Insane Clown Posse

Insane Clown Posse (Shaggy 2 Dope, aka Joseph Utsler , and Violent J, aka Joseph Bruce ), often shortened to ICP, are a Detroit hip-hop duo, who also are professional wrestling promotersJuggalo Championship Wrestling, TV Tropes. and evangelical Christian preachers.Insane Clown Posse: And God created controversy by Jon Ronson, The Guardian, 2010 October 8 They specialize in a particular over-the-top violent, transgressive hip-hop style known as "
==History==
Insane Clown Posse was formed in 1989 in Detroit, Michigan. Originally known as "Inner City Posse", the duo decided to adopt their "Dark Carnival" mythos and clown personas in 1991 after Violent J's claims of having a dream about an evil circus that supposedly represented purgatory. In a case of clear serendipity, the mid-1990s were an era where cartoon-ish metal bands such as and (the latter of which used similar over-the-top violence in their elaborate stage shows) were enjoying strong cult popularity. This was enough to garner ICP a major label record deal in 1997. For a few brief years, they flirted with semi-mainstream popularity, playing the ill-fated and engaging in several headline-grabbing fights and other shenanigans with various other rappers and bands. By the early 2000s, they were no longer on a major label. Generally speaking, their music was poorly received, often described as the "worst ever","The 50 Worst Artists in Music History", Blender Magazine, September 2003 with critics characterizing their rapping as a slew of "secondhand misogyny, grade-Z gore, sexual insecurity and klutzy rhymes"."Review: The Amazing Jeckel Brothers" by Barry Walters, Rolling Stone, 1999 June 10 However, their time in the spotlight allowed them to develop a significant cult following, with a strong subculture (maintaining cult popularity to this day) that is probably better known than the music itself."Insane Clown Posse biography" by John Bush, Allmusic.com
==Fandom==
Hardcore fans of Insane Clown Posse are known as For the most part, Juggalos can be seen as an extended, strong music similar to, say, but with far less LSD and far more clown makeup and "How a Fan Makes a Band – Meet the Juggalos of Colorado", Jessica Rendall, 2019 September 17"The Juggalos Are the Forgotten Men and Women of America: Podcast" by Nick Gillespie and Ian Keyser, Reason, 2017 September 21 Unfortunately, a small subset of Juggalo fandom engages in violent behavior and other gang-like activity, enough for the to (perhaps with a whiff of moral panic)"It's a crime to love Insane Clown Posse" by Johnny Sharp, The Guardian, 2011 November 2 classify them as a "loosely organized hybrid gang"."FBI releases declassified report on Insane Clown Posse gang threat", Alex Young, Consequence of Sound, 2018 July 11 That being said, despite a few gangs borrowing Juggalo imagery, a few non-gang related incidents of notoriety (notably an incident in 2010 at the annual festival where rapper was pelted with rocks and bottles during her performance),"Insane Clown Posse Talk Tila Tequila, Method Man Incidents at The Gathering" by Kyle Anderson, MTV.com, 2019 March 9 and the atypical sex-and-drugs shenanigans that can occur at the larger ICP festivals,"The Juggalo Cult" by Bill McMorris, Washington Free Beacon, 2013 August 14 the vast majority of the Juggalo community could best be described as "mostly harmless"."The Juggalos Marched For Their Rights. Will They March For Yours?" by Scaachi Koul, Buzzfeed News, 2017 September 20 
The "gang" classification caused some predictable harassment against Juggalos by law enforcement, as well as some child custody and employment issues. Due to this, ICP and the ACLU unsuccessfully tried to sue the FBI to get this classification removed. Ultimately, this culminated in a Juggalo march on Washington D.C. in 2017."The Insane Clown Posse’s Juggalo March on Washington, explained" by Dylan Matthews, Vox.com, 2017 September 15 The march took place on the same day as a Donald Trump rally labeled the "mother of all rallies", with The Guardian noting that not only did the Juggalo rally far outdraw the Trump rally, there was a huge contrast between the "upbeat, open-minded" nature of the Juggalo rally, and the Trump rally where supporters were babbling about "Hillary Clinton's emails (and) the need to 'take our country back'"."Juggalos march on Washington: ‘We’re a family not a gang'" by Adam Gabbatt, TheGuardian.com, 2017 September 17 
ICP have commendably taken strong stances against racism, both in their music and within the Juggalo community."Confederate Flag" by Insane Clown Posse, lyrics archived at genius.com"Juggalos have become the darlings of the left and the new face of anti-racist activism" by Jack Smith IV, Mic.com, 2017 September 13 On the other hand, their culture has often been criticized for being misogynistic and "increasingly hostile toward women"."The Juggalos Marched For Their Rights. Will They March For Yours?" by Scaachi Koul, Buzzfeed News, 2017 September 20
==Insane Clown Posse on Science==
In 2010, ICP took a small break from rapping about over-the-top depictions of gore to create the song "Miracles"."Insane Clown Posse - Miracles" by Psychopathic Records (Apr 6, 2010) Youtube.Miracles by Insane Clown Posse, AZLyrics Purportedly a reflective song of the marvels of everyday life, the song became their best known song for all the wrong reasons, infamous for its lyrics"Insane Clown Posse - Miracles - Lyrics", AZLyrics.com that seemed to both celebrate ignorance and trash science and knowledge. The song's lyrics wallow in a sort of "God of the gaps" logical fallacy, albeit one in which even things that have had scientific explanations for centuries are now "miracles" for some reason."Insane Clown Posse: a magnet for ignorance" by Louis Pattison, The Guardian, 2010 Aug 18 Lines like "fucking magnets, how do they work?" and "And I don't wanna talk to a scientist / Y'all motherfuckers lying, and getting me pissed" became infamously repeated and spread on the Internet, to the point where documented the phenomenon in a YouTube video."Know Your Meme: Miracles" by Know Your Meme (2011 May 19) YouTube (archived copy)
ICP responded to the criticism in a peculiarly anti-intellectual way, dismissing "factual findings" that "explain away the Earth's cool mysteries", and called their critics "big dumb, popular jocks ganging up on the little class clown scrub, when they have no idea the scrub is really a highly skilled, deadly, ninja assassin capable of cleaning their fuckin' clocks.""BEHOLD: Insane Clown Posse Respond To ‘Miracles’ Criticism", Akira the Don blog, 2010 April 27 Oh, and of course they were just trollin' and the backlash was anticipated and planned."Kidding the Clowns Online, but Who Will Laugh Last?" By Dave Itzkoff, New York Times, 2010 April 29 Right.
Helpfully, an author at Cracked.com created an article to help Juggalos "Learn Their Motherf#@kin' Science" to help explain the scientific explanation behind all of the "miracles" in the song, parodying the foul-mouthed lyrical style of ICP."Learn Your Motherf#@kin' Science: A Textbook for Juggalos" by Daniel O'Brien, Cracked.com, 2010 April 9 Less helpfully, ICP responded to group attempt to teach science to ICP fans waiting in line for a San Francisco ICP show by threatening them with physical violence."Noisebridge Attempts to Teach Science To Juggalos at Insane Clown Posse Show In San Francisco" by Doctor Popular, Laughing Squid, 2010 June 18
==Fucking magnets, how do they really work?==
Without getting too quantum,"The Magnetism of Matter", Lecture 34, The Feyman Lectures on Physics Bill Nye helpfully explains magnetism (and also surprisingly has an opinion about Insane Clown Posse, too).
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Anti-intellectualism
Category:Christianity
Category:Fundamentalism
Category:Horror
Category:Living people
Category:Musicians
Category:Trolls
Category:War on science
Category:We're on a mission from God