On occasion, we have journalists who make guest contributions for Faygoluvers.  Today, we received an article from Dustin McGee who takes a light-hearted look on how you can be more like the Insane Clown Posse!

The article is based on the imagery of Violent J, Shaggy 2 Dope, and their Joker’s cards in which Dustin draws his conclusions from.  Check it out and let us know what you think:

Want to be more like ICP?

by Dustin McGee

Have you ever wanted to be more like Insane Clown Posse? Well, if you’re a fan of the horrorcore genre—or just everyone’s favorite hardcore Detroit clown rappers—of course you have!

This question occurred to me when a friend and I got into a conversation about what guys like ICP could possibly get up to in their free time, when they’re not making, promoting, and performing their music. Granted, these guys have produced a lot of sounds over the years, so maybe they don’t have much free time. But when they do, we wondered, what do they get up to? Do guys with such a unique professional approach and public persona get up to the same old activities that anyone can enjoy?

Really, there’s no telling. I don’t have the industry clout to call ’em up and ask what they’re doing this Saturday. Plus they might think I was weird for asking such a thing. But in lieu of what would surely have been an awkward interview, I did some digging of my own and tried to glean a few hypothetical hobbies of the ICP guys from past album covers, artwork, etc. Here’s what I’ve decided they might be into.

Magic

I know, you don’t typically think of rappers as the type of guys to go out and perform magic tricks, but ICP has been sprinkling evidence of interest in the arcane arts in their imagery for years. Just look at Seek A Cover’s lineup of past album covers for a few reminders. The most recent is this year’s The Marvelous Missing Link, which depicts the typical sinister clown bound in a facial mask of chains. Is he going to get out of said facial mask of chains? And might he do so by magic? More explicitly, past album covers have displayed images such as a clown juggling fireballs, or another clown holding a small bird in one hand and a magic wand in another (very magician-y stuff). The 1995 album Riddle Box depicted a huge clown head bursting out of a jack-in-the-box, but he’s way too big for that jack-in-the-box! Once again, a suggestion of magical trickery is afoot.

As for being more like ICP yourself, can you get into performing magic also? Actually, some of the basics are pretty damn easy. Check out Good Tricks’ basic illusions and you’ll be pulling evil clowns out of small boxes in no time.

Poker

A lot of hip-hop artists actually have a connection to poker, with many playing online regularly or participating in online events. As far as I can tell, ICP are not actually part of that group and don’t have a public history of playing poker. And yet, this epic poker party T-shirt would be hard to explain if there wasn’t some connection between the group and the card game. There’s a hell of a lot going on in the image on this tee. Actually, there are still clowns doing magic all over the place (the image with the bird, jack-in-the-box clown, and fireball-juggling clowns are all present, along with what looks to be Death himself). But at the center of it all is a classic game of poker. By the look of things, jack-in-the-box clown has already folded, and the one with the bird is doing a terrible job of hiding his hand.

Obviously, this is something you can get into also if you want to be more like ICP. It’s a little complicated for first-time players, but Betfair’s guide on how to play poker online is very helpful. You’ll learn the ins and outs of the game of poker along with some strategies related to betting and competing with other players. Just try not to get roped into a game with Death.

Actual Clowning

This one makes sense, right? I mean, ICP pretty much always appears in their own brand of clown garb (which, granted, isn’t the traditional Fun House or kids’ party version), and their album and merchandise art is all about the clowns. So why not assume one of their recreational activities of choice might be, well, clowning?

And yes, you can do it too. According to All About Clowns, there are opportunities all across the U.S. for those who have an interest in clowning, whether that means developing characters, learning costuming, studying performance techniques, etc. In a weird way, this is a real business.

In reality, I have no way of knowing what the guys in ICP are into, or whether or not any of these activities apply. But it’s kind of fun to think about, and now I feel like learning some magic, putting on a clown costume, and sitting down at a poker table to wow opponents with tricks. Or I could just throw on my favorite ICP album.