| Insane Clown Posse | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | ICP |
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan |
| Genre(s) | Progressive hip hop, horrorcore, pop |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Label(s) | Psychopathic Records |
| Website | InsaneClownPosse.com |
| Members | |
| Violent J (Joseph Bruce) Shaggy 2 Dope (Joseph Utsler) | |
| Former members | |
| John Kickjazz (John Utsler) Greez-E (Kalyn Garcia) | |
Insane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit consisting of rappers Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. ICP's lyrical style has been described as horrorcore, as the duo uses horror film-inspired imagery in their lyrics to describe the conditions of the ghetto, personal self-destruction and various sociopolitical topics. Their music is predominantly progressive hip hop, sometimes incorporating elements of R&B, funk, soul, rock and pop. Violent J once described ICP's music as "wicked pop".
The Juggalo culture originated from Insane Clown Posse's fanbase and was further developed by other music acts on their record label, Psychopathic Records.
Biography[]
Early days[]
- Main article: Inner City Posse
ICP originated as the gangsta rap group Inner City Posse, which was active under this name from 1989 to 1991. ICP debuted their new name and image in 1992. The act was originally a group of three members, but officially became a duo in 1993, after original member John Kickjazz left the group in 1992 and his replacement, Greez-E, quit the music industry.
Joker's Cards[]
- Main article: Joker's Card
ICP's debut concept album Carnival of Carnage (1992) marked the debut of the act's Dark Carnival mythology, which carried over a series of three decks of "Joker's cards," the first deck being produced from 1992 to 2004, and the second deck starting in 2010 with Bang! Pow! Boom! The first two decks consist of six cards each, while the third deck will consist of five cards. One card from each deck is covered on two albums, separately discussing heaven, which ICP refers to as "Shangri-La", and Hell's Pit. The group has also made "sideshow" EPs and LPs that are not a part of their "Joker's cards" series.
Music and lyrics[]
- Main article: Insane Clown Posse's music style
The mythology of ICP's lyrics is built around a supernatural traveling carnival which is a manifestation of the pain and suffering of the inner city ghettos of the world, serving as a limbo in which the carnival entities pass judgment upon the recently deceased and serve out retribution towards evil humans, reflecting lyrically ICP's condemnation of racists, elitists, the greedy, child molesters, men who abuse their spouses and more.
ICP's recordings from 1992 to 1996 exhibit a sample-heavy hip hop sound, while their albums from 1997 to 2002 featured more live instrumentation and elements from rock, although this would be dropped from future recordings.
Marketing[]
ICP has been known for handling their own marketing, using what they described as "Ninja tactics" to advertise their albums and concerts, as before they were successful, they had to handle all of their own marketing and distribution, using photocopying to produce flyers and distributing their own promotional material. Shaggy 2 Dope has designed ICP's "Joker's card" album covers since 1992, and has also drawn other artwork for the act.
During their original incarnation as Inner City Posse, they co-founded with former manager Alex Abbiss their own record label, Psychopathic Records, which would since produce and release albums by other artists whose music would be shaped and overseen by Violent J, while allowing the artists themselves to handle their own marketing and artwork production, as ICP did.
Wrestling career[]
- Main article: Juggalo Championship Wrestling
ICP are also professional wrestlers, having previously been backyard wrestlers before starting their music careers, and after wrestling for WWF and WCW, they formed their own wrestling federation, Juggalo Championship Wrestling.