#MNE
#TWIZTID
#HORRORCORE
#ICP
One question was about to change my life forever…
#TWIZTID
#HORRORCORE
#ICP
One question was about to change my life forever…
“You never heard of the Insane
Clown Posse?”
The question came suddenly and
caught me unprepared. I would not know then that it was a question that would move
my world into a new horizon for years to come. I was young, and just starting to
understand that I enjoyed music, especially rap. If you asked me why now, I’d tell you that I was
attracted to the rambunctious culture, and the fuck-you-I’ll-say-what-the-hell-I-want attitude that stained my
soul over the years. But the truth is, it was trendy. The Thug Life era was just coming to a close, ushering in the age of
Dr. Dre’s Aftermath, Missy Elliott’s weird fish-eyed-lens music videos, and
Busta Rhymes’s apocalyptic fast word-play. I didn’t know what I liked as far as
music went, but I was impressionable, and I was at a fertile age that was ready
to root some new seeds. Eminem’s first mainstream album had just exploded into our
not-quite-ready-for-that-nasty eardrums. I couldn’t possibly know at the time
that he had flung open a dirty door that would send in an inundating flood of
potty-mouth art to mold an entire generation. All I knew for certain was that I
liked it.
The only albums I owned then were
the Blade Motion Picture Soundtrack, the Bullworth Motion Picture soundtrack,
and something else, who knows. I was still asking for action figures for my
birthday then. So when I met my buddy James and he introduced me to the world
of time-to-get-into-your-teens-now I was not ready for this question. As far as
music went, I only listened to what my sister liked. She was older, she was an
influence, and she taught me about Rap. Eventually I would get to appreciate
the Gods that came before, such as 2pac, Biggie, and the Wu-Tang Clan, but I
did not know shit back then. I understood that a new paradigm shift in music
had been born. I remember the impact when 2pac was killed. I did not get why
his fatality was so important, but I remember vividly when mom told us like it
was some life changing political news.
But this question, I was not ready
for. It was such an alien thing then. Rapping
clowns? What!
“Ummmm… Who?” That was all I could
manage.
James rolled his eyes, like I was
some sheltered creature hidden away from the sunlight all of his life. He told
me about the wrestling, he told me about the Disney conspiracies that had been
blown way out of proportion from hearsay. But it all sounded stupid, because it
was.
“That sound’s wack.” It came with a
disparaging laugh I hadn’t meant to slip out. I also did not know that it was
pretty much the general consensus on this particular topic. Still, I never
meant to offend.
Indignant, James huffed and puffed
and made me listen to a track called Piggy Pie from their album The Great
Milenko. I was actually very impressed after the first listen; however, I’d
like to add one note: It really is not fair to start a fresh palette on a new
flavor by playing only one of their best pieces off one of their most
critically acclaimed albums. But I digress.
I wasn’t quite hooked just yet.
James was cool, wild, and very much a bad influence. He would fade from my life
forever, and faster than Thanos can snap his fingers. But that song stuck with
me. I held on to that experience for a long time. It was like my first taste of
a drug, and it had that very same effect. Your first high was always the
strongest, and then you hunt desperately to maintain that same high. And will
fail. But with the Clowns, I needed time.
My mom loved comics. She took us
out to the comic book store to check out the new releases almost every month. I
only just started getting attached to one publication. I loved Image Comics. It
was mostly for Todd McFarlane’s Spawn, but still, I enjoyed everything they put
out. It was like a dark take on superheroes and antiheroes, and beyond. I
always loved the bad-guy story, and Image delivered. This time at the shop I
stumbled on a new release from Chaos: The Insane Clown Posse and their Comic
book debut Raze The Desertz of Glass. Now they crossed into my territory of
interest. I bought both versions of that special issue. I remember they came
with a special Pendulum album track on cd for every issue. Collecting all the
issues got the entire secret album which would later be released gradually on
their Forgotten Freshness cds. I thought it was a neat promo grab to get people
to buy. But I actually really liked the artwork as well. I enjoy that visceral,
gritty, ugly look in illustrations like that. It was why I always loved Todd
McFarlane’s work. The grimy details were always fresh as fuck. Chaos Comics did
a hell of a job bringing to life their free rolling mythology too.
I remember coming back home all
excited because finally I got it. But I didn’t. I was a noob, in a sense. And I
only made it not cool, if that can
even be a thing considering. But these were the building blocks toward a
foundation that would eventually shape everything I would grow to be.
James fell out of it, and I stuck
to it.
My next cds were the Riddle Box,
and The Amazing Jeckel Brothers, which was their new release at the time. On
that album I saw an advertisement in all comic-book glory fashion for Twiztid’s
first mainstream release: a remake of their street classic Mostasteless. That
fucking cassette ended up becoming one of my most cherished possessions for a
long time. Then, hearing what they were saying like “blow up the white house”
and using the word without a care for
consequence was both shocking and crudely inspiring for me. My mom didn’t care,
she got me them for Christmas, (though Twiztid I had to discover on my own).
She heard a rumor from some party spoiler at her work that admonished her for
buying me them, and mom delivered that warning to me. I took it the same way a
smoker acknowledged their surgeon general’s warning that they were going to
become creatures if they kept being a chainsmoker. Thanks mom! Well, going to my room to listen to my jams.
The poison was in.
I grew up. The last joker’s card
came out and I was confused by the grand finale. James went on to become a cult
leader or whatever. I went on to jump in and out of the following. Then I
graduated, got a job, and I forgot. But my dad brought it back. One day on our
way to work he played the fuck off song on Jeckel Brothers. From that day on we
used that song as our coffee to start the morning. I rediscovered my taste for
it. I went back to my old cds and threw them in to the old disk jammer. It was
late, but I rekindled the candle for that dark wicked-shit horror themed
hiphop, and I wanted more. So I got more. Picked up ICP’s Bizzar, Bizaar.
Bought merch at Hot Topic. And I repped that shit proudly. Most people never
cared about it because they did not know. Eventually that would become
problematic, but not yet.
Soon I would learn about ABK, Blaze
Ya Dead Homie, Boondox… Boondox was a funny one. I scoffed the
infamous Scarecrow and his shoddy gimmick, until I saw him in concert and
finally shut the fuck up. Now he is one of my favorite acts. My first concert
was The Tempest tour featuring main acts Twiztid, and Insane Clown Posse. In
that show my homie Brandon made us do it. At first, I was nervous. Never been
to a Psychopathic Records show, and I heard nasty stories. And when we got
there, we went straight for the barricade and stayed there until the war was
done. And I mean War. Everything was
chill until Twiztid took the stage. When the lights went out moments before
their opening song the ocean of people behind us began roiling. They pressed us
against that barricade until our ribs felt as though they might burst. When the
lights hit, the base filled our lungs, and the mist flew out, they materialized
under a veil of swirling fog. Then they hit that “Axe murderaz! WE DON’T DIE!” That’s when we felt the full force of
the mob behind us. They crowd surfed, and we got kicked in the face, but it was
awesome.
We have gone to a thousand shows
since then. There was this one Twiztid show in Philadelphia Pa where a chubby,
but haughty security guard wanted to talk bad about everyone that was set to
perform that night. Brandon and I caught him punching audience members at the barricade.
We caught ahold of one crowd surfer and together we launched his ass at that
security guard. The next moment, the guy we threw was back on his feet Whoop-Whoop’n
unbothered, and Big-Mouth security guard was being walked out with tears in his
eyes. Apparently we shattered his arm. At the Gathering of The Juggalos we got
a brutal first-hand taste of global warming as the sun beat the shit out of us
and saw Tila Tequila get bags of piss to the face. Actually, we only heard
about that the next morning. Whatever, the point is: It happened and she
deserved it. Hate if you want; that woman dissed the Fam and took the stage anyway
when clearly nobody wanted her there.
I used to be very proud and vocal
about the culture that I would later learn was known as Horrorcore. The legendary
Esham the Unholy began it. ICP emulated him with their clown faces and murder
themes, Eminem exposed them to a broader audience, and they collectively paved
the way for horror rappers of all walks of life. Soon there would be too many experiences
and acts to count, but I enjoy a good bit of them. I think these days the
legendary Tech N9ne and Twiztid are my favorites in this category. But I feel
like a new face (forever face, rather) is about to revitalize the industry. They’re
like a true honest to god Horror Movie if it was transformed into rap. I am referring
to a new phenomenon called Alla Xul Elu. There is also G-Mo Skee (who adds a
nice Eminem like flavor to his work), Gorilla Voltage, Lex The Hex, Hopsin, Lo
Key, Scum, and as I said, too many more to mention. Alla Xul have a massive
following already, and now that Majik Ninja Entertainment (Twiztid’s new rap label)
have provided them a hot spot light to show off their work I think they are
destined to become equal entities to their founders, and the high-rise
foundation they have made.
I have met everyone from the old
Psychopathic roster except for one act. So I bought the VIP pass for Frightfest
2018, and at last I got to talk to Twiztid in person. Drew them a couple of
caricatures, and they were just like two excited, grateful kids to have it
done. And I was greatful for that reaction as I just kind of figured they have gotten better art before. But they seemed genuinely impressed by my technique, and the small time it took to complete. They invited me to consider drawing at their convention early next year, and it was
an all around great experience. I am 33 years old now. Been listening to these
guys since 1999, and now, everything has become like a new chapter turning from
a novel that had begun with a single question. Thanks James.
Happy Halloween! Stay wicked, stay
true to you. Think for yourself dude, and don’t do what they do. Just do what
you want to do. The haters are going to hate anyway, so you might as well just
have fun with it.
Whoop
Whoop!
