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EspañolINSANE CLOWN POSSE
The 'Insane Clown Posse' ('ICP') is an American rap duo originally from Wayne, Michigan but formed in the Detroit neighborhood of Delray, consisting of Violent J ('Joseph Bruce') and Shaggy 2 Dope ('Joseph Utsler'). The group was originally part of a larger group known as Inner City Posse, who broke up in 1992. They almost always display themselves in character in full black and white "evil clown" makeup, typically in the form of a "happy face." The group has obtained one platinum album and four gold albums RIAA Gold and Platinum Certification Database as well as their own feature film, their own wrestling federation, Juggalo Championship Wrestling, and has a dedicated following of fans, known as Juggalos and/or Juggalettes. In 2003, ''Blender'' magazine named the group "The Worst Artist(s) in Music History".
History
Formation (1987 - 1991)
In their early years before Inner City Posse they were known as Intelligence and Violence and before that they were The JJ Boyz with Shaggy's brother John Utsler nicknamed John Kickchass.
The group was originally part of a larger street group known as Inner City Posse. The group's rappers included Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope of Insane Clown Posse, as well as Shaggy's older brother, John Kickchass, and several other members who didn't make music. The group formed in 1987 and began to make music in 1989, where the group released their first single, "Party at the Top of the Hill", and their first home-cassette tape, ''Enter The Ghetto Zone''. In 1990, the group released two more tapes, titled ''Intelligence and Violence,'' and ''Bassment Cuts'', the latter was their first tape to be released in stores. In 1991, the group was able to produce their first and last professionally-released EP, title ''Dog Beats''. The album did very well in the underground music scene. The group finally split in 1992. Afterwards, members Violent J and Shaggy donned clown makeup and decided to form their own duo called Insane Clown Posse, still keeping the ICP initials.
Carnival of Carnage era (1992 - 1993)
In 1992, ICP released their first album, ''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. On its release date, it sold 17 copies.
In 1993, the group released an EP titled ''Beverly Kills 50187'' as a filler between the first and second Joker's cards. It is known for being the only album to feature the third member called Greez-E.
The Ringmaster/Riddlebox era (1994 - 1996)
In 1994 the band released the second Joker card, ''The Ringmaster'' on Psychopathic Records, and was followed by ''The Riddlebox'' in 1995 on Jive Records. Riddle Box was the first Insane Clown posse album to be released nationwide. They also released several more EPs between the albums, releasing ''The Terror Wheel'' and ''Carnival X-Mas'' in 1994, and ''Tunnel of Love'' in 1996. During this time, Shaggy 2 Dope also dropped a solo EP, titled ''Fuck Off'', in 1994.
Around this time, ICP were frequently seen inside Ultrasound Music in Cleveland, OH handing out demo types and flyers for their shows at the Grog Shop. They said Cleveland was "like our second home". The landmark was a cube truck painted black and parked outside with various simple clown markings.
Both ''The Ringmaster'' and ''The Riddlebox'' have been certified gold.
The Great Milenko/Jeckel Brothers era (1997 - 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. To ensure that their major-label debut would see the light of day, ICP obliged and removed three songs from the album and altered the content of others. However, just six hours after the album's initial release, it was unexpectedly pulled from the shelves. ICP's upcoming tour was canceled, 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 received some, but very little airplay on MTV.
The Great Milenko has been certified platinum.
Following that, 4 songs from the album were made into music videos, "Piggy Pie", "Halls Of Illusions", "Hokus Pokus (although it should be noted that the version in the video is actually the 'Headhunta'z Remix' found on Forgotten Freshness Volumes 1 & 2)", and "How Many Times".
In 1998, the group released the first of a series of compilation albums, titled Forgotten Freshness Volumes 1 & 2. It has gone on to be certified gold, and is their only non-studio album to do so.
In 1999, the 5th Joker Card, The Amazing Jeckel Brothers, was released.
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 regular rotation. The duo also made an appearance at the Woodstock 99 festival. The Amazing Jeckel Brothers would prove to be ICP's biggest success in the mainstream.
The Amazing Jeckel Brothers has been certified gold by the RIAA. Insane Clown Posse press materials assert the album has passed the gold mark and achieved platinum sales.[1]
Big Money Hustlas (2000)
Big Money Hustlas
Insane Clown Posse's feature film, Big Money Hustlas, was released in 2000. The film has gone on to become a Juggalo classic, as well as an underground hit for fans and non-fans alike. In addition to both Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope in the lead roles of Big Baby Sweets and Sugar Bear, the film also co-starred Jamie Madrox and Monoxide of Twiztid as Violent J's henchmen, Big Stank and Lil' Poot, and Harland Williams as Officer Harry Cox. It also contains cameo appearances by Mick Foley and The Misfits. The film featured music by both Insane Clown Posse and Twiztid, a large majority of it from The Amazing Jeckel Brothers.
In June 2007, Big Money Hustlas went certified platinum, having sold over 1,000,000 copies since its release.
The Bizzar/Bizaar era (2000 - 2001)
Bizaar
Bizzar
In 2000, ICP was disappointed by the way Island Records was promoting them. They didn't want to release the final Joker's Card with Island. Since they still had two more records left to release to end their contract with Island, they released Bizaar and Bizzar, as separate albums. 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 that they would be dropped from their distributor. Violent J claimed the album would sell 500,000. Together Bizaar and Bizzar sold over 250,000 each, totaling over 500,000. ICP maintains to have won the bet, but it is ambiguous as to whether they are referring to the original bet, or the sum total of sales. Violent J also remarked on a later appearance on Howard Stern to promote The Wraith: Shangri-La that the bet was to be for this album, which incidentally sold less than Bizzar Bizaar. As well, ICP was in fact dropped from their distributor after the release of the Bizaar Bizzar albums, which Violent J attributed to them being so underground that they forgot to renew ICP's contract. Regardless, ICP claims to this day to have won the bet and has asked Osbourne to just make a donation to charity in place of paying them. She has not responded.
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 of 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. Although never played on TRL, the "Let's Go All The Way" video was played on MTV late at night or early in the morning.
During this time, ICP released an EP with Chaos! comics entitled The Pendulum EP. The EP was originally released as a dozen singles in the ICP comic series from the same company but was later re-release as a EP in the graphic novel version of the comic series.
In 2001, the group released their second compilation album, titled ''Forgotten Freshness Volume 3''.
The Wraith era (2002 - 2004)
The Wraith:Shangri La
When the sixth Joker's Card was revealed, it was also revealed that there would be 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: and . Each of the exhibits was given its own album.
In November 2002, ten years after the first Joker's Card was released, 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. Despite the negativity the album spawned a successful single "Juggalo Homies" which received radio airplay and a music video that was played on networks like MTV2 and Fuse. This album is also ICP's most controversial album fanwise. On the album's final track, it is revealed that the group follows God.
In 2003, Violent J released his first solo album, named Wizard of the Hood. The name and plot of the album is a parody of ''The Wizard of Oz''. A single song based on the same idea had been previously released on the Carnival of Carnage album.
The Wraith: Hell's Pit
In August 2004, the duo released the Wraith's second exhibit, . The album was better accepted by critics, but did not receive as much media attention. "Bowling Balls" was released as a radio promo, and a video of the same song was released on the bonus disc included with the album.
The Calm era (2005 - 2006)
With the release of The Wraith albums, the Jokers Card era had finally come to a close. In 2005, the band released an EP entitled ''The Calm'', which was set to be the prelude of their next album, The Tempest. The album brought a change in sound for ICP, who also fully produced the album themselves.[2] Due to its large negative response by the juggalo fanbase, The Calm is regarded as Insane Clown Posse's worst album.
The Wraith: Remix Albums
Despite the negative response from The Calm, ICP also released their fourth compilation album, ''Forgotten Freshness Volume 4'' in Novermber 2005. Unlike their other compilation albums, Forgotten Freshness Volume 4 contained several new songs. The album's single, The People, was made into a music video in 2006. The video features ICP rehearsing the song in their studio, with photos of juggalos and fans flashing on the screen. This marks the first time ICP has made a music video from a non-studio album.
In 2006, Shaggy 2 Dope released his first full-length solo album, ''Fuck The Fuck Off''. It was his first full-length album, and his first solo work since 1994's Fuck Off EP. Shortly afterwards, Insane Clown Posse released their first remix album called '', which contained remixes of most of the tracks off both Wraith albums, notable exceptions being Thy Unveiling and Real Underground Baby, which were both contained remixes from other albums.
The Tempest era (2007 - present)
In February 2007, ICP were featured on a final episode of VH1's The White Rapper Show.
On February 23, 2007 ICP released the sampler and first single for The Tempest entitled "I Do This" as well as an announcement that Twiztid would join them on their Tempest World Tour. This was quickly followed by a second track "Haunted Bumps" and a picture assumed to be the cover which features ICP riding a roller coaster and a new logo comprising of Insane Clown Posse written in lightning.
After a long delay, ''The Tempest'' was finally released on March 20, 2007. The Tempest was met with mixed response from fans. Many felt it was an improvement over The Wraith albums, and believed it was ICP's best album since The Amazing Jeckel Brothers, while others felt it wasn't "wicked" enough and felt it was a let-down. Despite the mixed response, most agreed it was much better than The Calm.
Inside the album, was an advertisement stating the group's next EP, Eye of the Storm, would be released at the 2007 Gathering of the Juggalos.The Tempest debuted at number 20 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 33,000 copies in its first week.[1]As of June 2007, it has sold around 70,000 copies.
Big Money Rustlas (2008)
In a recent interview with Violent J, he revealed that another film, titled Big Money Rustlas, is in the works.
It is the second feature-length film the group will make, the first being their 2000 film, Big Money Hustlas.
The film is scheduled to be released in 2008, and will be made by the Psychopathic Records video department. It is rumored to be either a sequel or prequel to Big Money Hustlas. Production for the film has yet to begin, but J also said that he would reveal when it would begin at the 2007 Gathering of the Juggalos.
Collaborations
Key collaborations include, but are not limited to:
★ 2 Live Crew
★ Alice Cooper
★ Anybody Killa
★ Axe Murder Boyz
★ Blaze Ya Dead Homie
★ Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
★ Boondox
★ Bushwick Bill
★ Esham
★ Ice T
★ Jumpsteady
★ Kid Rock
★ Kottonmouth Kings
★ L.A.V.E.L.
★ Mack 10
★ Marz
★ MC Breed
★ Ol' Dirty Bastard
★ Project Born
★ Slash
★ Snoop Dogg
★ Steve Jones (Sex Pistols)
★ Tech N9ne
★ Three 6 Mafia
★ Twiztid
★ V-Sinizter
★ Vanilla Ice
★ Zug Izland
Fan base
Fans of ICP are called Juggalos (female fans may be alternately referred to as Juggalettes). Juggalos that are perceived as fake are referred to by real juggalos as "juggahoes" or "juffalos" or "juffahoes". "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. Juggalos often paint their faces in (but the variety seen is never limited to) black-and-white clown face makeup, especially at concerts headlined by Psychopathic Records artists.
Criticism
ICP have been voted the worst band of any genre of music in various magazine polls including Spin and Blender.[3] Rolling Stone referred to them as "the ultimate wack MCs."[4] The satirical newspaper ''The Onion'' ridiculed the perceived immaturity of the musicians (and, by extension, their fan base) in an article titled "Insane Clown Posse Gets Ride To Concert From Mom." They have also been criticized for the extreme violent and lyrically dark content of their music.[5][6]
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 Eminem 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. 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. [7] On February 5, he killed a traffic officer at a routine stop. When police stopped him, he killed his girlfriend (Jennifer Bailey, whom he had picked up from Charleston, WV) 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. [8]
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. [9]
ICP is ranked at number 1 on ''Blender'''s "50 Worst Artists in Music History" list.[10]
Professional wrestling
The Insane Clown Posse have also been very involved with professional wrestling. They wrestled in ECW in 1997, WWE in 1998, and WCW in 1999. They ran a show in 1998 called Hellfire wrestling. In 2003, the duo were heavily involved in TNA. They have also run their own independent promotion, Juggalo Championship Wrestling. The two had a single match in the Ring Of Honor promotion against The Outkast Killahs, but were booed out of the building. They have been in two video games, '' and its sequel '', have been loosely based on their promotion. Several videos have been released with footage from their events.
Discography
Full-Length Albums
| 'Date of release' | 'Title' | 'Label' | 'U.S. Billboard peak' | 'RIAA Certified' |
| October 18, 1992 | Carnival of Carnage | Psychopathic Records | ||
| March 8, 1994 | The Ringmaster | Psychopathic Records | Gold | |
| October 10, 1995 | The Riddle Box | Jive Records | #16 (Heatseekers) | Gold |
| June, 24 1997 | The Great Milenko | Island Records | #63 | Platinum |
| May 25, 1999 | The Amazing Jeckel Brothers | Island Records | #4 | Gold |
| October 31, 2000 | Bizaar | Island Records | #20 | |
| October 31, 2000 | Bizzar | Island Records | #21 | |
| November 05, 2002 | Psychopathic Records | #15 | ||
| August 31, 2004 | Psychopathic Records | #12 | ||
| March 20, 2007 | The Tempest | Psychopathic Records | #20 |
Major EPs
| 'Date of release' | 'Title' | 'Label' | 'U.S. Billboard peak ' | 'U.S. sales' |
| 1993 | Beverly Kills 50187 | Psychopathic Records | ||
| August 5, 1994 | The Terror Wheel EP | Psychopathic Records | ||
| 1996 | Tunnel of Love EP | Psychopathic Records | ||
| May 17, 2005 | The Calm | Psychopathic Records | #32 | |
| 2007 | Eye of the Storm | Psychopathic Records |
Compilations, remixes, etc.
| 'Date of release' | 'Title' | 'Label' | 'U.S. Billboard peak ' | 'U.S. sales' |
| 1996 | Mutilation Mix | Island Records/Psychopathic Records | ||
| 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) | |
| November, 29 2005 | Forgotten Freshness Volume 4 | Psychopathic Records | #88 | |
| November 14, 2006 | Psychopathic Records | #158 |
Singles
| Year | Title | U.S. Hot 100 | 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 | How Many Times? | 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 | |||
| 2004 | Bowling Balls | |||
| 2005 | The People | Forgotten Freshness Volume 4 | ||
| 2007 | I Do This | The Tempest |
Hallowicked give-aways
#"Dead Pumpkins" (1994)
#"Mr. Rotten Treats" (1995)
#"Witches & Warlocks" (1996)
#"Mr. Johnson's Head (Remix)" (1997)
#"Pumpkin Carvers" (with Twiztid & Kottonmouth Kings) (1998)
#"Sleepwalker" (1999)
#"Hallowicked 2000 Box Set" (Includes Bizaar, Bizzar, Freek Show, Hallowicked 2000 EP, Hallowicked shirt, Hallowicked sticker, Hallowicked flier, certificate of authenticity) (2000)
#"Every Halloween" (2001)
#"Children of the Wasteland" (Blaze Ya Dead Homie) (2001)
#"Waited Till Halloween" (Twiztid) (2001)
#"Silence of the Hams" (Violent J & Esham) (2002)
#"Dead Body Man 2002" (Blaze Ya Dead Homie) (2002)
#"Thug Pit" (with Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, Kottonmouth Kings, Tech N9ne, & Esham) (2003)
#"Murda Cloak" (with Anybody Killa) (2004)
#"Wicked Hellaween" (2005)
#"Blood Red Rum" (2006)
Filmography
★ ''Stranglemania'' (1997) This VHS tape was the 1995 IWA Japan's King Of The Deathmatch tournament featuring Terry Gordy, Super Leather, Nakimaki, Cactus Jack, Terry Funk, and many more. Violent J and Shaggy dubbed over the Japanese commentary and added their own humorous commentary, similar to those on their JCW tapes. It was re-released on DVD by Psychopathic Records in December 2006. The DVD also contains Stranglemania volume 2.
★ ''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) ICP's feature film, features Twzitid, Jumpsteady, Rudy Ray Moore, and Harland Williams.
★ ''Bootlegged in L.A.'' (2003)
★ ''Big Money Rustlas'' (2008) (in pre-production)
Source: RIAA Searchable Database (search for "Insane Clown Posse", not "ICP".)
Notes
1. Insane Clown Posse Official Website - The Amazing Jeckel Brothers
2. Insane Clown Posse - The Calm. ''Accessed 06 February 2007''.
3. The 50 Worst Artists in Music History. ''Accessed September 2003''.
4. Insane Clown Posse: The Amazing Jeckel Brothers: Music Reviews. ''Accessed 10 June 1999''.
5. POP REVIEW; POP REVIEW; A Couple Of Clowns Who Take The Name Seriously. ''Accessed 10 October 2001''.
6. Built To Spew. ''Accessed 24 August 1999''.
7. http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=124233
8. http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Manhunt_on_for_gay_bar_attacker_in_Massachusetts
9. http://www.insaneclownposse.com/page.php?page_id=icp_news&month=2&year=2006#a5
10. http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=466
External links
★ 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 0-9741846-0-8)
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