Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse is an American hip-hop duo that consists of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Violent J, born as Joseph Bruce on April 28th, 1972 in Berkeley, Michigan, and Shaggy 2 Dope, birth name Joseph William Utsler on October 14th, 1974 in Wayne, Michigan combine the genres of hip-hop and metal into a furious and aggressive musical style known as horrorcore.
Founding the group in 1989, the duo has earned two platinum albums and five gold albums. In 1992 their debut album, Carnival of Carnage, featured hard rock elements and appearances from Esham and Kid Rock. During a show for the album Violent J addressed the face-painted crowd as “Juggalos” and created a name for their fan-base that has stuck in pop-culture ever since. In 1999 the group had such a cult following that their concept album, The Amazing Jeckel Brothers, debuted in the top 5 of Billboard’s Hot 200 and lead to a signing by Island/PolyGram Records. The album featured notable guest appearances by Snoop Dogg and Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
Insane Clown Posse’s star continued to rise with 14 album releases up to 2015 and a major appearance at Woodstock 1999. The group has gone on multiple world tours, spawned their own comic book incarnations, movies, and even started a successful wrestling league.