Our top 10 Insane Clown Posse songs list looks at the songs of a band that used makeup on stage and in any promotional pictures in the same fashion as bands like Kiss and Twisted Sister did during their early part of their careers. Before we could all hide behind masks because of this pandemic there were bands and artists that did so behind makeup. It was pretty smart, become a big time famous rock and roll star and still have the ability to go buy a Big Mac without anyone knowing who you were. Unless you were like a David Lee Roth who wanted everyone to know who he was, for the most part the makeup gave these rock stars anonymity in the streets.
This Detroit hip hop duo who have been active since 1989 consists of Violent J (real name Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (real name Joseph Utsler). They are not what one would generally describe as a standard hip hop act in the sense that they are known for their image which consists of black and white face paint on both of the band members faces which makes them resemble clowns. They are also seen as something of a comedy rap act, as their lyrics often contain dark and adult themed humour. They have gained a strong cult following throughout their career and have been commercially successful, selling over six million records. Like other mask and make up wearing bands such as Slipknot and Kiss, they also have their own name for their hardcore fans who they dub “Juggalos.”
The career of Insane Clown Posse who are often dubbed “ICP” has been a long and prolific one, with them having produced sixteen albums since the release of their debut Carnival of Carnage in 1992. Throughout their career they have experimented a lot with their sound, incorporating elements of other genres such as pop, funk and rock.
ICP have been a rather polarising group throughout their existence. For a large portion of their early career, their musical output was largely critically panned, although their more recent albums have had a better reception. They have also been seen as a shock group throughout their career, with the lyrics and imagery often receiving criticism for supposedly glorifying violence. The group argue that their frequent use of often offensive lyrical humour has usually been done to illustrate a wider point about society which stems back to their upbringing in Detroit and Bruce’s brief involvement in crime during his youth. They are also known for their live performances which are very elaborate and memorable for anyone who has ever attended them. Here is a list of their ten best songs.
# 10 – Night Of The Chainsaw
Kicking off our top ten Insane Clown Posse songs list is this track taken from Insane Clown Posse’s twelfth album The Mighty Death Pop released in 2012. This album is their second album to focus on their Dark Carnival concept since their original “Jokers Cards” era . It was their last record to be produced by Mike E Clark who was their producer for a long time.
# 9 – Homies
Our next song is taken from Insane Clown Posse’s eighth album The Wraith: Shangri- La released in 2002. It is the first single since 1992 not to be produced by Mike E Clark who had left the band’s label Psychopathic Records due to a disagreement. However, he did later produce a remix of the song after he had made friends with Bruce and Ulster. A music video for it was produced and it is generally more upbeat in tone than most of their other works with it lyrics about friendship. Perhaps because of this, it received a better critical reception than the more negative reviews that Insane Clown Posse usually get.
# 8 – Bowling Balls
Next up is a song taken from the ninth ICP album The Wraith:Hells Pit released in 2004. The song’s lyrics are horror themed, dealing with murder. A short film was produced for the song to promote its release as a single as well as the release of the album. It samples the drumbeat of “Justify My Love” by Madonna which based off “Security of the First World” by Public Enemy which is itself based on “Funky Drummer” by James Brown.
# 7 – Walk Into the Darkness
Up is another song from The Wraith: Hells Pit. It is the last album of what ICP dub their “First Joker Card Deck Era”. As the second part of the “sixth card” in the series, following on from the previous lp The Wraith: Shangri-La , it lyrically takes on a somewhat opposite concept to that record. This song is a reaction to a song on that album titled “Walk Into The Light.”
# 6 – The Tower
In the number six position on our Insane Clown Posse songs list is a track taken from Insane Clown Posse’s tenth album The Tempest released in 2007. The songs lyrics are about a massacre that happened in 1966 at the University of Texas tower. Although the song does not out and out condemn gun violence, it does not condone it either. It merely describes the massacre from the perspective of the shooter.
# 5 – Red Fred
Kicking off the second half of this Insane Clown Posse songs list is a track taken from the fifteenth Insane Clown Posse album Fearless Fred Fury released in 2019. This album is the fourth Joker Card from their “Second Joker Card Deck Era”. It was originally intended to be released along with their extended ep Flip The Rat in 2018 but was delayed until 2019.
# 4 – Hokus Pokus
The next song on our list comes from the fourth ICP album The Great Milenko released in 1997. A video was made for a remixed version of the song called “The Headhuntaz Remix”. Upon its release it charted at number fifty-three on the UK singles chart. The chorus of the song uses the well known “Streets Of Cairo” melody.
# 3 – Time
At number three on this list is the closing number of ICP’s fourteenth studio album The Missing Link: Found released in 2015. This album was a companion piece with the previous record which was titled The Missing Link: Lost. Here ICP are showing their more sentimental side with this emotive song that talks about how times goes by and friendships and relationships are lost as a result of it.
# 2 – Mad Professor
Just off the top spot is this song taken from ICP’s fifth album The Amazing Jeckel Brothers released in 1999. The song’s lyrics are based on Frankenstein and also act as a kind of light hearted parody to the classic horror story. It has samples from classic Hammer Horror films based on the story which give it a spooky vibe.
# 1 – Chris Benoit
At the top of our Insane Clown Posse list is this track taken from their twelfth album The Mighty Death Pop released in 2012. It is about the professional wrestler who murdered his wife and son before taking his own life. The song is not specifically about the family’s deaths but more about the state of mind that Benoit was in when he committed the act. The reasoning for the song comes from the fact that Insane Clown Posse have a long association with wrestling. Aside from their musical career they are also professional wrestlers themselves and have their own independent wrestling company called Juggalo Championship Wrestling.
Feature Photo: SullyDC from Alexandria, VA, USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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