I have a sincere objection to the opinion posted on the website that was allegedly about the Insane Clown Posse. It seems as though it was written by an obsessed fifteen year old fan of Marshall Mathers (a.k.a. Eminem). I had many a problem with the article, not so much of the person's opinion of the group Or even the obvious grammar and spelling errors for that matter. But much more so the lack of valid information they based the opinion on. The person who wrote the quote unquote "review" had done little if at all, any research (which was said to be "a good 3 hours") on the group whatsoever. It's very difficult to take the entire article seriously at all if you know anything about the group. Whoever wrote it was seriously biased and misinformed entirely. The article was, to say the least, poorly written. Now to correct some of this Eminem "Stan" in waiting. First and foremost, the Insane Clown Posse are not biological brothers. Their names are Joseph Bruce (a.k.a!
. Violent J) and Joseph Utsler (a.k.a. Shaggy 2 Dope). Anyone who took the time out to do a background search would have discovered that in a matter of moments. I have to question where this person found their apparent "research." Secondly, the Insane Clown Posse has never claimed to want to be a part of the "main-stream." They may use samples in their songs, but not many rap artists or groups no do. Eminem uses Dr. Dre to make more than the majority of his beats in his songs. In fact, Eminem stole an idea from the rappers Twiztid (who are also on the Psychopathic Records label) for the song Murder, Murder, Murder for himself entitled "Kill You". So to say that the Insane Clown Posse's sound has "canned beats" is ridiculous unless one were to point out that many rapper uses so called "canned beats." And while on the subject of Twiztid, he paid them three-hundred dollars to open up a show for them, although i'm certain he'd deny it. On the topic of denial, Eminem han!
ded out flyers at a Saint Andrews Hall show in Detroit, stating that the Insane Clown Posse would be there when they had no knowledge of the event in question. As for the concept, it's no more cliché' than the next persons is. And I beg to differ when it's eluded to that Eminem's sound is fresh. His sound has been around for years. Eminem has just brought the style of sound to a more mainstream audience. It speaks to the adolescent, sixteen year old teenager who's angry towards the world and doesn't know how to vent his or her aggression. That is nothing original at all. Aggressive music has been around for many a decade to give young people something to A. piss the authority figures off and B. give them something to somewhat relate to at the same time. This is again, not a new concept by any means. I have to wonder if Eminem's audience is fleeting. The same, trend following types who adore him for the sound he has while it's considered popular and cool. We'll see!
where they are in ten years...Most likely listening to the newest fad on the radio and still having no opinions of their own. Simply because Dr. Dre says Eminem is a great rapper does not give him any street credentials and doesn't make him a great rapper period. A few years ago, you could see Eminem in parts of Detroit rapping onstage in an M&M's candy jumpsuit. As for the Insane Clown Posse providing "tired lyrics", what person doesn't? How many times can you use a curse word without it losing it's meaning? It no longer has any affect on anyone, it doesn't shock anyone to use such "four-letter words". Moving on, the alleged "horrible production", which for the Insane Clown Posse, was many of their releases are produced by Mike E. Clark. Who is very talented to say the least. In fact, if you look on an early Kid Rock album, "Grit Sandwiches For Breakfast", you'll notice that Mike E. Clark is credited with producing a couple tracks. So I think that completely dismi!
sses the production values case unless you want to dismiss Kid Rock as well. But by going on what was later eluded to, Kid Rock is another great rapper to come out of Detroit. And if a more coherent, comprehensive background check on the Insane Clown Posse was done, you'd notice that Kid Rock did a song with the Insane Clown Posse called "Is That You?" At any rate, the case against Eminem being any better than the next rapper is fading quickly. As for Eminem having "amazing lyricism", that statement holds no truth at all. If you break down the complexity of what he says in the rhythms he uses, they are not "amazing". Another thing is Eminem "remaining true to the hard streets of Detroit". That's a joke in and of itself. It makes it sound like he's living in a ghetto. Eminem is not a gangster or a thug. Although he does seem to like to pretend he is one when he's behind his bodyguards and other rappers. Eminem doesn't even rap about Detroit much, other than call ou!
t the name. Besides, he grew up in Warren, which is a suburb of Detroit. He raps more about how he hates everyone for not understanding him and hates homosexuals. I honestly doubt he hates everyone buying his albums and making many a point off of the merchandise sold. You must question why Eminem released "The Eminem Show" weeks before it was planned. Could it be because people were already downloading it on the internet taking away from his cut of the profit? Yet his fans seem to not care how he shuns them away constantly and embrace the abuse believing it makes them more of a fan. Regardless, moving onto other discrepancies I had with the article. The Insane Clown Posse is far from "hopping to ride on the crest of Eminem's success". Insane Clown Posse have been around for over a decade, they haven't changed their sound to be more accessible to mainstream audiences. Does Eminem use his self-proclaimed "real" over the top lyrics to gain an audience? Absolutely, as! do all artists or groups who want a measure of success or respect. Does the Insane Clown Posse do so? Yes, but to a much different degree. Those who appreciate Insane Clown Posse's music are also embraced and highly respected by one another and the Insane Clown Posse. There's a sub-culture of fans, commonly known as juggalos and juggalettes amongst other names. The Insane Clown Posse understand that without their fan-base, they would have nothing and show them respect. How's that for "underground?" Eminem on the other hand, takes shots at his own fans and seemingly has no respect for anything...Thus his image of the hardened, rebellious type image gets more concrete. And more fans buy into the image. Again, I must state that if you cannot even get the correct names to make a biased, crude slander judgment on, don't try. Their names once more are Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler. I have no idea where the writer of the article in question got his facts. My guess is ! it had to have been a link from an Eminem website. Because I don't think I could have possibly gotten more wrong about a group if I tried my hardest. The Insane Clown Posse did NOT form a KISS cover band...and they also never once called themselves the "Inner City Players." Where the person got that information I'd truly like to know. In the early 1990's, they were known as "Inner City Posse", which was an actual street gang in Southwest Detroit. Obviously that didn't last and when they came out of the gang, they changed the name to "Insane Clown Posse". And while it's true that the Insane Clown Posse had trouble getting gigs, that's only because of the wild antics performed at the shows. Many clubs would not book them, it had nothing to do with an "up-and-coming Kid Rock." And the Insane Clown Posse obviously didn't fail for this wouldn't be a topic for conversation then, would it? Again, I must laugh at how off base the person who wrote the column is. I suspect t! hey were doing some type of narcotic or something. Some things that are said are just absurd. I'm also suspicious that the same person must be head of Eminem's fan club. Mentioning him over a dozen times in an article that is supposed to be a review of the Insane Clown Posse. Well, I think I made my point about Marshall Mathers not being "hardened from years on the tough streets of downtown Detroit." And the fact that this naive person thinks Eminem created an entire genre of music is preposterous. "White rap" has been around for a very, very long time now...but it was just recently accepted as a whole. It's been around, just not commercially acceptable. If you go back and listen to some old jazz or blues records, what do you think you may stumble upon sometimes? Rap...and forms of it. White artists also copped the style and incorporated it for their own means. But looking towards more current ventures. You have many good "white rap" acts. Including House of Pai! n, Young Black Teenagers (don't let the name fool you) and Necro amongst many. In fact, the Young Black Teenagers were supported much the way Eminem is by Dr. Dre, but by Chuck D. of Public Enemy. He gave them validity and made it okay for white guys to rap. But now it's completely acceptable. White people no longer need to be weary when walking into the rap section at the music stores. Point is, Eminem DEFINITELY did not invent a whole new genre. And for arguments sake he did. What genre did he invent? "White rap?" That's a horrible statement in itself to pigeonhole one because of his race. Moving on once more, Eminem was not playing sold out shows and clubs in 1997. If a place was sold out, it wasn't him that was drawing the crowd. The Insane Clown Posse didn't change their sound from "face-painted hard rockers" to "face-painted, hard rappers." They've rapped since they were a small street gang and have always done so. Another horrible atrocity is that the In!
sane Clown Posse's first cd was NOT "Riddle Box." Aside from the many that were released as samplers, the first entire album from the Insane Clown Posse was entitled "Carnival Of Carnage." "Riddle Box was the third Insane Clown Posse release. As for the idea behind the description for the song "Killing Fields", Seeing as the song is not at all what is being talked about, the theory is dismissed entirely. But if it was what was being spoken of I'll take the "political activism" and return to "listening to and stealing ideas from John Lennon." It's much better than the alternative of listening to mindless pre-fabricated, over-produced fluff that comes out today. If political activism were dead than Eminem and the Insane Clown Posse wouldn't be around and would have no right to say what they do, their freedom of speech would be lost. But that may fall on deaf ears because I doubt the writer of the article knows what I speak of unless they did a feature on it on MTV. Nex!
t on the agenda, Insane Clown Posse's next release was not "The Amazing JACKYL Brothers". And the title had no correlation to Utsler and Bruce's relationship. The second release was entitled "Ringmaster", Insane Clown Posse's fifth release was entitled "The Amazing JECKEL Brothers". The fourth release by the Insane Clown Posse was called "The Great Milenko." The way it sounds in the article, it made it sound like Eminem was the first to get a big record contract to come out of Detroit. How so? Does that mean the first ever? Well, I'm glad all the Mo-Town groups don't know about this. Eminem wasn't even the first "white rapper" to get a "major record deal." It is completely beyond my comprehension how one could be so misinformed about something and still pass judgment upon them. Dr. Dre didn't discover Eminem at a "sold out show"...Dre said it many times in various interviews that he discovered Eminem by chance, by getting hold of one of his demo tapes. One of the !
more ridiculous things stated in the article said that the Insane Clown Posse had been opening up for Eminem for years. I won't even delve into that one, I'd just like to know the source of that information. Do I need to comment once more on the comparison of Eminem and Insane Clown Posse's "originality and willingness to copy every other popular white rapper?" What's more original when you think about it? And wait a minute, I thought Eminem single-handedly invented a genre? What's all this talk about other "white rappers???" I would have liked to have kept this much shorter but this person is seriously misinformed...if not chemically imbalanced. The Insane Clown Posse are not a local Detroit act. And if they were, why isn't Eminem still holding down for Detroit? Oh yeah, he's holding down for those points he's getting off merchandising. Regardless, The Insane Clown Posse tour nationwide, no different from Eminem. The biggest difference, Insane Clown Posse's fans !
are a lot more loyal than Eminem's. There could be one million Eminem fans to one Insane Clown Posse fan, and that one has more loyalty in it than the million. As for the millions of fans the "flock" to Eminem's show...I know a farm animal that also flocks called a sheep. Get what I'm saying? Insane Clown Posse shows are anything but "half-hearted" and the people are anything but "disinterested"...The people at the shows are just, if not more involved in the concert than the Insane Clown Posse themselves. As for "plagiarism of style" I'd look at Eminem before I would Insane Clown Posse. If anything, Eminem's "anti-establishmentism" is solely a selling point...If it's a word at all, which I don't believe it is...but nice try by tacking on "ism" to the end of it. Almost makes it sound more professional. The Insane Clown Posse have never "attempt whatever it takes to get on the radio." That is just a flat-out, ignorant statement. For some more information, the song, "!
Radio Stars" is a complete farce and mockery. And if one listened to the entire song, one would know that right away. I seriously think this article is a sad joke because I don't know where this person's information came from. What in the world is the person talking about? "For reasons unknown, ICP decided to include clips from earlier albums including "Hot Buttered Bread", "Joey fell in love", and the song "Girl."" As for trite cliché', I must again point to Eminem. But I think my point has been made time and time again in this reply. Again, Insane Clown Posse doesn't need Dr. Dre to make their beats for them. Besides, I'm sure Eminem is keeping Dr. Dre busy at the mixer working on more "amazing" songs for him...amongst other things. Yet another thing to think about, Eminem uses co-writers...so all those spectacular rhymes aren't all his to credit to. Notice to all, there are a lot more than "two-hundred-odd people" who listen to the Insane Clown Posse. But if th!
at's the type of close minded thought you want to have, then that's your own business. Your right about one thing though, what it would cost for some Insane Clown Posse cd's, you could spend $80.00 and go see Eminem in concert...rapping about how much he loves his fans...and then how much he hates some fans...and how he hates homosexuals...and his wife...and killing...that sure is some "amazing lyricism". I must scoff once more at the notice of "original style of Eminem." Eminem may have inspired some cheap knock-offs, but Insane Clown Posse is not one of them. I suspect the writer of the column may be secretly writing his own raps in one day hoping to become the world's next Eminem...*belated* Oh boy. Well that about wraps, or should I use the shoddy pun, "raps" it up...nah, sounds like something a bad "white rapper" would use. The final thing is, if your going to take the time out to disrespect someone's music, then take the time out to do it right...like Dolemite. !
(A most sincere apology to the one who wrote the "review," you probably won't understand that phrase about Dolemite, much like I doubt you'll understand this reply in general.) MCL
--LoTuS_SpAwN
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