2004)
  15. "Wicked Hellaween" (2005)
  16. "Blood Red Rum" (2006)

Filmography

  • Stranglemania (1997) This very rare VHS tape (now out of print) was the 1995 IWA King Of The Deathmatch tournament featuring Superleather, Cactus Jack, Terry Funk, and many more. Violent J and Shaggy dubbed over the commentary and added their own humorous commentary, similar to those on their JCW tapes.
  • Juggalo Championshit Wrestling: Volumes 1, 2, and 3
  • Strangle-Mania 2 (2000)
  • The Shaggy Show — an internet-based reality show from the road. The concept was taken from an identically-named song on the Amazing Jeckel Brothers album (1999).
  • Shockumentary (DVD & VHS) — this is ICPs hard-to-find documentary. It features all the flavor of the documentary and five music videos.
  • Big Money Hustlas (2000)
  • Bootlegged in L.A. (2003)
  • Big Money Rustlas (2008) (Pre-preduction) (unlikely)

Source: RIAA Searchable Database (search for "Insane Clown Posse", not "ICP".)

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