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The Insane Clown Posse (ICP) are an American hardcore hip hop/horrorcore rap duo originally from Detroit, Michigan, consisting of Violent J (Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (Joseph Utsler). They almost always professionally display themselves 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 smiling face, while Shaggy's is an angry face. While never achieving full mainstream success, the group has nevertheless obtained a number of platinum and gold albums as well as a dedicated fan base.

Early history

The first incarnation of the group was as The JJ Boys in 1989, a trio consisting of Violent J, Shaggy 2 Dope, and John Utsler, also known as John Kickchazz. The group formed while its members were still in their early teens, and the trio later changed their name to "Inner City Posse". Kickchazz is Shaggy's brother and performed on Inner City Posse albums Enter the Ghetto Zone, Bassment Cuts, and Dog Beats. He 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), who appeared on Beverly Kills 50187. He subsequently left as well, and ICP have remained a duo ever since, forming Psychopathic Records with manager Alex Abbiss in 1991. Abbiss managed the group until June 2006, when he retired from the label. Bill "Billy Bill" Dail currently acts as ICP's manager, as well as president of Psychopathic Records.

The six Joker's Cards

In 1992, ICP released Carnival of Carnage, which they designated as "The First Joker's Card". The group hinted at the next five major-release albums being numbered in this fashion. They also stated that "the end of time 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 (alternatively 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 ICP's songs, the Dark Carnival often took the shape of a travelling carnival road-show, where instead of harmless entertainment, the clowns and rides serve up death and pain as punishment for the wicked.

The title and theme for each Joker's Card revealed a different "persona" of the Dark Carnival, directing the listener to confront both the sins and mortality of the self and of the world, in the form of fables about the Jokers' purpose within the Carnival. For example, The Great Milenko, a magician, represents the illusions which people may present themselves in order to justify their actions. The Amazing Jeckel Brothers appear upon one's death and juggle fireballs, one for every sin committed in one's life. Jack represents one's evil spirit while Jake represents one's good spirit. If Jake drops any one ball thrown to him by Jack, then the newly-departed is banished to Hell. This concept of inner-duality is expanded-upon in the Sixth Joker's Card.

The Sixth Joker's Card

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. It was up to each listener, ICP claimed, to decide which version of "The Wraith" is the correct one.

In November 2002, ten years after the first Joker's Card was released, in the final track of The Wraith: Shangri-La, ICP revealed their big secret: "It ain't about Violent J, or Shaggy, the Butterfly or '17'. When we speak of Shangri-la what you think we mean? Truth is, we follow God, we've always been behind Him. The Carnival is God, and may all Juggalos find Him! We're not sorry if we tricked you. We don't care what happens now."

ICP's ultimate message to the world was that we all have a choice as to where we will spend our afterlife, and that choice is made with every right and wrong deed one does in one's life. The choice of preference between The Wraith: Shangri-La and The Wraith: Hell's Pit appears to be a metaphor for that possiblity.

Fan base and criticism

Fans of ICP are called Juggalos (female fans are sometimes called Juggalettes). "Juggalo" 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 ICP concerts.

ICP have been voted the worst band of any genre of music in various magazine polls including Spin and Rolling Stone. This has not discouraged the group, and they repeatedly state they do not care what music critics think of their work. Nevertheless, Spin, Rolling Stone, and Vibe have been singled out for mockery in several ICP raps.

In an interview in PBS's Frontline documentary series, Merchants of Cool, Violent J stated:

"Everybody that likes our music feels a super connection. they feel so connected to it because it's — it's exclusively theirs. See, when something's on the radio, it's for everybody, you know what I mean? It's everybody's song. 'Oh, this is my song.' That ain't your song. It's on the radio. It's everybody's song. But to listen to ICP, you feel like you're the only one that knows about it." " ICP is the closest thing some of my friends have known to family, it's like a getaway from reality, whenever your feeling low just throw on your headphones and let the music take you.... it's not about all the killing and violence, that just makes them different from all the other mainstream groups."

On February 1 2006, self-proclaimed Juggalo Jacob D. Robida attacked people in a gay bar 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. 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 shot himself with the same gun used in the bar shooting during the standoff.

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.

There have been other instances of self-proclaimed Juggalos and ICP fans who have engaged in violent activities; see Violent incidents allegedly involving Juggalos.

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 WWE. ICP also wrestled for the other 2 major North American companies during the late nineties: WCW and Extreme Championship Wrestling. They also ran their own independent promotion: Juggalo Championshit Wrestling.

Discography

1. Carnival of Carnage (1992)
2. The Ringmaster (1994)
3. The Riddlebox (1995)
4. The Great Milenko (1997) (Hollywood Records)
5. The Great Milenko (1998) (Island Records)
6. The Amazing Jeckel Brothers (1999)
7. The Wraith: Shangri-La (with bonus DVD of Gathering live concert) (2002)
8. The Wraith: Shangri-La (with bonus DVD of Gathering seminar) (2002)
9. The Wraith: Hell's Pit (with bonus DVD of the Bowling Balls video) (2004)
10. The Wraith: Hell's Pit (with bonus DVD of Real Underground Baby Music Video and Bootlegged in Denver concert) (2004)

In the years between the fifth and sixth Joker's Cards, several sites announced the sixth as being "The Red Magician", even offering a track listing, featuring a wealth of otherwise unknown ICP tracks. Whether this was a hoax or an unreleased album is still unknown.

• Insane Clown Posse — The Side Shows/EPs

1. Beverly Kills 50187 EP (1993)
2. The Terror Wheel EP (1994)
3. Carnival X-Mas '94 (1994)
4. Tunnel of Love EP (1996)
5. A Carnival XMas '97 (1997)
6. The Pendulum EP (2000 - 2002)

• Insane Clown Posse — the Necromonicon

1. Bizzar (2000)
2. Bizaar (2000)

• Insane Clown Posse — the new era

1. The Calm EP (2005)
2. The Tempest (2006)

• Insane Clown Posse — compilations

1. Forgotten Freshness (Original) (1995)
2. Mutilation Mix (1997)
3. Mystic Wonders (1997) - bootleg; an unofficial follow-up to "Forgotten Freshness"
4. Forgotten Freshness Volume 1 & 2 (1998)
5. Psychopathics from Outer Space (1999)
6. Forgotten Freshness Volume 3 (2001)
7. Psychopathics from Outer Space 2 (2003)
8. Forgotten Staleness (2004) - bootleg
9. Bootilation Mix (2005) - bootleg
10. Forgotten Freshness Volume 4 (2005)

• Insane Clown Posse — 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 Bone Thugs N Harmony, Kottonmouth Kings, Tech N9ne, & Esham) (2003)
14. "Murda Cloak" (with Anybody Killa) (2004)
15. "Wicked Hellaween" (2005)

• Insane Clown Posse — singles, rare recordings, event tracks, etc.

1. "Fat Sweaty Betty" (1995)
2. "Chicken Huntin" (1995)
3. "Jokers Wild Sampler" (1995)
4. "Halls of Illusions" (1997)
5. "Psychopathic Sampler" (1998)
6. "Hokus Pokus" (1998)
7. "Join the Show" (1998)
8. "Phat or Wack sampler" (1999)
9. "Fuck the World" (1999)
10. "Another Love Song" (1999)
11. "Mad Professor" (1999)
12. "Party Mix" (1999)
13. "Jacob's Word" (2000)
14. "Bizzar/Bizaar sampler" (2000)
15. "Tilt-A-Whirl" (2000)
16. "Let's Go All the Way" (2000)
17. "Psychopathic Sampler '01" (2001)
18. "The Wraith: Shangri-La sampler" (2002)
19. "Homies" (2003)
20. "Something Underground" — Violent J (2005)

• Violent J and Shaggy solo

1. Fuck Off (1994; EP) — Shaggy 2 Dope
2. Wizard of the Hood EP (2003) — Violent J
3. F.T.F.O. (2006) — Shaggy 2 Dope

Filmography

• Stranglemania (199?) 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 skit on the Amazing Jeckel Brothers album.
• 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. (2004)

RIAA certifications

• 4 May 1998: The Great Milenko — gold
• 23 July 1998: Shockumentary — gold
• 21 April 1999: The Great Milenko — platinum
• 30 September 1999: Forgotten Freshness — gold
• 23 November 1999: The Riddle Box — gold
• 6 January 2000: The Amazing Jeckel Brothers — gold
• 4 April 2001: Big Money Hustlas — gold
• 21 May 2002: Shockumentary — platinum
• 17 September 2002: The Ringmaster — gold
• 8 October 2003: Bootlegged in L.A. — gold
• 7 June 2004: The Ringmaster* — gold

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

Chart positions

Albums

Billboard 200

• 1997: The Great Milenko #63
• 1998: Forgotten Freshness Vols 1-2 #46
• 1999: The Amazing Jeckel Brothers #4
• 2000: Bizaar #20
• 2000: Bizzar #21
• 2002: The Wraith: Shangri-La #15
• 2004: Hell's Pit #12
• 2005: The Calm (EP) #32
• 2005: Forgotten Freshness: Volume 4 #88

Singles

Billboard Hot 100

• 1997: "Santa's a Fat Bitch" #67

UK Singles Chart

• 1998: "Halls of Illusion" #56
• 1998: "Hokus Pokus" #53

External links and references

• Insane Clown Posse official site
• Psychopathic Records official site (portal)
• An Intelligent Look at the Insane Clown Posse
• Behind the Paint, Violent J with Hobey Echlin. (ISBN 09741846083)

• American hip hop groups
• Duos
• Michigan musical groups
• Professional wrestling teams and stables