Welcome
to the Dark Carnival, a celestial circus of lunacy, madness, and excess
that travels through time and space to distort pleasant youthful memories
into a horrific living nightmare. Nearly eight years ago, this cryptic
force reached into our earthly dimension and touched two Detroit street
rappers, now known by their carnival names VIOLENT J and SHAGGY 2 DOPE,
and revealed to them the coming apocalypse. Transformed into the image
of clowns, VIOLENT J and SHAGGY 2 DOPE became heralds of the coming judgement,
and to make their warnings clear, these clowns carry axes instead of balloons.
ICP's
disturbing doomsday visions, extravagant theories, and sociopathic clown
personas give them more in common with Wes Craven, Edgar Allen Poe, and
Steven King than with any modern street rappers. Regardless, the driving
force behind ICP has made their message explode with over 250,000 of their
self -released records having already been sold to new converts of the
Dark Carnival.
Previous
to their transformation, ICP stood for Inner City Posse and was an extension
of a gang which VIOLENT J and SHAGGY 2 DOPE started in Southwest Detroit.
Back then, the group had about 15 people and did straight gangster rap
as heard on their '91 debut DOG BEATS. However, when the album started
selling well in the Detroit area, their gang's rep skyrocketed and caused
a serious backlash from the other local gangs. ICP became victims of serious
gang violence forcing many members to leave town. Then came the first epiphany
of the Dark Carnival. Alone and scared, VIOLENT J and SHAGGY 2 DOPE were
visited by the Carnival Spirit and told them of a great judgment racing
towards earth to punish evil-doers. With little time left, the Carnival
Spirit ordained VIOLENT J and SHAGGY 2 DOPE to be ministers of the street
through six revelations, refereed to as Jokers Cards, which will be manifested
in the form of ICP records. "Six will visit," said the Carnival Spirit,
"followed by the crumbling of time itself... a dark carnival sweeping across
the land as a shadow, plagued with destruction."
The
other members of ICP were not privy to the same oracle and thus rejected
VIOLENT J and 2 DOPE's newfound Carnivology. Once most of these unbelievers
left, the power of the Dark Carnival descended upon its remaining devotees
as subtle as a calm mist yet as glorious as a fiery comet. Made over with
make-up and cheap no-brand shoes, ICP became the INSANE CLOWN POSSE and
exploded with frightening regional success.
ICP's
Island Records' debut, THE GREAT MILENKO, is the fourth Joker Card, preceded
by the self-released CARNIVAL OF CARNAGE, THE RINGMASTER, and THE RIDDLE
BOX. The previous releases warned of entities like the Ringmaster, who
will represent the sum judgement for evil-doing which a man must face in
his grave, and the Riddle Box, whose crank a man must turn to have his
eternal destiny pop up before him. The Dark Carnival's newest Joker Card
warns of the Great Milenko, and evil illusionist from the nethervoid of
the shadow walker. VIOLENT J explains, "The Great Milenko tempts people
with illusions of better lifestyles built upon wrongdoing.. The fourth
Jokers Card is a warning that man must look past these illusions as see
the evil judgment that the Great Milenko is really offering." As the Carnival
Spirit revealed in Halls Of Illusion, "Your death comes wicked, painful,
and slow at the hands of Milenko!". ICP continue to rail against the richies,
rednecks, and racists on THE GREAT MILENKO, with tales of death and destruction
(or worse) for the evil doers.
While
driven forward by the coming judgement, ICP still retains a synergy with
the streets of Detroit through Faygo soda, known as the poor man's pop
because it costs a mere $.60 a 2-liter. VIOLENT J and SHAGGY 2 DOPE were
raised on Faygo in their poverty-stricken youth, so the Dark Carnival inspired
them to utilize Faygo as a symbolic reminder. At every show, ICP showers
the crowd with about six hundred liters of Faygo, which is only a sixth
of what the crowd brings with them. VIOLENT J remarks, "We like to shake
up the bottles, poke holes in them, and throw them into the audience. We
even have these huge guns that shoot Faygo over fifty feet so its impossible
not to get soaked."
Yet
Faygo fights are only one small part of ICP's unparalleled live shows,
which are more appropriately known as "thematic riots" With every tour,
the Dark Carnival reveals a different theme to ICP that makes their shows
more like "The Amityville Horror" and "The Funhouse" than like Popmart
or the Clash of the Titans tours. With each having its own enormous, elaborate
set, past tour themes include The Prom Night Massacre, The Omen, The Resurrection,
The Joker's Gallery, and the very messy Pie-In-Your-Fucking-Face tour.
These sets included insane asylums, haunted houses, people popping out
of coffins, dunk tanks on stage, fire coming up from the floor, blood on
the walls, axes, knives, chains, and whatever else fits the theme, as well
as numerous extra characters on stage like zombies, freaks, and the infamous
ape boy. The Dark Carnival's spirit is so powerful at these shows that
kids will line up for hours wearing clown make-up and dressing according
to the night's theme.
In
support of ICP's vision, a host of renowned guest appear on THE GREAT MILENKO,
like Alice Cooper (doing a spoken word into), Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols
(playing guitar on "Piggy Pie"), and Slash of Guns 'n' Roses (playing guitar
on "Halls of Illusions"). Each of these artists were touched by the very
same Carnival Spirit that has made ICP such remarkable prophets of the
coming age. Nothing has stopped ICP yet, even the live show mayhem that
has cost its members numerous black eyes, cracked fingers, broken bones,
concussions, dreadlocks pulled out of their head, and in 2 DOPE's case,
being hung by the neck from a barricade by over-zealous fans. "It doesn't
matter because we're doing the work of the Dark Carnival," says VIOLENT
J. "Yeah, we go through some crazy shit, and its getting worse. But you
just gotta love it!"
