If you live in the city of Spokane and take the bus, or possibly if you’ve visited or live in certain parts of Seattle, you’ve probably seen these people around; kids, teenagers, and even some adults dressed up wearing clown make-up, wearing chains pendants of a little dreadlocked man running with a hatchet, and donning shirts advertising Insane Clown Posse, or Psychopathic Records.
My hometown of Spokane harbors nothing short of an abundance of these people, who stand under the banner of Juggalos (male) and Juggalettes. All of them are drawn together by one thing; a belief in the tenets put forth by the Insane Clown Posse (ICP), a fear of not being taken to hell with the passing of the “Dark Carnival,” and listening to the “Jokers Cards,” as if they are scripture. I am sure many are lost at this point, especially some of you who read my review of their most recent album, The Tempest. Allow me to take you on a crash course.
The Insane Clown Posse comprises two rappers from Detroit by the names of Violent J (Real name Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (Joseph Utsler). The two once were members of a group called the Inter City Posse, which also consisted of Shaggy’s brother. After making some underground tapes and one professionally released EP, the group split, but the duo remained intact, opting for clown makeup and the change in name to Insane Clown Posse, as to keep the ICP initials.
Upon the release of ICP’s first full length album, The Carnival of Carnage, the group declared that upon the surfacing of six “Jokers Cards,” judgment of sorts would come for the otherwise bad folk, as they call out. You see, the duo received a calling from God that he would be coming to bring the greedy, the hateful, the racists, the bigots, the mortal sinning, and the non-believing to hell at the end of time. This calling and message would come to the Earth in the form of the Dark Carnival, which is brought to earth by all of society’s aforementioned woes. As preached on each Joker’s Card, the only way to make it to heaven is to follow God, and live like he wants you to. This message is embedded amongst notoriously violent content in places, and gratuitous use of profanity.
The Carnival of Carnage was released in 1992, and was denoted as the first Joker’s Card. As the time and judgment went on, it was followed by the other five joker’s cards, Ringmaster, Riddlebox, Great Milenko, Amazing Jeckel Brothers, then the coming of the end of time which would “consume us all,” and determine where we would all end up, Wraith: Shangri-La (heaven), and Hell’s Pit. Wraith is Death, or the Grimm Reaper, who brings us all to our assigned destination.
Over time, with the release of each Joker’s card, the duo’s popularity grew more and more. Fans, called Juggaloes and Juggalettes, are militant, and embrace ICP’s dogma as if it were a religion of its own. The “Hatchet man” necklace is the Crucifix of the Juggaloes, worn proudly by many members, denoting their affiliation. Concerts and live performances also seem to be a religious experience, drawing their fans as if it were a call of duty, everywhere they perform. The group even hosts a festival every summer called Gathering of the Juggaloes, which requires similar devotion of going to a Christian music festival.
ICP begat their independent record label, Psychopathic Records, which, for years, has signed artists in the same vein, and released thousands of albums under the imprint. When performing, ICP’s opening acts are fellow Psychopathic artists such as Twiztid, Boondox, and Blaze Ya Dead Homie. Several other artists have been signed to the label and performed with ICP in the past, but have since parted ways.
The group is a marketing machine. In fact, not since Kiss, possibly, has their been a band so prolific in pushing things on their fans besides CDs. Besides tee shirts, there are ICP bandanas, action figures, blankets, accessories, incense, and even a professional wrestling organization called Juggalo Champions**t Wrestling.
And now, you’ve been schooled on the ins and outs of Juggaloism. Some of this might sound ridiculous to some, but, of course, it never hurts to get educated. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a cold glass of Peach Faygo waiting for me.
