Insane Clown Posse
Biography
Insane Clown Posse are a cartoonish metal/rap band with a vaunted live show that features open fires, chain saws, liters of soda dousing the audience (Faygo being the group's favorite brand), and more emphasis on performance art than the performance of music. In the world of the late '90s, that was more than enough to get them a recording contract with a major label, though the release of their 1997 album The Great Milenko came with a bit of controversy. Now just a duo, ICP were originally formed in 1989 as a hardcore Detroit rap group called Inner City Posse. After combusting in 1991, the only members left, Violent J (born Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (born Joseph Utsler), slightly altered the name to reflect the fact that they had been visited by the Carnival Spirit, which ordered them to carry word of the impending apocalypse by touring the nation and releasing six "joker cards" (popularly known as LPs) with successive revelations of the final judgment. The first, Carnival of Carnage, appeared in 1992 on their own Psychopathic Records label. The group became notorious in Detroit's underground scene, but several tours around the region failed to ignite much more than the rage of area leaders.
After the release of 1994's The Ringmaster, ICP began to get a bit of attention as a possible follower of cartoon metal bands like GWAR and Green Jelly. Jive Records signed the group and released The Riddle Box in 1995, but the record bombed and ICP returned to the ranks of the indies. Just one year later, Hollywood Records gambled on the band and spent more than a million dollars while ICP recorded their new album, The Great Milenko. On the day of release in 1997, however, Hollywood pulled the record, citing obscene lyrics and gruesome content -- possibly a move by its owner, Disney, to deflect criticism of its practices by the Southern Baptist Federation. In a bizarre twist, yet another major label, Island Records, stepped in to release the album and capitalize on the notoriety ICP had garnered. That notoriety only increased thanks to several incidents that kept them in the headlines: J was arrested after clubbing an audience member with his microphone in late 1997, and shortly thereafter, the group's tour bus ran off the road, leaving J with a concussion. Next, the group and its entourage were involved in a brawl at a Waffle House in Indiana, and both members eventually pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charges.
All the chaos took its toll, as J suffered a panic attack in April 1998 while on-stage in Minnesota. However, all of the publicity helped expand the group's cult following to the point where its next album, the 1999 concept record The Amazing Jeckel Brothers, debuted in the Top Five. As evidenced by the numerous different collectible covers for The Amazing Jeckel Brothers, ICP had become a virtual merchandising machine, complete with comic books to flesh out their elaborate "Dark Carnival" mythology; they also wrote and starred in their own straight-to-video movie, Big Money Hustlas, and made guest appearances at wrestling events. The group spent the summer of 1999 bickering with various tourmates (Coal Chamber in particular) and played at the ill-fated Woodstock '99. Early in 2000, Shaggy collapsed on-stage, but the cause was deemed to be nothing more than a combination of the flu and low blood sugar; however, while staging a wrestling event several months later, Shaggy fell off a steel cage, breaking his nose and cheekbone. Still, ICP managed to make it into the studio to record a follow-up album, and Big Money Hustlas was finally released.
On Halloween 2000, the group issued its sixth album, which apparently did not count (as all the other albums had) as a "joker card" (in the ICP fantasy world, the sixth joker card was supposed to signal the apocalypse). Similar to Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion, the album was released in two completely different, separate versions, titled Bizzar and Bizaar. Finally needing to live up to the years of hype, 2002's The Wraith: Shangri-La revealed that the hidden message of their music was always to follow God and make it to Heaven. Considering the murder fantasies of "Beverly Kills 50187" and the necrophilic overtones of "Cemetery Girl," this may have been a shock to longtime fans. In August 2004 the band released the sixth and final joker card, Hell's Pit, in two separate editions. Both had the same CD but were packed with different DVDs. Yet the Dark Carnival wasn't fully shuttered. Spring 2005 found ICP hyping a new direction for the mythology, to be revealed with the May release of Calm. The EP also prepped Insane Clown Posse's devoted fan base for the sixth annual Gathering of the Juggalos that July. Their 2007 effort, The Tempest, found the duo reuniting with producer Mike Clark, the man behind the first four joker card albums. Clark stuck around for their 2009 album, Bang! Pow! Boom! ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
Selected Discography

The Tempest (Explicit Content)
2007

Jugganauts: The Best Of Insane Clown Posse (Explicit)
2007

The Wraith: Hell's Pit Remixs
2006

The Calm
2005

Forgotten Freshness Vol. 4
2005

Hell's Pit (Explicit)
2004

The Wraith - Shangri-La (Explicit)
2002

Bizaar
2000

The Amazing Jeckel Brothers (Explicit)
1999

The Great Milenko
1997
i just pissed on and burned an icp shrt!!!!!!! take that society (and juggalos)
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I'm not a huge icp fan but the way it has united people who don't know eachother no matter what other diffrences they may have is comendable. And Shayla learn to love the murdah
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my boyfriend loves this band. i'm trying to give it a chance but i just don't get it... any suggestions on how to appreciate?
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Haha, here's the page where all the degenerates hang out! Bring on the swearing, kiddies :)
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yall some lames man how u gonig to lisen to there s**t but still be trying to hate fuckk all yall that wanna hate icp the s**t
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bring it b**ch ill bring a knife to your throat. f**got 2 dope and violent gay
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fak all that juggalo s**t icp's tight tho. reppin michigan & FAYGO SIPPIN
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i met two juggalos...b o t h puched em acorss the faces and curbstomped em in my highschool years. your not all as tough as you think you all are. ill show you blood too. i got mofos from all over the states who would wherever i am...back me up in a fight.
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You come to start s**t... we all come to finish it. All you will get is blood. Think about it. JUGGALO 4 LIFE
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Hate becaue you wish you were as free as a juggalo. You can be a "fan" of whatever you want haters. Bein a juggalo isnt all about the music. Its not about J or shaggs or about the shows. Its the Family. Juggalos are united in this and the more you hate us the stronger we get beating you haters at your own game. Try and shut us down we show up in face paint and screaming juggalo chants. If i see a juggalo in a fight i got his back even if he started it because its us against you.
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dumbass who listens to music which makes him dumber! and i can do that whoop whoop thing too to seem like a badass. so......WHOO P WHOOP!!!
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f**k s**t p**sy a** motherf**kin damn b**ch! whoop whoop! BANG POW BOOM!
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s**tty band s**tty music. fat f**ks who wear clown makeup to make themselves look good and cool. juggalos also dont know english very well at an attempt to look like runaway thugs
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f**k you haters you aint got s**t on icp im a down a** juggalette and to all fam WHOOP WHOOP !!!
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These ICP guys went to the circus and it must have made quite and impression on them. The circus is that way fellas------ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - >
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ICP kids come through my neighborhood at night. They tip over trash cans, set off car alarms, throw rocks at the cats, and annoy people with their stupid ICP t-shirts and baggy jeans. Some of them even wear the make up. Complete fail! What I really want to know is
ICP Fans (juggalo's) vs Slipknot Fans (Maggots) I say ICP because half of them are runaways and they have it real bad like while Maggots are usually kids from middle income homes who are lil brats |
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they forgot about a crap ton of cds carnival of carnage, riddle box, and ring master
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JUGGALO FOR LIFE B**CHES!!!! Fukk you haters i hope you get your nugget slaped with the broad side of my hatchet! Hate us all you want but juggalos will never EVER die! And fukk you willow you stupid prick. I hope you get iced you hatin' punk.
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whooop whooop .... so many fans .... some much love ... from everywheres in md... wes loving the thing yall doin .... much clown love 6 years strong .... n every1 thats a fan from bennetts curse in md sends their fwcl....
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