The Insane Clown Posse (ICP) are a two-piece horrorcore rap group from Detroit, 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. The group is also well known for antics such as dousing the audience with Faygo–brand soda at its shows and setting fires on stage.

Early history

The first incarnation of the group was 1988 as The JJ Boys, a trio that Violent J, Shaggy, and John Utsler (a.k.a. John Kickjazz) had formed while still in their early teens. This later became "Inner City Posse", and consisted of three members: J, Shaggy, and John Kickjazz (Shaggy's brother) (who performed on Inner City Posse albums Bassment Cuts and Dog Beats). Kickjazz left the group before Carnival of Carnage was released. J and Shaggy still wanted ICP to be a trio, and so brought in a local rapper called Greez-E, who appeared on Beverly Kills 50187. He subsequently left as well, and ICP have been a duo ever since, forming Psychopathic Records with manager Alex Abbiss in 1991.

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 the band refers to on every album as a powerful force which has spoken to them and is directly opposed to the Devil. 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 theirself and 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

As explained by 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. 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 — that nearly all the songs they wrote were masked with subliminal messages that have been pointing to one thing: "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 decision.

Fan base and criticism

Fans of ICP are called Juggalos (although Juggalo is not a gender based word, female fans are sometimes called Juggalettes to avoid some confusion, i.e. Two juggalos got married). This derived from one of Violent J's habits, which is constantly inventing strange names and personas for himself in their songs. One of these personalities is "The Juggla", a psychotic carnival juggler, and somehow the fans came to be known as "Juggalos" in homage. Even more common is the sight of Juggalos painting their faces in clownface, the unofficial Juggalo badge.

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. In return, Spin, Rolling Stone, and Vibe have been singled out for mockery in several ICP raps.

ICP were also criticised for breaking from their niche fan base and seeking a wider, more mainstream audience. 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."

Professional wrestling

ICP have long been involved in professional wrestling. In 1998 they were brought in by the then World Wrestling Federation, now known as the WWE, in a musical role for the stable The Oddities, a group of freak wrestlers led by Golga, a masked John Tenta, formerly known as Earthquake. ICP entered WCW around 2000 and teamed with wrestler Vampiro, forming the group the Dark Carnival. It was the first time fans saw ICP in a nationwide wrestling role, making their debut with a run-in on Rey Mysterio and Konnan. One of their more infamous moments in WCW was a handicap hardcore match against Mike Awesome (using the That 70s Guy moniker) where in a spot gone wrong Shaggy 2 Dope was powerbombed on top of the "70's Bus" and slid off the side falling to the ground below. They also run their own independent promotion, JCW or Juggalo Championshit Wrestling. JCW was modeled after the backyard wrestling of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope's youth, as well as the Japanese hardcore wrestling matches featured in bootleg-style videos released by ICP. They are also main characters in the video game series Backyard Wrestling by Eidos for the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2. ICP was also in Extreme Championship Wrestling, Xtreme Pro Wrestling, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Signature moves

• Shaggy 2 Dope = Triple Lindy From The Rafters (Top Rope Leg Drop)
• Violent J = 720 Moonflip (Moonsault)

Discography

• The Pre-ICP Days

1. Party at the Top of the Hill (1989 — single) * The JJ Boys
2. Southwest Song (1989? — single) * The JJ Boys
3. Enter the Ghetto Zone (1990 — LP) * Violent J
4. Ghetto Territory (1990 — LP) * Inner City Posse
5. Intelligence and Violence (1990 — EP) * Violent J and D-Lyrical
6. Bass-ment Cuts (1991 — LP) * Inner City Posse
7. Dog Beats (1991 — EP) * Inner City Posse
8. Gangsta Codes (1992 — unreleased, became Carnival of Carnage) * Inner City Posse

• Insane Clown Posse — The Joker Card albums

1. Carnival of Carnage (1992)
2. The Ringmaster (1994)
3. The Riddlebox (1995)
4. The Great Milenko (1997) (Hollywood Records (Disney))
5. The Great Milenko (1998) (Island Records)
6. The Amazing Jeckel Brothers (1999)
7. The Wraith: Shangri-La (with bonus DVD of 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 containing Real Underground Baby and Bootlegged in Denver) (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 just a huge hoax or in fact an entirely 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 Volume 1 (1995)
2. Mutilation Mix (1997)
3. Forgotten Freshness Volume 1 & 2 (1998)
4. Psychopathics from Outer Space (1999)
5. Forgotten Freshness Volume 3 (2001)
6. Psychopathics from Outer Space 2 (2003)
7. Forgotten Staleness (2004) - bootleg
8. Bootilation Mix (2005) - bootleg
9. 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)

• Violent J and Shaggy solo

1. Fuck Off (1994 - EP) * Shaggy 2 Dope
2. Wizard of the Hood EP (2003) * Violent J
3. Fuck the Fuck Off (2006) * Shaggy 2 Dope

Filmography

• Stranglemania (199?) This ultra 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 and Violent J and Shaggy dubbed over the commentary and added their own humorous commentary like you can hear on their JCW tapes.
• Big Money Hustlas (2000)
• Bootlegged In L.A. (2004)

RIAA Certifications

1. 05/04/98 The Great Milenko - Gold
2. 07/23/98 Shockumentary - Gold
3. 04/21/99 The Great Milenko - Platinum
4. 09/30/99 Forgotten Freshness - Gold
5. 11/23/99 The Riddle Box - Gold
6. 01/06/00 The Amazing Jeckel Brothers - Gold
7. 04/04/01 Big Money Hustlas - Gold
8. 05/21/02 Shockumentary - Platinum
9. 09/17/02 The Ringmaster - Gold
10. 10/08/03 Bootlegged in L.A. - Gold
11. 06/07/04 The Ringmaster* - Gold

• The Ringmaster went gold twice, once on Island and the other on their independant release on Psychopathic Records. Source: Faygoluvers

Chart positions

Albums

1997	The Great Milenko    The Billboard 200        No. 63
1998	Forgotten Freshness, Vol. 1-2 The Billboard 200      No. 46
1999	The Amazing Jeckel Brothers   The Billboard 200     No. 4
2000   Bizaar    The Billboard 200        No. 20
2000   Bizzar    The Billboard 200      No. 21
2002   The Wraith: Shangri-La    The Billboard 200      No. 15
2004   Hell's Pit    The Billboard 200      No. 12
2005   The Calm (EP) The Billboard 200      No. 32
2005   Forgotten Freshness: Volume 4 The Billboard 200      No. 88 

Singles

1997	Santa's a Fat Bitch	     The Billboard Hot 100      No. 67

External links and references

• Insane Clown Posse official site
• Psychopathic Records official site (portal)
• 6 Jokers — Definitive Psychopathic History
• An Intelligent Look at the Insane Clown Posse
• Halls of Illusions: The Story of Insane Clown Posse
• What Is A Juggalo ?: Juggalos Juggalos Juggalos come one come all
• Behind the Paint, Violent J with Hobey Echlin. (ISBN 09741846083)