The Gathering of the Juggalo Parody Videos

April 26, 2010 10:34 AM

Fools' Gold: An Oral History of the Insane Clown Posse Parodies. "[T]he group is enjoying a resurgence in attention, if not popularity, from a wave of Internet comedy videos poking fun at their music and their legions of harlequin-faced fans, who call themselves Juggalos... Here, Insane Clown Posse, the writers of “Saturday Night Live” and the creator of “Juggalo News” retrace the path of this unlikely media circus."[previously, previouslier]

"O’Brien: Purely theorizing, [ICP] may have realized that they’d already jumped off the cliff, and then they’re like, actually, this is a smart thing too. They certainly know that it’s weird and that it’s funny at times to some people. The odd thing is that they must also know, to other fans, it’s a very intense and serious thing. The marriage of those two in their minds is an interesting thing to me, that I imagine they maybe don’t think about too much. They’re just like, some people like us because of the absurdity, and some find a semi-religious mythology that they follow."

posted by ocherdraco (107 comments total)

"If Celine Dion would have come out with ['Miracles'], people would have been, like, “Oh, that’s a beautiful song.” But because it’s coming out of our mouths, all of a sudden, we’re retards."--Shaggy 2 Dope
posted by box at 10:39 AM on April 26, 2010

They’re just like, some people like us because of the absurdity, and some find a semi-religious mythology that they follow.

Isn't this basically the same logic of GWAR?
posted by yeloson at 10:40 AM on April 26, 2010

(Warning: some of the videos linked to in this post contain obscenities.)

Obscenities? Obscenities are what you choose to warn us about in the linked videos, Arts Beat?
posted by gurple at 10:41 AM on April 26, 2010 [2 favorites]

What do you want? "Warning: Insane Clown Posse videos may contain posses of insane clowns."
posted by mhoye at 10:43 AM on April 26, 2010 [23 favorites]

Isn't this basically the same logic of GWAR?

Also: Vampire Weekend.
posted by griphus at 10:43 AM on April 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

If Celine Dion would have come out with ['Miracles'], peopleCeline Dion fans would have been, like, “Oh, that’s a beautiful song.”

Celine Dion fans calling magnetism a miracle would not be newsworthy.
posted by DU at 10:45 AM on April 26, 2010 [3 favorites]

Just shorten it to Warning: Insane Clown Posse Videos.
posted by Babblesort at 10:45 AM on April 26, 2010

I've been trying to get through this article for like an hour now but I keep welling up in tears and stifled laughter so I have to go stare at a spreadsheet to re-compose. I am awe-struck, dumbfounded and supremely happy that these guys are famous.

I was like, man, I want to feed a giraffe. Getting that close to some crazy-looking animal that only lives in Africa and Detroit? It’s not every day you just get to marinate with a giraffe, man. - Shaggy 2 Dope
posted by Juicy Avenger at 10:46 AM on April 26, 2010 [3 favorites]

Actually, this was a surprisingly sweet (as in "Awwww, that's sweet" not "AWWW-YEAH, that's SWEET") little article. And the SNL videos were particularly funny after viewing the originals linked to in the post.
posted by blahblahblah at 10:46 AM on April 26, 2010

I actually had no idea what that SNL skit about a music festival was even making fun of until I saw this post. I watched most of the 14min gathering trailer and oh god did SNL get that right.
posted by mathowie at 10:48 AM on April 26, 2010

... I was talking to my girlfriend, who was an anthropology major in college. She said that there was one day of a course that was devoted to the Juggalo phenomenon. It is a legitimate subculture, which I didn’t really know until talking to her about that.

This article is not Fools' Gold. This is actual gold.
posted by gurple at 10:48 AM on April 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Man, I would pay CASH MONEY to hear Celine Dion bust out some high notes on "Fucking magnets, how do they work?!"
posted by haveanicesummer at 10:49 AM on April 26, 2010 [17 favorites]

Oh wow, Juggalo News is fantastic.
posted by uncleozzy at 10:49 AM on April 26, 2010

Am I the only person who, when he first heard about Juggalos, said "Oh, cool, kind of like the Kiss Army," and left it at that? Or is the plate-of-beans phenomenon that much of a plague?
posted by jonmc at 10:50 AM on April 26, 2010 [2 favorites]

They’re just like, some people like us because of the absurdity, and some find a semi-religious mythology that they follow.

Isn't this basically the same logic of GWAR?

Except GWAR are in on the joke.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:50 AM on April 26, 2010

Enough already with this band. Why is Metafilter obsessed with this white- trash crap?
posted by Liquidwolf at 10:50 AM on April 26, 2010

Because it's silly and fun?
posted by brundlefly at 10:53 AM on April 26, 2010 [23 favorites]

I love the contrast of Violent J's "I mean, yeah, we know how magnets work. But they’re still incredible." (Okay, that's fair, I'm with you). To Mr. 2 Dope's "You’re just holding a U-shaped thing that pushes metal away or attracts metal or something. The North and South Pole makes a rock magnetic, and if you touch a piece of metal with it, that becomes magnetic?"

God it must be a pain getting all those U-shaped things to the poles.
posted by haveanicesummer at 10:53 AM on April 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Enough already with this band. Why is Metafilter obsessed with this white- trash crap?

Violent J:

Anybody ever stood next to a giraffe, tell me that’s not a miracle? This thing that’s yellow and polka-dotted, spotted, it has a dinosaur neck? If you look at a giraffe and think, “Well, they’ve been here for millions of years, no big deal,” that’s your loss, man. I feel bad for anybody that’s numb to all that.

I feel bad for you, Mr. Wolf. Very, very bad.
posted by norm at 10:54 AM on April 26, 2010 [20 favorites]

Enough already with this band. Why is Metafilter obsessed with this white- trash crap?

Because it's a hip-hop-related scene that liberal white people can hate on without feeling guilty?
posted by kittens for breakfast at 10:54 AM on April 26, 2010 [15 favorites]

Hell, I'll ven admit to enjoying a few of their songs. "Cotton Candy" and "Dead Body Man" are catchy and hilarious and "Halls Of Illusions,' is a genuinely good song, too. IMHO.
posted by jonmc at 10:54 AM on April 26, 2010

I was torn when I saw the SNL parody of Miracles. I know the original went viral, but didn't feel like it was well-known enough to warrant such a high-profile parody. Not that it didn't deserve it, mind you, but I was concerned that most people viewing it wouldn't have seen the original. The parody works even if you haven't, but the whole thing felt a little strange.

Still, with lines like this, it really is gold:

The whole world’s got 10,000 people
And Santa Claus created all of us equal
Ass Dan’s kids look just like Ass Dan
And my two kids look just like Ass Dan
posted by SpiffyRob at 10:55 AM on April 26, 2010 [9 favorites]

Because it's a hip-hop-related scene that liberal white people can hate on without feeling guilty?
posted by kittens for breakfast

Nope, try again.
posted by haveanicesummer at 10:55 AM on April 26, 2010 [5 favorites]

Why is Metafilter obsessed with this white- trash crap?

I'll reiterate: I like swearing and cartoon violence.
posted by uncleozzy at 10:56 AM on April 26, 2010 [2 favorites]

Also, putting "Fuck The World" on in a crowded bar is a good way of clearing out the yuppies.
posted by jonmc at 10:57 AM on April 26, 2010 [4 favorites]

I am definitely not an ICP fan. Their music is...horrible. And as everyone knows, the Miracle video is a big self-inflicted joke. However, I have to admit that I find something appealing about these guys. It's partly their apparent earnestness, partly the fact that they have created a subculture that all the rejects can belong to, and partly the fact that they seem to give a damn about their fans. In any case, while they are pretty awful on artistic grounds, I'm OK with them, and the function they serve for their followers. However, if I start hearing their stuff on the radio, all bets are off...
posted by Edgewise at 10:58 AM on April 26, 2010 [14 favorites]

This is cutting-edge humor. Comedy that goes for the Juggalo.

(I think I'm just going to recycle that comment in every ICP thread from now on. I'm certainly not going to come up with anything better to say.)
posted by norm at 11:00 AM on April 26, 2010 [3 favorites]

Let me elaborate on another reason they are fascinating regardless of whether you can stand listening to their music or not.

They created a moment wherein Bill O'Rielly is having an earnest discussion with a man in clown makeup about whether it is appropriate to ask a 12 year old fan whether his "nuts dropped yet."

What more do you want from them?
posted by haveanicesummer at 11:00 AM on April 26, 2010 [24 favorites]

Because it's a hip-hop-related scene that liberal white people can hate on without feeling guilty?

You don't need to feel guilty about hating regular hip hop- most of it sucks like hell. It's become the prime example of dead, sold out, corporate has- been muzak ( like rock in the late 70s). Let's admit it.
posted by Liquidwolf at 11:00 AM on April 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Aren't we pushing the definition of "history" a little?
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 11:01 AM on April 26, 2010

Yeah, I'm with you, Edgewise. I don't enjoy their music (to say the least) but I'm happy that they exist.

Plus I've thrown the existence of this batshit insane subculture on the pile with everything else that makes me think I'm living in a near future science fiction story (black president, etc.)...
posted by brundlefly at 11:02 AM on April 26, 2010

putting "Fuck The World" on in a crowded bar

Sometimes I find myself sort of chanting "fuck Oprah, fuck opera, fuck a soap opera" for no particular reason.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:03 AM on April 26, 2010 [3 favorites]

Huh:

Everybody else that’s laughing at it, I put it like this: if it wasn’t so cold on the [out]side, it wouldn’t be so warm on the inside with all the Juggalos. If there wasn’t so much hate on the outside, people not understanding and people dissing us, it wouldn’t be as special as it is with fans of the band.

Marginalize your members by getting them to buy into something so silly that they'll be rejected by the mainstream. That's a little too intentionally-designed-culty, right there.
posted by gurple at 11:03 AM on April 26, 2010

At the Detroit Zoo now, you can feed the giraffes. Last week, I took my kids and a friend to the zoo, and it wasn’t open. I was like, man, I want to feed a giraffe. Getting that close to some crazy-looking animal that only lives in Africa and Detroit? It’s not every day you just get to marinate with a giraffe, man.

OK, that made me laugh harder than I have all week. Africa ... and Detroit. Bizzow, bitches!
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:04 AM on April 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

If I might just lodge one complaint about this otherwise wonderful article, the format gave the illusion that they were interacting with each other (the interspersal of comments from various people) when it was clear these were seperate interviews combined by theme. A bit annoying.
posted by haveanicesummer at 11:04 AM on April 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

I like shouting along with "Fuck your mom, Fuck your mom's momma, Fuck the Beastie Boys and the Dalai Lama..." myself.
posted by jonmc at 11:04 AM on April 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

wow, no mention of the epic Best Show on WFMU episode where Tom Scharpling and Paul
F Tompkins skewer the Gathering Of The Juggalos commercial, huh?
posted by shmegegge at 11:05 AM on April 26, 2010 [3 favorites]

They created a moment wherein Bill O'Rielly is having an earnest discussion with a man in clown makeup about whether it is appropriate to ask a 12 year old fan whether his "nuts dropped yet."

How on earth could you mention that and not link to the video? This is literally how O'Reilly starts the interview:

[W]hat they advocate makes some of the black rappers look like Shirley Temple.

Shirley Temple! "Some of the black rappers!" You are legally required to watch this video.
posted by Doublewhiskeycokenoice at 11:06 AM on April 26, 2010 [10 favorites]

haveanicesummer: you make Metafilter dangerous. (at least doing other things while reading it)
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 11:10 AM on April 26, 2010

haveanicesummer: you make Metafilter dangerous. (at least doing other things while reading it)
posted by Durn Bronzefist

What'd you do, get distracted by the thread and then accidentally hatchet the wrong dick?
posted by haveanicesummer at 11:12 AM on April 26, 2010

I guess they're interesting if you still think rednecks doing dumb shit is funny.
posted by Liquidwolf at 11:15 AM on April 26, 2010

[T]he format gave the illusion that they were interacting with each other (the interspersal of comments from various people) when it was clear these were seperate interviews combined by theme.

Pretty much what it says on the tin, actually.
posted by Schlimmbesserung at 11:16 AM on April 26, 2010

You'd think the dumbest thing in this that article would be something ICP said, but no, it's this, by a mile:

Michael Patrick O’Brien, writer, “Saturday Night Live”: It was during the week Drew Barrymore hosted. Her boyfriend, Justin Long, the Mac guy, was hanging out, and he was like, “Hey, have you guys seen this 14-minute infomercial for the Gathering?”

He name-dropped The. Fucking. Mac. Guy.
posted by drjimmy11 at 11:18 AM on April 26, 2010 [2 favorites]

Why is Metafilter obsessed with this white- trash crap?

If I'm any indication, probably because everyone on metafilter was friends with Michelle, who was their lab partner in Anatomy and Physiology class in high school, and Michelle was COMPLETELY AWESOME and everyone on metafilter always kind of had a little bit of a crush on her 'cause she was so cool, and she loved ICP, and everyone on metafilter would go to her house sometimes after school and eat crackers in her bedroom and marvel at how all her walls were covered, floor to ceiling, with pictures of Marilyn Manson and ICP and Troma movie stuff and generally all those big mid-90s names that sort of bridge the gap between lunatic silliness and gory horror and Michelle never really seemed to have any problem with defining a hard clear line between jokeyness and sincerity so hey, why should we? And then when everyone on metafilter and Michelle were dissecting animals in A&P, they'd be chatting about Violent J and the Dark Carnival and stuff in the same way that other kids were chatting about the Red Sox, and it wasn't no thing, and now when everyone on metafilter sees a post about ICP, it reminds them of Michelle, and they're like, man, hanging out with her was always so awesome, long live the Dark Carnival
posted by Greg Nog at 11:23 AM on April 26, 2010 [39 favorites]

Also can I say how much I love that literally every thing said by either member of the ICP sounds like it came straight out of Ray Smuckles
posted by Greg Nog at 11:24 AM on April 26, 2010 [31 favorites]

with the happy-cool stories i keep hearing about the whole juggalo thing, i tried to check it out some more. i couldn't figure out if the popular juggalo variations on faggot were actual gay-hating, or if means something else in clown language. or if their song about eminem sucking everybody's dick and hanging out in gay bars was some kind of compliment. i thought there must be some explanation for the mefi love, some cultural context thing that i was missing, but i figured safer to keep my distance in any case.
posted by fallacy of the beard at 11:28 AM on April 26, 2010 [2 favorites]

haveanicesummer: lunch time workout. weights + lulz = trouble.

And, um, just when I think I have this ICP thing figured out via MeFi:

a semi-religious mythology that they follow

What?
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 11:30 AM on April 26, 2010

The problem with the SNL video is that it isn't even really a parody. They're basically just repeating stuff that was in the original trailer, maybe with some slightly crazier selling points. Just seems derivative. And if the joke is just "We don't even have to change anything for this to be funny!" then, I dunno, why not just watch the original video?

But that wouldn't fill time on SNL.
posted by delmoi at 11:34 AM on April 26, 2010 [4 favorites]

Looking forward to someday going a full day without having to hear about Juggalos.
posted by notmydesk at 11:35 AM on April 26, 2010

My local grocery store started stocking Faygo. Should I be concerned or excited?
posted by mccarty.tim at 11:37 AM on April 26, 2010

Notmydesk, imagine what would happen if Lady Gaga dressed up as a Juggalo.
posted by mccarty.tim at 11:37 AM on April 26, 2010

a semi-religious mythology that they follow

What?

Yeah, their first six albums tell the story of the Dark Carnival, which is populated by all these...like..."Joker Card" characters that...like...judge the dead...or something...and the twist ending is it's all a big metaphor for Christianity.
posted by infinitywaltz at 11:38 AM on April 26, 2010

My local grocery store started stocking Faygo. Should I be concerned or excited?

Yes.
posted by infinitywaltz at 11:38 AM on April 26, 2010 [2 favorites]

Notmydesk, imagine what would happen if Lady Gaga dressed up as a Juggalo.

I WILL NOT HAVE YOU BLASPHEMING HER LADYSHIP LIKE THIS EVEN IN JEST
posted by infinitywaltz at 11:39 AM on April 26, 2010 [3 favorites]

I like that there are people who take the Dark Carnival seriously. It proves that The Onion can't keep up with the weirdness at the outer edges of reality. Not even comic books predicted the absurdity of thugs in clown paint. Oh wait, bad example.
posted by mccarty.tim at 11:39 AM on April 26, 2010

Ass Dan’s kids look just like Ass Dan
And my two kids look just like Ass Dan

The best line was, however, "fuckin' blankets, how do they work?"

I think it was a pretty good parody because the original was pretty far into comedy territory already.

As for giraffes: Giraffes. They are indded pretty awesome, Mr. J.
posted by GuyZero at 11:40 AM on April 26, 2010

All I'm saying is, imagine if the Little Monsters met the Juggalos. It'd be at least worth one crossover episode.
posted by mccarty.tim at 11:42 AM on April 26, 2010

Looking forward to someday going a full day without having to hear about Juggalos.

My wife has a rule, which is that I'm not allowed to mention Juggalos to her more than once a week (and never amongst polite company). So that means that seemingly every week we have a conversation that goes like this:

Me: Oh my DOG I have got to tell you about this cool Juggalo video I saw. So there's this one ninja....
Wife: Violation. Last Wednesday you were telling me about the fucking ICP and this infomercial.
Me: No way. That was last Monday. Today is Tuesday. I am outside the window.
Wife: You are so mistaken about this. It was Wednesday, and I know that because you called me on the way to my kickboxing class, and that's on Wednesday.


After that it just devolves into an un-ironic version of the Monty Python Argument sketch. So I guess my point is, uh, an argument isn't simply the automatic gainsaying of any Juggalo-related post. Or something.
posted by norm at 11:45 AM on April 26, 2010 [13 favorites]

BO'R made ICP look smart and reasonable. That blew me away.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 11:45 AM on April 26, 2010 [2 favorites]

Just in the interest of bringing this, ah, full circle, sort of...

Liquidwolf: “Enough already with this band. Why is Metafilter obsessed with this white- trash crap?”

Insane Clown Posse : Detroit, 2005 :: The Stone Roses : Manchester, 1990

White trash, black trash, brown trash, it's them that makes the music...
posted by koeselitz at 11:49 AM on April 26, 2010

I was going to ask if our grandkids would learn more about the ICP or Lady Gaga, but then I realized the answer was obvious. It all depends on if you send your grandkids to a Juggalo school or not.
posted by mccarty.tim at 11:50 AM on April 26, 2010 [3 favorites]

Just going by the Wiki rundown of their Dark Carnival mythology, it sounds like it would make a great World of Darkness game.
posted by charred husk at 11:59 AM on April 26, 2010

Juggalo school doesn't even teach an Insane Clown History class because they assume the Lil' Juggalos have already learned enough at home. Their science classes leave something to be desired, but Dark Recess is dope.
posted by haveanicesummer at 12:00 PM on April 26, 2010 [9 favorites]

Just going by the Wiki rundown of their Dark Carnival mythology, it sounds like it would make a great World of Darkness game.
posted by charred husk

Insane Clown: The Juggaling
posted by haveanicesummer at 12:01 PM on April 26, 2010 [5 favorites]

Fuck chickens! Fuck ducks!
posted by PenDevil at 12:22 PM on April 26, 2010

Sweet! Treasure Type Q -- that's a magic item!

Oh Jesus, not another fucking magnet.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 12:25 PM on April 26, 2010 [4 favorites]

Sorry to be a hater, but I agree with Liquidwolf. Terrible, terrible music, and I don't really understand the obsession with them or their subculture. While Eminem is much probably a much worse person than they are, his music (when it's good) is 1000x better. That said, it is interesting/strange/head-scratching that they are HUGE in some of the Native American communities here in Arizona. Why? No idea.

Isn't this basically the same logic of GWAR?

Well, Gwar dresses up and has a ridiculous mythology also, but the fans don't tend to go to the concert dressed up in Gwar-style make-up and prosthetics, nor do they wear them around town like a lot of Juggalos do. And, their music is way, way better.
posted by Saxon Kane at 12:38 PM on April 26, 2010

My stance is this, if people can have fun and find community in something that doesn't hurt others or themselves, then so be it. I don't get it, but I don't need to. have a nice day.

This goes for LARPers too.
posted by toekneebullard at 12:42 PM on April 26, 2010 [8 favorites]

My juggalo story:

It is 4 am. We have just finished a shift unloading trucks at the Pier 1 warehouse. I get into the car with some of the other folks for the ride back to Labor Ready, where they will will print up our day's $40 paycheck when they open up at 5:30. The owner of the car and his girlfriend are in the front seats. First thing they takes some hits off of a glass pipe. I scrounge through empty cigarette cartons and snack food wrappers to find my seatbelt as we pull out of the parking lot into the night, the light of the moon covered by the region's perpetual cloud cover. After about half a mile the driver notices that his front windshield is covered in condensation. He lights a cigarette and asks me "are you into icy pee?" "What?" "Icy pee". He gestures to his girlfriend who puts a cassette in the tape deck as he removes his t-shirt without putting down his cigarette or slowing down the car. The music starts. I hear a reference to "dark carnival" and retroactively realize that he is referencing the ICP - Insane Clown Posse. I am an ex smoker and the car is full of his cigarette smoke but it is too cold to leave my window down.
posted by idiopath at 1:07 PM on April 26, 2010 [15 favorites]

idiopath, that read like a lost Raymond Carver story.
posted by infinitywaltz at 1:10 PM on April 26, 2010 [2 favorites]

I like ICP in the same way I like Lady Gaga -- the music is crap, but the theatricality and performativity are really impressive. The costumes, dancing, and full-time public personae take serious effort and creativity to sustain. So while I'm not into the music, and have trouble seeing why people buy the records, I would love to watch the filming of any of the ICP (or Lady Gaga) videos from the sidelines.
posted by Forktine at 1:31 PM on April 26, 2010

wow, no mention of the epic Best Show on WFMU episode where Tom Scharpling and Paul
F Tompkins skewer the Gathering Of The Juggalos commercial, huh?

I'm pretty convinced this is patient zero of the current mainstream Juggalo interest. Which would be kind of amazing to be able to trace the whole meme back to whatever listener that week sent it in to Tom.

That said, it is interesting/strange/head-scratching that they are HUGE in some of the Native American communities here in Arizona. Why? No idea.
It seems to speak directly to kids who are on the margins/outcasts in some way. I can't imagine anyone who fits that bill more.
posted by billyfleetwood at 1:37 PM on April 26, 2010 [2 favorites]

Forktine, as a Little Monster, I have to say we will go to your house with razors and...

Ok, the comparison is valid. But I still have to argue that while not everyone may like Lady Gaga's music, she is talented.

/no threat intended. no banhammer
posted by mccarty.tim at 1:40 PM on April 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Let's use our powers as internet people to tripple book a convention hall with Juggalos, Tea Partiers, and Lady Gaga fans, and see who's afraid of who.

I mean, the Gaga fans are extraordinarily gay and/or gay friendly, so that will scare the Tea Partiers. And some of the Tea Partiers have guns, but then the Juggalos have hatchets and no regard for life outside of the family.
posted by mccarty.tim at 1:43 PM on April 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

also...the article gives Tom Scharpling full credit, including a link to him and Paul F. Tompkins discussing the issue that is well worth a listen.
posted by billyfleetwood at 1:47 PM on April 26, 2010

billyfleetwood: "t seems to speak directly to kids who are on the margins/outcasts in some way."

Seconding this - and not outcasts in the hipper than all those mainstream squares sense. Outcasts in the everyone hates you for being ugly and stupid and socially inept and broke and you can't catch a fair break and you have attempted suicide but couldn't even do that right sense. And like the real lowest of the low they are not some romantic victimized oppressed class, they are often nasty people, prone to random violent acts and self destructive habits and each day they look forward to yet another in a lifetime of bad decisions and their self reinforcing consequences. Some of the juggalos I have known are so far down and so far gone that they already hate themselves much more than any of the mockers of their culture could even have the energy for. But being a juggalo is one of the few things that can make them feel good and you don't have to melt it on a spoon or smoke it out of a pipe.
posted by idiopath at 1:47 PM on April 26, 2010 [14 favorites]

From the article: "After the commercial received a thorough dismantling from Tom Scharpling and Paul F. Tompkins on Mr. Scharpling's radio program, "The Best Show on WFMU," it eventually made its way to the writers of "Saturday Night Live.""

So, in fact, that was mentioned.
posted by kenko at 1:53 PM on April 26, 2010

my bad. I did a ctrl+f in the article and everything.
posted by shmegegge at 1:55 PM on April 26, 2010

Ideopath, that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It's good the world has small comforts like ICP.

I think I've spent too much time on MeFi.
posted by mccarty.tim at 1:57 PM on April 26, 2010

That SNL parody of ICP's Magnets was far less entertaining than the original.

NOT GAUSS-IST
posted by zippy at 2:00 PM on April 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wow, idiopath, you said more or less the same thing I said but you made it sound so much more grim. Not to say that you're wrong at all...
posted by Edgewise at 2:04 PM on April 26, 2010

Edgewise: I think I pretty much saw the very bottom of a bunch of different cultures while I was working day labor - my opinion of hippies would probably be a bit different if I had only known them from that world too. I am starting to think I could probably patch together a halfway decent memoir or short story collection from my years in that world. Or at least a passable zine.

But yeah on further consideration that probably isn't the mainstream of the juggalo world, but more the part that crossed my path. It says something interesting that the juggalo identity offers so much to some of the most desperate and damaged people out there, but that of course does not mean that most juggalos are damaged.
posted by idiopath at 2:13 PM on April 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Saxon Kane: "That said, it is interesting/strange/head-scratching that they are HUGE in some of the Native American communities here in Arizona. Why? No idea."

The indigenous tradition and myth of the kachina would seem to relate, no?
posted by mwhybark at 2:35 PM on April 26, 2010

I like ICP in the same way I like Lady Gaga -- the music is crap,

What?
posted by delmoi at 2:37 PM on April 26, 2010

delmoi: nobody but the music nerds listens to music for the music.

A music carries a lifestyle, an identity, a set of values. It becomes a vector for and an indicator of tribal identity, and a sonic totem for ones sense of identity and self esteem. The way a lead singer dresses, the reputation of the fans, and the attitudes indicated by the contents of the lyrics have much more to do with musical success than the musical features of the recordings.
posted by idiopath at 2:45 PM on April 26, 2010

idiopath: “A music carries a lifestyle, an identity, a set of values. It becomes a vector for and an indicator of tribal identity, and a sonic totem for ones sense of identity and self esteem. The way a lead singer dresses, the reputation of the fans, and the attitudes indicated by the contents of the lyrics have much more to do with musical success than the musical features of the recordings.”

So by what metric, exactly, can one gauge that "the music is crap?"
posted by koeselitz at 2:56 PM on April 26, 2010

No objective measure, probably, other than simply asserting that you dislike it.

My point was that it is a perfectly reasonable thing to say "I like these bands but hate their music".
posted by idiopath at 2:59 PM on April 26, 2010

Insane Clown: The Juggaling Character Sheet--

Attributes:
Balls ______OOOOO Neden-draw _ OOOOO Peepin' ____ OOOOO
Flow ______OOOOO Ninja _______ OOOOO Brainz _____ OOOOO
Fuck-time _ OOOOO Facepaint ___OOOOO Faygosity __ OOOOO
posted by haveanicesummer at 3:39 PM on April 26, 2010 [7 favorites]

Your favorite band sucks. This rule applies to everyone. Near every band is liked by at least one person (consider band members count, too). Ergo, all music anyone would care to defend is crap.
posted by mccarty.tim at 3:54 PM on April 26, 2010

So by what metric, exactly, can one gauge that "the music is crap?"

Because my indisputably superior sense of aesthetics tells me so, obviously. Like, duh.

In all seriousness, there are a bunch of artists whose music I find less than compelling, but whose overall artistic presentation I find incredibly impressive. I'm thinking of make-up heavy acts like Lady Gaga, ICP, Kiss, Queen, etc., but that would be an easy list to expand on in other directions.

It's the same thing as enjoying a movie or tv show even though the acting is terrible and the effects are cheesy -- there can be something about the whole package that works, even when some of the important pieces are dreadful.
posted by Forktine at 4:05 PM on April 26, 2010

"To me, I’d rather be the dumbed-down guy appreciating everything than the guy who knows everything and doesn’t appreciate [anything]." - Violent J.

Word. You know what it is about ICP and Juggalo's that has so many of us enthralled? There is not a trace of irony in their worldview. We've become so accustomed to irony and cynicism that we can't believe that there are people who like to have fun dressing up and pretending to to be homicidal clowns, and are shocked-SHOCKED!- to find out that these same people don't take ANYTHING for granted. They're like self-aware children (and I mean that in the good-able-to-maintain-a-sense-of-wonder way).

I only wish I could be like that.
posted by KingEdRa at 5:13 PM on April 26, 2010 [10 favorites]

So I'm watching Breaking Bad last night, and suddenly a parallel, like, strikes the mothafuckin shit outta me, dawg:

I see miracles all around me
Stop and look around, it's all astounding
Water, fire, air and dirt
Fucking magnets, how do they work?
And I don't wanna talk to a scientist
Y'all motherfuckers lying, and getting me pissed
...This world is yours for you to explore
there's nothing but miracles beyond your door
The Dark Carnival is your invitation
To witness that without explanation
Take a look at this fine creation
And enjoy it better with appreciation

***

WHEN I heard the learn’d astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:01 PM on April 26, 2010 [15 favorites]

I actually really enjoyed about three of their albums, with The Great Milenko being the peak. The concept was novel, and the artwork was cool... but when I went with my younger brother to a meet'n'greet, I was stunned by the huge line of down-with-the-clown kids and Faygo. I'd never even seen the soda in a store, and here it was littering the gutters and flying through the air. Wasn't even a concert (I don't think they were allowed to play in St. Louis at the time). I think they really ran out of ideas before the last card dropped; couldn't stand anything they did after Jekyl Brothers. Still have the autographs though..
posted by hypersloth at 6:12 PM on April 26, 2010

Not even comic books predicted the absurdity of thugs in clown paint.

I swear ICP got their inspiration from the Evil Clown Comics that used to run in National Lampoon. Anyway, Psychopathic has to have the worst stable of "rappers" in the music business. Boondox (NSFW lyrics!!!) the killer scarecrow anyone? Anyway I'm off to YouTube for a little Twizted J-U-DoubleG-A-L-O action...
posted by MikeMc at 7:11 PM on April 26, 2010

i actually had to admit to myself that i probably count as a juggalo now because between this and Thy Unveiling, which is the song where they straight up tell us they're swear rapping clowns for Jesus, icp makes me feel all sunny inside.
posted by beefetish at 7:16 PM on April 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Hmm, is there a word for "lets ditch negativity and cynicism and appreciate art for it's upbeat sincerity -- not without maintaining our own detachment of course" Maybe 'Square-ster' (like hipster, but square)

Well, whatever it is, you people have jumped the shark of it.
posted by delmoi at 7:57 PM on April 26, 2010

Hmm, is there a word for "lets ditch negativity and cynicism and appreciate art for it's upbeat sincerity -- not without maintaining our own detachment of course"

Yes, it's "StraightUpPsychopathicDirtyClownLoveWHAT!StraightUpDirtyCloooown!"
posted by KingEdRa at 8:21 PM on April 26, 2010

Hmm, is there a word for "lets ditch negativity and cynicism and appreciate art for it's upbeat sincerity -- not without maintaining our own detachment of course"

Kitsch.
posted by kid ichorous at 4:44 AM on April 27, 2010 [3 favorites]

KingEdRa: “You know what it is about ICP and Juggalo's that has so many of us enthralled? There is not a trace of irony in their worldview. […] I only wish I could be like that.”

That only makes sense if you accept Violent J's false dichotomy, between the starry-eyed "dumbed-down guy" and the cynical know-everything. Which seems plausible on first glance, except on even a moment's consideration it just doesn't jive with reality, or at least the one I inhabit. Knowing something about how magnets work, or that giraffes exist in more places than "Africa" and "Detroit," doesn't automatically decrease one's appreciation for the workings of the Universe. Ignorance is not a virtue — but that seems to be exactly what they're extolling. It's know-nothingism in its purest form.

And although I'm more than willing to give ICP and their fans a pass on virtually all of their antics, that seems like a really poisonous worldview.
posted by Kadin2048 at 7:03 AM on April 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

i actually had to admit to myself that i probably count as a juggalo now because between this and Thy Unveiling, which is the song where they straight up tell us they're swear rapping clowns for Jesus, icp makes me feel all sunny inside.

This is just to say
That I have downloaded a copy
of the new ICP album,
and it's now nestled
in between the Rush and the Stockhausen
in our music library.

Forgive me.

It's bouncy and funny and dumb
in all the right ways, and besides,
I hate Bill O'Reilly.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 8:32 AM on April 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

re: "Miracles." ICP has come a long way since "Bugz On My Nutz."

From the FPP article: Gairdner: My opinion about the whole thing has changed from when I made the video to after the fact. My opinion while I was making it was, yes, they’re very silly, dumb, violent people. And I assumed they would all be really riled up and upset about my video. But all of the feedback I’ve gotten from that world has been incredibly nice and incredibly well-spoken and thought-out. They’ve all been surprisingly smart and really understood the joke, and been really game and happy to be parodied. It’s such a deep world. That’s all made me respect the world more.

Also, this article in VICE is still the best thing I've ever read about ICP & The Juggalos.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 8:59 AM on April 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

p.s.: NSFW pics in that Vice Magazine article.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 9:12 AM on April 27, 2010

Hmm, is there a word for "lets ditch negativity and cynicism and appreciate art for it's upbeat sincerity -- not without maintaining our own detachment of course"

Yes, it's "StraightUpPsychopathicDirtyClownLoveWHAT!StraightUpDirtyCloooown!"

is there a suffix for that word for "icp makes me feel all sunny inside, but you wouldn't catch me saying that if they were anti-semitic as opposed to just being homophobic"?
posted by fallacy of the beard at 9:22 AM on April 27, 2010

The origin of "StraightUpPsychopathicDirtyClownLoveWHAT!StraightUpDirtyCloooown!" from the parody response to the Juggalo News bit. (SLYT).
posted by KingEdRa at 9:50 AM on April 27, 2010

“Dude! We’re going to go get a dead fish to throw up there!”

I didn’t catch the anti-throwing guys’ reaction to this announcement, but pro-throwing guy yelled louder than I’ve ever heard anyone yell in my life.

Thank you, Fuzzy Monster. Thank you.
posted by cthuljew at 9:53 PM on April 28, 2010

It's Violent J's birthday today, by the way. if anybody cares

He's 28 in this bitch!
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 2:33 AM on April 29, 2010

Has anyone ever done a mashup of ICP's "Bang Pow Boom" and the Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow?"
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 6:14 AM on April 30, 2010