March 29, 2024
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Insane Clown Posse Interview (2/6/14)

Juggalos and Juggalettes, this is Scottie D doing a little bit of an intro for this all new, devastatingingly FRESH interview!  Both Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope agreed to be a part of it, and thanks to the help of Psychopathic Records, especially J-Webb, it finally happened!

First, props to McNastee for the dope ass graphic!

Extra crazy props go out to Rachel Paul of the Dark Carnival Tarot for transcribing over half of this interview!

So now, without further adieu, I present our exclusive hour-long interview with the Insane Clown Posse.

STREAMING AUDIO:

[audio:https://www.faygoluvers.net/v5/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ICP-Interview-February-6th-2014-56-kbps.mp3]

DOWNLOAD AUDIO:

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Download the Faygoluvers ICP Interview (50.9 MB)

YOUTUBE STREAM:

[youtube width=”560″ height=”344″]http://youtu.be/AXGs1MOOcvA[/youtube]

TEXT:

FLH: What up y’all?  This is Scottie D from Faygoluvers.net and I’m here with a long overdue interview with Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope.  Say what’s up y’all!

Shaggy 2 Dope: What up doe, man?

Violent J: What up doe? Whoop Whoop!

Scottie D: Hell yeah!  Man I’ve got a ton of questions that I came up with, some that were submitted, and all kinds of stuff to cover, so let’s get this started!

FLH: I think a lot of Juggalos want to know about the FBI situation.  You guys got some really powerful backing from the ACLU, and obviously we’ve heard some recent updates about it.  Has there been anything else that’s come to fruition since the last update?

Shaggy 2 Dope: Nah everything’s still sailing smooth like it has, you know what I’m sayin’?  There’s nothing big to report right now.  It’s just a real slow process with this whole thing, you know?  Like real slow, real time-consuming, real money-consuming, real everything consuming, you know what I’m sayin’?  It seems like a drain on everybody, you know what I’m sayin’? We ain’t stoppin’ though…we’ll stick it through.

Violent J: News doesn’t happen every day, but they’re always on the move over there, you know what I mean?  They’re always creepin’ up, you know?  So we’ll just wait with anticipation I guess, like everybody else.

Shaggy 2 Dope: And as soon as we hear something, we’ll talk about it.

FLH: Absolutely, sounds good. I know we’re all anxious to hear a final outcome on that.  So let’s talk about Juggalo Day since that’s coming up right around the corner.  You guys had Myzery and Project Born on the Riddle Box show.  Do you have any special guest openers for [The Great Milenko] show?

Violent J: You know, we wanted to do the same thing and have guests from that era, ya know?  But it would have been the same 2 guests again.  It would have been Myzery and Project Born again. [Laughs] So we kinda just threw that out the window, you know what I’m sayin’?  We asked Claas to do it, we got Big HooDoo…

Shaggy 2 Dope: Yeah, yeah big time. We’ve got the after-party going on, we’ve got all types of stuff going on and we’re geeked about doing this Milenko show, you know what I’m sayin’? It felt so good doing that Riddle Box record last time, you know what I’m sayin’?  We’re super geeked about doing Milenko, you know?

Violent J: We’ve got Downtown Brown playing, and they’re a fun ass band!  They’re a good time! That’s a really fun band right there!  We were sitting around with Jumpsteady one day in the office just trying to figure out who we wanted to ask to come play, you know?  And as for the Milenko show, those are the three names we came up with, you know?  There really was no rhyme or reason why we picked them. We were just going through names that we wanted to invite and who we wanted to play, and that’s who we came up with, you know what I mean?

FLH: That’s what’s up man. So you mentioned Claas in there, and he’s part of the Underground Avengers.  I’m jumping around on my questions a little bit. I know you guys have been working pretty closely with them and have them opening up shows.  Are there any plans by Psychopathic to possibly sign them?

Shaggy 2 Dope: As of right now, no.  Not at all, you know what I’m sayin’? They’ve been rollin’ with Boondox for a while, you know what I’m sayin’?  So we’re just like “you know that’d be cool”. That’s Boondox’s thing, so we’re just like “Let’s fuck with ‘em” because it’s worked so well with him, you know?  Them are our boys, so we’re just like fuck it, let’s do this, you know?

FLH: Alright so back to Juggalo Day. Have you already thought about what’s next for Juggalo Day? Like what card?  When it might be (obviously it’s on 2/17), where it might be…?

Shaggy 2 Dope: Not at all

Violent J: We don’t know yet, ya know? We’re not even sure what to do.  We don’t know if we should make it in the future and do the Jeckel Brothers album, or to go back this time and do the Ringmaster album.  You know what I mean?  We’re not sure what to do yet.  All I know is that whatever we do, there’s gonna be a bunch of people happy, and there’s gonna be a bunch of people pissed off.

All: [Laughing]

FLH: No Doubt!  We’ve seen a bunch of shit from Detroit Juggalos about the Milenko show talkin’ about “How come it ain’t in Detroit?”  So yeah, you can’t make everybody happy.

Violent J: The reason why we didn’t do Detroit is because Milenko was the first record to really take off outside of Detroit for us.  So we felt like we should do it somewhere else, you know what I’m sayin’?  The Riddle Box pretty much ONLY took off in Detroit back in ’95, you know?  That’s where everybody was buying it with the exception of a few other markets.  Like I know you know we had some action down in Dallas, you know what I mean?

FLH: Yes sir!

Violent J: But not much, you know what I’m sayin’?  Other than Detroit and Dallas, that was it.  We probably could have played Dallas for the Riddle Box show, but you know we picked Detroit because it was our biggest city. And then, for Milenko, you know we had a lot of love in Ohio, you know what I mean?  So we just picked Columbus.  Milenko was the first album to really sell outside of Michigan for us though.

FLH: Well, let me make a suggestion, because I know you recorded a lot of The Wraith: Shangri-La in Dallas.  So that would be dope to have that here.  Just sayin’!

Shaggy 2 Dope: That’s a good idea!

Violent J: That’s the shit!  You know what?  That’s a definite right there!

FLH: Hell yes!

Violent J: There’s no way we WOULDN’T do the Shangri-La record in Dallas man! The Shangri-La record is forever a part of Dallas, and Dallas is forever a part of Shangri-La. That whole era, the fuckin GREAT time we had in Dallas…

Shaggy 2 Dope: Just recording that record, you know what I’m sayin’, was one of the best fuckin’ times of my life, you know what I’m sayin’?  The karma, just chillin’ in Dallas, you know what I’m sayin’?  It’s indescribable how good of a time we had recording that record.

FLH: Fuck yeah man! I’ll mark my calendar!

Shaggy 2 Dope: Budget Suites for life, son!

Violent J: Budget Suites is the shit, don’t doubt it!  If you ever need a place to stay, BUDGET SUITES!

Shaggy 2 Dope: Who needs all that posh 5 star hotel shit…keepin’ it real [Laughs]

FLH: So let’s talk about touring.  I know that the Mighty Death Pop tour got cut short.  Are you still planning on doing the 2nd leg?

Violent J: Of the Mighty Death Pop tour?

FLH: Yeah.

Violent J: Ummm…you know actually, uhhh…Maybe?  I don’t think we’ll call it that though.  You know what I’m sayin’?  We’re going on tour but I don’t think we’re gonna call it the Death Pop tour anymore.  I think we’re just gonna move on, you know what I’m sayin’?

Shaggy 2 Dope: But there will be plenty of fuckin’ Death Pop on there of course, you know what I’m sayin’?

Violent J: It technically will be the 2nd leg of the Death Pop tour, you know what I’m sayin’?  But I don’t think we’re gonna call it that.  I think we’ll probably just move on as far as what we call it.  But technically, it will be the 2nd leg of the Death Pop tour, you  know what I mean?

FLH: Right Right.

Shaggy 2 Dope: You know it’s just like touring any record.  It’s pretty much just like when the record first comes out, we’ll call it that tour.  Then we’ll just theme it differently or whatever even though it’s technically a part of that era, you know?

FLH: Well I’ll be slaughtered online if I don’t ask you this. Will this tour be hitting Canada or Europe?

Violent J: God, you know it man.  We got…we [Laughs] You’re gonna make me cry, brother. We just had our foot in Canada, and then Shaggy had a little hang-up.  So we’ve gotta see how that plays out, you know what I’m sayin’?  That little unbeknownst bone…that delayed bone that just hit us up yesterday, we’ve gotta see how that plays itself out.  But we just had our foot in the door in Canada.  We were just about to announce something, but now we’ve gotta see what happens as far as…

Shaggy 2 Dope: But you know what though, I’m gonna keep it positive.  YES!

Violent J: Right! Keep it positive!

FLH: Well that was actually one of the questions I had for Shaggy.  It seems really convenient that this came up a year and a half, or whatever it’s been, since the incident took place.   What are your thoughts on that?

Shaggy 2 Dope: I mean I really can’t comment on that too much right now, you know what I’m sayin’?  Because I really haven’t got to talk to my lawyer and all that. So it’s not a good thing to actually discuss details right now, you know?  But you know, it fuckin SUCKS! [Laughs] No doubt!  Just got off of probation like a little while ago, and now this shit’s coming up, you know?  It sucks, you know what I’m sayin’?  It’s like I did my time and probation and all that shit.  Now we’re ready to get out and do shit properly, and this bullshit comes along.  But what can you do, you know?  It’s horrible.

Violent J: It’s like we got ourselves on the right track and all of a sudden they had to come back and get us for something, you know, fuckin 13 months ago.  It’s bullshit man.

FLH: So let’s talk about the Gathering.  The new location has been announced, in Kaiser, Missouri.  What was your ultimate decision leading you to move the Gathering?

Violent J: Really there’s several reasons man.  It was just TIME, you know what I mean?  Everything was cool at Cave-In-Rock, you know?  But it was time.  There’s some pressing reasons.  We were losing a lot of money there, you know what I mean? It was costing a lot of money.  A lot of people were sneaking in.  Less people were coming to the Gathering because of the gang thing.

Shaggy 2 Dope: Location

Violent J: The location was so hard on everybody being way out in the middle of nowhere.  No phone reception…

Shaggy 2 Dope: That’s just a couple of reasons, you know what I’m sayin’?  It was just time to switch the flavor up, you know?  Just time for a breath of fresh air. Time for new sites, new sounds.  A little bit more, what’s the word I’m looking for?  Less seclusion.  Fuck, what’s the word I’m looking for?  You know, hotels closer, population, less seclusion.  It was cool, but when you can’t use your phone and you have an emergency or whatever, it kinda sucks, you know?  And if you want a hotel, and have to drive like 2 hours to a hotel, that sucks too, you know?

Violent J: We had a lot of fun at Cave-In-Rock, but it was just time man.  It was just time for something new.  Everybody wanted somewhere new, we wanted somewhere new, you know, for a lot of reasons.  We just made sure that this time, for sure…I mean we started looking right when the Gathering ended. Right when the last Gathering ended, we started looking, you know?  Because we wanted to make sure….believe me, it is NOT EASY. It is NOT EASY, you can ask Jumpsteady man.  It is not easy finding a Gathering ground when the fuckin’ FBI thinks you’re a gang, you know what I’m sayin’?

Shaggy 2 Dope: There’s not too many open-minded people out there that are willing to let you rent out their campground and put their reputation on the line for something that’s supposedly a gang.

Violent J: AND, we had trouble paying the bills for the last Gathering.  Other people are like “Fuck that”, you know? We were determined to find a new place and wipe the slate clean.

Shaggy 2 Dope: It was there 7 years, and it was starting to get a little Groundhog day-ish, you know? At least for me. It just kinda seemed like one year was bleeding into the other, you know what I’m saying?  Not that it was any less fresh, but I’m just like “who played last year?” and I think of people from like 3 years ago because it’s the same scenery every year, you know?  And we just wanted that fresh breath of air, you know?

Violent J: We needed that fresh new location. It’s time!  Every reason in the world, you know?  It’s just time for that new era.  The way things are now, you know what I’m saying?  It’s a new day, the company’s different, you know what I’m sayin’?  Everything’s different.  Everything’s changing.  It’s time for a new Gathering grounds, you know what I’m saying?  It’s gonna be hopefully a really special place.  We’ve just got all of our fingers and toes and dicks crossed hoping everything is perfect man.  You know what I mean?

FLH: I hope so too man.  I welcome the new location.  It doesn’t hurt that it’s a little bit closer for me, but you’re right.  It’s time for a change of scenery.

Violent J: Yeah.

FLH: Speaking of change of scenery, you mentioned at some of your Australian tour dates that there’s going to be a Gathering over there.  I guess judging by what happens with Shaggy’s situation, is that still a big possibility?

Violent J: Yeah! We don’t have much trouble getting in there!

Shaggy 2 Dope: And no matter what the outcome of my situation is, that’s just a matter of time anyhow, you know?

Violent J: We’re still planning that. I gotta tell you that what we’re planning for Australia isn’t gonna be like the size of the American Gathering, you know what I mean?  It’ll be an overnight concert festival thing.  So it won’t be the size of the regular Gathering…

Shaggy 2 Dope: More like a Hatchet Attacks or something like that.

Violent J: It’ll be a much more smaller deal, you know, but it’ll be awesome for what it is, you know? It’ll be a great time, a great reason to get together over in Australia.  And for people that are looking for a vacation, you know, come on over and check out Australia!

FLH: Fuck yes!

Violent J: Australian Juggalos are fuckin’ awesome man.  We know that shit costs money, but we’re gonna try to keep the tickets down as low as we can like normal, you know? We’re just trying to put together something fun!  I wish we could do an all out, full blown Gathering over there, but it’s just not possible the first time out, you know what I’m sayin’?

FLH: Sure.  OK, so I’ve gotta ask this.  A few years back at the Gathering, I think at a seminar, you mentioned that you wanted Juggalos to get together to set some sort of world record in Detroit.  Nothing has been spoken of it since.  Do you remember what that was?  Because you were pretty vague in the seminar.

Violent J: Oh man, it’s still something.  It just got put back on the burner man.  The back burner.  But I don’t want to reveal it yet because it’s still a card that we’re gonna pull out in the future, you know?

FLH: OK

Violent J: 2013 was kind of a tough ear for us.  A lot of things shook up, a lot of changes.  We’re landing now and letting the dust settle, you know what I mean?  We’ve still got plans, and things like that for the future.  We’ve still got magic cards we’re trying to pull out from under our Milenko hat, you know what I mean?

FLH: [Laughs] Yeah no doubt!  Alright, let’s talk the next Joker’s card.  When can we expect more information on that to be revealed?

Violent J: Really soon!

Shaggy 2 Dope: More soon than you probably think.

Violent J: Way sooner than you think, probably!  Way sooner than everybody thinks, you know?  I just told a guy from the New York Times that everybody sees where we’re at and what’s going on with Psychopathic.  That’s one thing.  But here at Psychopathic, we see where we’re going.  We see where we’re headed.

Shaggy 2 Dope: The wheels are moving, you know what I’m sayin’?  It’s not like we’re just looking at some time in the future.  The wheels are moving on all types of shit right now, you know?

Violent J: People say man, I hope everything’s alright with Psychopathic, and this and that.  We see where we’re going and we see where we’re heading, and what our plans are, and we are EXTREMELY excited over here!  We just wish we could share with everybody, but we can’t yet. It’s the type of deal that’s gotta play itself out, you know? It’s gotta happen, and it happens piece by piece.  But we’ve got a lot of really dope shit on the horizon man.  I mean REALLY dope shit!  As far as Joker card information, as far as Gathering information, as far as all kinds of information!  We’re coming out with shit people would never expect!  They wouldn’t expect us to say these things, but they’re right around the corner!  We’re really excited about it! We wish we could say it all, you know what I mean?  But all I gotta do is say stay tuned!  We’re never gonna bore anybody, you know?  We’ve got a lot of shit happening. This is 2014, it’s a new year, a better year, and we’re excited man! We’re proud!  We’re proud of this company, we’re thankful for the Juggalos that follow us in 2014, and the Juggalos that are still with us, we love them and we thank them.  We’re DAMN sure gonna entertain them with some bomb ass shit! That’s for sure man!

FLH: Hell yeah!  So Shaggy, do you still come up with and draw the concept of every card, or is that something that you guys do collaboratively?

Shaggy 2 Dope: I never actually came up with them.  That’s like a group thing.  I just make the final thing on paper, you know what I’m sayin’?  It’s kinda like a medium.  [Laughs] Like they’ll sit there with a piece of paper and scribble shit about what people are saying and whatnot in their head…

Violent J: Nah he comes up with it.  He’s just a very humble ninja.  But he comes up with it.

FLH: But you guys have had that vision and have it down on paper somewhere?

Shaggy 2 Dope: Nah it’s not on paper just yet, but the visions are there, you know what I’m sayin’?  The visions are there but it’s not physically on actual paper yet.

Violent J: I’ll tell you this. We’ve got the name of the new one!  We’ve got the name and the image, and the story and it’s just fuckin’ devastation!  We’ve got the plan, we’ve got the name, we’ve got the strategy already!  All ready to go!

FLH: I’m hype!

Violent J: I can tell you something very seriously brother.  And that is…the Mighty Death Pop was a certain project, you know? That was 4 albums, you know what I’m sayin’?  I can tell you this as far as the next project.  I’ll give you this much right now. This is not a 4 album project.  This will be coming much, much faster than people think, you know what I’m sayin’?  It took us forever to do the Mighty Death Pop!

Shaggy 2 Dope: The Mighty Death Pop was very exhausting for us, you know what I’m sayin’?  You’re talking about recording 4 full records.  It took a lot out of us, but we’re ready now! The regeneration of the brains are back!

Violent J: This one’s gonna be…I don’t wanna give it away too much, but this one is pretty much…pretty much just gonna be the record, you know what I’m sayin’?  The record itself.  That’s all we’re focused on is the record, you know what I mean?  And it’s gonna be hot, and fast, and hard, you know?  And we have a new studio we’re recording at!  My house out in Milford, Michigan, it’s a house out in the boonies, we just constructed a studio!  It’s not in the garage. It’s actually a freestanding building in the front of the house.  It’s a building that sits in front of the house.  It’s a studio!  It’s a beautiful fuckin’ recording studio and it’s brand new, we’re dying to start in there.  Everything’s in there, all the equipment is in there. Everything’s fuckin’ humming.  All the lights are blinking.  It’s fully furnished, everything’s ready to go.  We’re just finishing up this other project that, once again, we can’t tell you about.

FLH: Come on man, drop some knowledge!

Violent J: But we’re almost done with this project.  We’re dying to get into that studio, and it’s ready to go man.

FLH: Have you thought far enough in the future if you’re gonna have any producers other than Mike E. Clark?  Or is it gonna be a strictly Mike E. Clark album?

Violent J: You know, we’re talking to Mike about that right now.  We’re trying to figure out what the best play is, you know?  We’re talking to Mike, because Mike’s been real busy too, you know what I’m sayin’?  Crazy busy.   We’re talking to Mike, and we’re gonna see what Mike wants to do, you know what I mean?  Does he want to sit down with us and hammer this whole thing out?  Or does he just want to contribute a couple?  We’re gonna see what he wants to do, and there’s a lot of other dope ass producers out there too.  This might be an exclusive Mike E. Clark record, or this might be a little bit of everybody.  We’re not gonna close off any options.  But of course, of course we’re gonna talk to Mike and see what he wants to do first and foremost.

Shaggy 2 Dope: Yeah, Mike’s always the first one up to bat, you know what I’m sayin’?

FLH: No doubt!

Shaggy 2 Dope: He always will be.

Violent J: There might come a time in Mike’s life where he can’t sit down with us for however long it’s gonna take right now and do that record, you  know what I mean?  We’ve just gotta sit down and talk to Mike and see where he’s at, and see if he’s ready to rock and roll, or what’s up man.

FLH: Alright man, I’ve gotta ask you about The First Six box set.  Do we have a release date yet?

Violent J: Oh it doesn’t have a release date yet?

FLH: To my knowledge, it doesn’t. It’s been pushed back and pushed back.

Violent J: What the Fuck?

Shaggy 2 Dope: That’s news to me!

Violent J: We thought that shit was out!  [Laughs]   Oh shit, I don’t know what’s going on with that!

Shaggy 2 Dope: We’re gonna have to get back to you on that one!

FLH: OK

Shaggy 2 Dope: We have to get to the bottom of it.

Violent J: I don’t know what the fuck is up with that.  We’ll find out and let you know on that Scottie because I don’t know why the fuck that’s…I don’t know why…I mean I see the prototype sitting on Billy’s desk every day! I figured that thing was on its way!

FLH: We saw in the Fuse video that Dog Beats would be included.  Do you know what other extras there will be?  Or do we just have to wait on that?

Violent J: What the extras are gonna be in the box set?

FLH: Yeah.

Violent J: You mean we haven’t even told you that yet?!

FLH: Nuh-uh

Violent J: Ahh man…fuck I don’t want to get in trouble.  I don’t want my brother being like “You shouldn’t have said nothing!” [Laughs]

FLH: [Laughs] Alright, fair enough.

Violent J: We better just wait on it because I don’t know if we’re supposed to say anything on it or not.

FLH: Fair enough, fair enough. And I’ve gotta ask you about that Fuse video where you took us on a tour of the office, Psychopathic: The Videos Volume 2 was playing on one of the TVs.  Do we have any further info on that?

Shaggy 2 Dope: The release date isn’t 100% set.  It’s ready to go though, you know what I’m sayin’?  It’s in the can, everything is done.  It’s ready to go.  That’s like on the verge right now.  It should be out anytime.

Violent J: I’m really glad you asked about that too, because that product is really dope man.  It’s really dope.  I’ll tell you what was holding it up was that Billy was looking for a distributor…This is the truth, I’m just shootin’ here with you brother…Billy was looking for a distributor that could get it into stores in the malls and everything because Fontana, our distributor, there’s barely any stores that are carrying DVDs anymore.  You know what I’m sayin’?  There’s less and less.  Everybody’s getting their shit off of fuckin’ Netflix and everything. There’s more and more stores that aren’t even carrying CDs or DVDs.  So to put a DVD out in stores is harder and harder to do.  We didn’t want to just put it out on HatchetGear exclusively at first. We wanted to try to get it in the stores first.  But it’s becoming impossible man!  It’s becoming harder and harder to put a DVD out in the stores, you know?  And when they do, they sell like half of what the other ones did before it.  And it’s not because we’re falling off or anything like that.  It’s because DVDs are falling off. You know? Less and less people are buying DVDs. They’re all digitally downloading everything.

Shaggy 2 Dope: I’m one of the last people in the world that buys DVDs man.

Violent J: You look at the DVD section at Best Buy and it’s only like a fuckin’ lane long and that’s it.  It used to be half the store, and now it’s like fuckin’ 2 rows and that’s it, you know?  The stores are changing so much, and a label like Psychopathic is based on DVDs and CDs and all of that.

Shaggy 2 Dope: [Laughs] Based off cassettes and videos!

Violent J: We weren’t like the digital media label, you know what I’m saying?  We’re more like physical product, and physical products are drying up out there like crazy, you know?  So it’s like we’re just trying to keep up with the fuckin’ technology and shit, you know what I’m sayin’?  Just to be real with you.  But it’s looking like basically, that’s gonna have to come out on HatchetGear.  But when it does, it’s a bomb ass product, man!  It’s got a couple of videos on there that nobody’s ever seen.  It’s got the video for “Forever”, it’s got the fuckin’ “Kreayshawn Song” video, it’s got some really cool shit on it man that nobody’s ever seen.  We’re even gonna put the latest videos on it that we finished.  The new Boondox video, and the latest Hoodoo video.  We’re gonna hurry up and put those on there before we drop it, you know?  It’s a SOLID product man.  Really good product!

FLH: OK, so Jumpsteady in particular said something about wanting to keep the artist roster small at Psychopathic.  That being said, are there any upcoming signings for Psychopathic on the horizon even if you can’t tell us who they might be?

Shaggy 2 Dope: No, not for right now.  For right now our concentration is to give love to everything we’ve got, you know what I’m sayin’?  In the future, nothing’s out of the question, but as for right now, we’re concentrating on the guns we’ve got.  We want to give everybody the proper love that they deserve.

Violent J:  Man before we can take on anymore projects, we’re concentrating on surviving, man. You know like staying afloat with the bands we got and the groups we got. It’s like we just said: the fuckin industry is forever changing, so fast, man. So quick. And we’re trying to fucking hang with it and keep up with the times, you know? And we’re trying to make sure our bands are straight. But never say never. Of course we’re always keeping our eyes open and if anything springs out at us or catches our eye, we’re going to jump all over it.

Shaggy 2 Dope: We’re the type of motherfuckers too that we’ll be like “Yeah, we chillin out. We ain’t fuckin wit nobody right now,” and then something will come along and we’ll be like “Damn, we gotta fuck wit that.”

Violent J:  People always want to know why we don’t sign or go after groups like Kid Crusher; why don’t we go after groups like Underground Avengers; why don’t we go after and sign those dudes. It’s because there’s really nothing Psychopathic can do for those groups that they haven’t already done for themselves. They already make their own videos. They’re already all over the underground. There’s really nothing we can do for them that they can’t do for themselves. A band can easily exist in this world just by being creative on YouTube and being creative on the internet. Everything from keeping your motherfuckin Instagrams up and everything like that and your Facebook and staying all over that shit. That’s really all there is to it for a band to survive nowadays. So we can’t really take say a Kid Crusher—it’s not like we’re going to be able to get them radio play or something. We don’t know how to get no fuckin radio play. We don’t have no connections in radio. So there’s really nothing we can do for them, other than slap our fuckin label on em. Then all of a sudden, we’re sharing their money. And that ain’t fair. So it’s really that so many bands can make it and be known in the underground and some of them want to sign with us. And we say, “Well what can we do for you that you haven’t done for yourself already?

FLH: But having Psychopathic’s seal of approval on it is good for both parties, don’t you think?

Shaggy 2 Dope: Yeah but who wants to be in a band when you can’t finance your own band. Say you’re on a label and in a band where you’re already making money, then you have to split your money with another company. That doesn’t make much sense for that band. Like J said, it’s not fair to that band that all of a sudden now you’re not making as much money.

Violent J:  It’s just not necessarily the truth like people think it is: Just having the Hatchetman stamp doesn’t make it sell like they think it would. Like a lot of the stuff we’ve released in the past year hasn’t done too well. And that’s Psychopathic or not. I‘m not revealing a big secret. Anybody can pull up Soundscan and see what our artists have sold and what they haven’t. CDs themselves don’t sell anymore. It’s about digital downloads. It’s about singles. If you’re Miley Cyrus, you’re not even concerned about an album anymore; it’s just your hottest single now. It’s a singles market now. Things are just crazy. It’s not like it was in the nineties when we could sign a bunch of groups and take em down the path and hook em up and make em real successful. Today’s world is different. The path is different. The road is different. That’s why we say we can’t guarantee anything except for the survival of ICP. We can guarantee you one thing: Insane Clown Posse will never die. That’s what we can guarantee. That’s what we can promise. Everything else, man, we can’t make no promises no more. We just can’t. And I don’t want to let anybody down or sound negative. Shit, that’s positive, you know. I’m glad that ICP will be here forever. This motherfucker right here, Shaggy 2 Dope, this is my dog man. And we’re going to ride this bitch out for life. For L-I-F-E. Forever, man. Me and him, Jumpsteady, Billy Bill, we’re going to fucking ride this bitch. And we can’t sign everybody that wants to be down, but we can damn sure do some shows with them. And rock the Gathering with them. And do shit like that, u know what I’m saying? Are you feeling what I’m saying?

FLH: Absolutely. Yeah.

Violent J:  To take everybody under our wing, man, it’s just–we’re losing money over here, man. It’s too expensive, you know what I’m saying?

FLH: Well I know you’ve already got some projects in the works, like the Boondox album, a Hoodoo LP, and I think Axe Murder Boyz still. Are there any updates on those albums?

Violent J:  Yeah, we’ve got Axe Murder Boyz comin up. We just did a track with them last week. We got…

Shaggy 2 Dope: We got Boondox.

Violent J:  Boondox just finished shooting his video and a couple promotional things. His new album is fuckin stupid ridiculous.

Shaggy 2 Dope: It’s phenomenal, man. It’s just…

Violent J:  It’s fuckin sick with it.

Shaggy 2 Dope: He just came with some fire like he’s trying to take the world over.

Violent J:  I think that project that my brother Jumpsteady put out, that spoken word CD called “The Road”—I think a lot of people didn’t understand what that was and how cool that thing really is, man. It’s for nights when you’re super bored and you’re sitting there and you got nothing to do. Pop that shit on; it’s some excellent storytelling. I think that’s a really cool, innovative product that Psychopathic put out and nobody else has put out anything like that. I’m real proud of that product, and I think people need to go back and look into that cuz it’s really dope, man. I’m into releasing things like that. Like that’s what I look at too; I want to release really rare and special types of items like that Jumpsteady EP right there. And I want to release things like “The Wizard of the Hood” EP. And I want to do groups. I want to do a group. Like I wanna have me and Shaggy hook up with 3 or 4 other dudes and do a group and put an album out like that. I want to do new stuff like that; stuff we’ve never done before. That’s the kind of stuff I see us doing in the future. Like, I know we’re in Lotus and I know we’re in Rydas and all that, and we’re always going to be in those groups. But why does that mean that’s all we can do? We can be in some new groups. I want to hook up with some of these bomb ass rappers out there and do an album with them and just keep bringing that new flavor—that new shit that people can collect, you know what I mean?

FLH: Well speaking of Lotus, at the last Gathering you guys mentioned, even on the stage, that there’s a real possibility of a new Lotus album, and I know with everything with Twiztid that transpired, that wasn’t looking very good, but what can you tell us as far as that goes?

Violent J:  Well, it may be sooner than everyone can expect. It might be right around the corner; it might be a year from now. Just, like I say, we bring the unexpected, man. And that I guarantee you.

FLH: Wow. That’s pretty fucking big news. Now…what are the chances of a new Big Money movie?

Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope: [Laughing]

Violent J: Man, you keep knocking on all our doors, man! [Laughs] We may hafta turn around and tell you about that one tomorrow, you know what I’m sayin? We got things goin on, man. We got things right around the corner. Some things may take a year; some things may take two years, but know nothing’s out our stratosphere, man. The world of ICP is very much alive and very active, and all channels that ICP is involved in is very active and very much happening, man.

Shaggy 2 Dope: Like everything you’re asking us now is basically shit that we talk about how to make happen every day, you know what I’m sayin?

FLH: Yeah that’s the shit. I know a lot of people are going to be excited to hear that. Alright. So we heard exclusively from Jumpsteady about how Psychopathic as a whole and how he felt when Twiztid left the label. And I don’t want to bring up any negative or anything, but I wanted to see what your feelings were and what you think about the future for them.

Violent J: I think their future’s fine, you know? There’s nothing we can do for Twiztid—

Shaggy 2 Dope: Their future looks bright, man. Just like it did when they were here.

Violent J: Why should they stay here and share the money they’re makin? They got children, they got families. They can go do exactly what we were doing for them on their own, you know what I mean? And I think they made a move that way. It wasn’t a move of dissin or hatred or anything disrespectful. They just stepped out on their own. They were under the umbrella of Psychopathic, which is under the umbrella of ICP, you know? Maybe they just said, “Let us be our own total, free entity now, from top to bottom.” I don’t blame em at all; I think that’s just naturally how great that they are as artists and as entrepreneurs. They’re going to do their thing, man. They’re going to keep growing. And that was a natural step in the progression of the mighty Twiztid. Honestly.

FLH: Did that come as a shock to you guys? Or was it something you saw coming?

Violent J: Yeah man!

Shaggy 2 Dope: Super shock, you know? And it blew our wigs back. Like “What the fuck?” But how could we be mad about it? We weren’t mad. We never will be mad.

Violent J: We’re sad.

Shaggy 2 Dope: There you go—good way to put it. We were shocked and sad, know what I’m sayin? But good for them! Let them do their thing. We’ve been riding together for years. Would it be awesome to still be riding together on Psychopathic? Yeah, of course it would. But they got their shit they got to do, too. And we have to respect that.

Violent J: We were sad, you know. We were sad. And we were upset. It was like the end of the Family era on Psychopathic, you know? When Twiztid left, Blaze left. We announced that Blaze left. And then there was some holdup there, because Blaze hadn’t decided what he wanted to do, but we knew that when Twiztid left, Blaze was leaving, you know? And sure enough, he left. And it just left us reeling. Because for 15 years, that was what we yelled: “Juggalo Family.”

FLH: And that still can be…

Violent J: …And anything we did, it was the Hatchet Family. And when we went on tour, it was the whole Hatchet Family. And we toured with Twiztid a hundred times, you know what I mean? And that was all we did. That was the card we played: Juggalo Family. Every Gathering, everything we did. And so all of a sudden, that era kinda ended. Where it’s like they’re out on their own now, and we just had to look at each other. And the whole situation just made us even closer. Because we know that Twiztid—it’s like they grew up. They’re fully grown men, and they’re out and they’re doing what’s best for them. And it makes perfect sense for them. But what makes perfect sense for us? Is to stay together. You know, me and Shaggy, Billy, Jumpsteady. You know, it’s for us to stay together. For life. That’s all I can say. People say, “What happened?” I say, “I don’t know what happened.” I don’t know exactly what happened. I just know that ICP will always be here. That’s the only thing I can guarantee people. Because I would have never guessed that they would leave. It makes perfect sense why they left. And now I totally understand it. And I get it. And I wish them nothing but the best in the future. But I never would have saw it coming, you know what I’m saying?

FLH: Yeah. And they said the same thing, when I had spoke with them at Fright Fest in October. And they said, “There’s no us versus them; it’s all still Family, it’s just two different companies now.”

Shaggy 2 Dope: Right. No doubt.

Violent J: It’s all still Family 100 percent. It’s just that it’s business. It was a business move, you know? And it has to happen, you know? But, man, those are our brothers. And that’s just the way it’s going to stay. And I don’t know—some people might not want to hear that. Some people might want to make things up and say, “Awww no, they’re beefin” or whatever.

Shaggy 2 Dope: Ain’t no beef, man.

Violent J: That’s a sad joke, because those are our brothers, man. And there ain’t never going to be no beef with us. Never in a million years, man.

FLH: Alright, let’s jump topics. There’s been some speculation on when Psychopathic Radio’s going to make its return, but there’s been no final release date…

Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope: [Laughing]

Shaggy 2 Dope: We’re actually sitting in the Psychopathic Radio room right now, and it’s fully up and ready to go. We just have to tweak some technicalities and whatnot.

Violent J: We’re sitting as we speak in the radio room; I’m looking at 9 microphones…

Shaggy 2 Dope: Like 5, 6, 7, 8 cameras and computers set up with a board.

Violent J: This is the new room. It’s going to be devastating. There’s going to be show—I don’t know if my brother released the information, but we have a show that’s going to be a main show on Psychopathic, hosted by my brother and the Rude Boy and a couple others, and it’s going to be on every week and they’re going to have special guests. It’s going to be like a new show, like a talk show and everything, and it’s going to be great. And I don’t know if they’re waiting for an ordered plug or whatever [Laughs], but it’s right around the corner. We’re sitting here in the room right now, you know? And it’s looking devastating. It’s going to be really great. Last I heard, they were waiting to get a program for one last laptop, and then they were going to do a test show, and then they were going to announce that they’re back on. That was the last I heard, and that was like a half a week ago so…

FLH: OK! Let me ask you about Juggalos. One of our webmasters asked, “What is it like for you guys to do what so few people do—basically change the world with your fanbase?” How do you feel about what you’ve created?

Shaggy 2 Dope: It’s crazy. It’s surreal. It’s funny because we get asked not that same, exact question, but we get asked, “What is it like forming the Juggalo Nation?” and all that, and it’s like, we were just a part of it. Like we didn’t actually coin the term “Juggalo.” We used to say lots of stuff similar, and everything just kind of formed organically. But to be smack dab in the middle of it? It’s great, man. It’s a surreal feeling. It’s something that, every day, we don’t take for granted. Does that make sense?

FLH: Yeah.

Shaggy 2 Dope: So many times, you just gotta step back and just look at the situation and be like, “Holy fuck, man. It’s crazy.”

Violent J: You guys know me, man, I fuckin cry over the shit. I have to take medicine. It—it overwhelms me every single night. And at the end of my day, I can’t stop. I can’t stop. I gotta take medicine to fucking put me down, you know? I can’t stop, my wheels are turning, my engine’s going. I’m thinking about everything. I’m thinking about sick Juggalos. Juggalos that are writing letters. Parents that are writing letters saying that their son or daughter’s a Juggalo and he’s terminally ill and shit. I’m thinkin, “What can we do to help?” And Juggalos are sending in stories of their problems, and I feel so connected to every Juggalo, especially today, you know? Because there was a time where more people were so-called down with us than there are today. And so I look at the Juggalos that are here today as extra special, beautiful Juggalos, and they mean everything to us. And it just—it just—man, I can’t even…I think about the shit and I get overwhelmed. I gotta see a doctor for the shit, man. Like I don’t think we created the Juggalos; the Juggalos created us. We were just a band. We weren’t anything extra exciting, until the Juggalos came and made our story legendary. That’s because the Juggalos are what’s legendary about us. The Juggalos are what the story is, you know? You take away the Juggalos and we’re just…we’re almost embarrassing if you take away the story of the Juggalos.

FLH: Oh, come on…

Violent J: The Juggalos are what make everything about us so interesting and insane and viable and cool. We’re cool because the Juggalos are listening to us. If the Juggalos weren’t listening to us, we’re not cool, man. If the Juggalos weren’t there to feel the way they do about us, that’s what makes us what we are. That’s what makes us so great, man. Legendary. And fuckin iconic. It’s because of the Juggalos. We’re just reflecting off the Juggalos. The Juggalos are what’s amazing. And it’s sad when some Juggalos don’t realize that. They don’t realize how amazing they are and how historical this whole thing is. Us fighting the FBI and all that? That’s because there’s never been anything like Juggalos in the world. The FBI didn’t even know how to classify these people, so they called them a gang. It’s because they’ve never seen a group of people so close to each other, so bonded, so down with each other, you know? It freaked the FBI out. They didn’t even know how to deal with that shit! So they said, “Oh, it must be a street gang.” It’s not a street gang! It’s just some real genuine magic, man. It’s some Dark Carnival shit that nobody knows how to predict or explain, so they just label it a gang. They label it all kinds of shit. They label it the worst shit in the world, the worst music in the world, because they’re so freaked out about it, they don’t know how to fucking deal with it, man. Anyway, I think like I’m talking right now, and I get all wound up like I am right now, know what I’m sayin? [Laughs]

Shaggy 2 Dope: [Laughs]

FLH: You mentioned being contacted by Juggalos and their families about people who are down on their luck or terminally ill, and you guys just announced that you’re going to do the Aaron Spencer Memorial Concert for a fundraiser. What was it about his story that made you feel like you wanted to reach out to his family in particular?

Violent J: Man, he was just one of us. He was one of us. He was right over in Ohio, and his boys, they contacted my brother through you guys, and he was just one of us, man. He was right in Ohio. We went and saw him, and you just realize how close you are to everybody. It’s something that’s there, that’s very much happening, that’s very much real. And what everybody really needs to do is get one of those shirts at that concert. Because that’s going to be the ultimate collectible, that shirt. On the back of the shirt is going to say, “The Aaron Spencer Benefit Show: I was there because I care.” That’s what it’s going to say on the back of the shirt.

Shaggy 2 Dope: And we’re plugging the fuck out of it because the money’s going right to his family.

Violent J: All the money’s going to his family, so if you buy that shirt and you spend 15 bucks, that’s 15 bucks straight to his Ma, know what I’m saying? And everybody rocking that shirt—that’s the real Juggalos, man. Get your hands on one of those shirts and rock that shit to the Gathering. Rock that shit through the mall. That lets everybody know that you did a beautiful, wonderful thing, man, so them shirts? That’s all the merchandise that we’re selling is that one shirt. And we want everybody to get one man, and let everybody else know you want one of them shirts, whether you have to eBay it, or however you can find it, you want one of them shirts, because them shirts are the real-deal collectible, as far as I’m concerned.

FLH: Dude that is dope. That is super cool of you guys to do that. I know that he wasn’t expecting it. Phillip is his homie, and he’s the one that contacted me, and he is so grateful that this is all happening, so props to you guys and Jumpsteady for doing all this.

Violent J: We’ve got some other Juggalos coming to that show that have got problems, you know? Not everybody we’re going to bring out and make known to the public; it’s one at a time, so what we can fully concentrate on what we’re doing, you know what I’m sayin? Does that make sense?

FLH: I think so… [Laughs]

Violent J: We don’t want to put up a page of all the Juggalos that need our help. Instead, we want to tackle one at a time and really try to help them.

[NOTE FROM RACHEL: Juggalo Make-A-Wish? If so, “Dear ICP, you knocked out my toof with a 2-liter and I wants it back, please.” A girl can only drink soup face first for so long before some call it “unladylike”;]

FLH: I gotcha. OK, J, I gotta ask. What’s the status of your book? You’ve talked about it for years: a follow-up for Behind the Paint. Has that been something you’ve been steadily working on? Or is that something that’s been put on the backburner?

Violent J: Oh, no. I’m working on it. I’m writing in it. We’ve had some meetings, and we’ve discussed what’s happened. And I decide what I want to write about and tell about, but here’s the thing: Every time I feel like I can close in on it, man, there’s so much happening that I realize I feel like I’m so far from the ending of that book, though. I wouldn’t know where to end it. There’s so much going on. There’s so much going on in our life, in our story, that it seems like we’re nowhere near the ending. Like I’m going to have to end the book like “To Be Continued,” you know what I’m saying?

FLH: Yeah, similar to Behind the Paint.

Violent J: Yeah! Because really there’s no way to, like, end it. I don’t know where to end it, man. And I’m not saying I’m at the end of the book, because I’m not. I’m probably about halfway through it. But just getting to that second half, it’s like, I don’t know where to end it or how to end it. I don’t want to make it too long either; I want it to be about the same length as the first book. But there’s just so much going on and so much craziness. There’s so much shit that for some reason we’re going to reveal in the book but we’re not going to reveal in person out here. But there’s so much we’ll reveal in that book. I don’t know why it works like that, either.

FLH: [Laughing]

Violent J: I don’t know why there’s just so much shit where we’re like, “Save it for the book.” We could tell you guys so much stuff, so much trouble we’ve had, problems we’ve gone through, and things like that, but we’re like, “Dawg, just put it in the book,” you know? I don’t know why it works like that, but for some reason, the book is like the tell-all of the mighty truth of everything, and there’s so much stuff we just keep under our hat until the book reveals it all, so…

FLH: Damn. Well Shaggy, I know a lot of people have asked you over the years about a book. Do you think you got one in you, or will it be more of a collaborative effort with J on this upcoming book?

Shaggy 2 Dope: I mean, for now, it would just be a collaborative effort anyhow because my book be the same fucking thing [Laughs]. I mean, maybe when I’m an old man or something, I’ll write some memoirs or something, you know what I’m saying? But there’s nothing I could write that’s not already up in that shit.

FLH: Sure.

Violent J: Really, even though it’s written by me, this book really dives into Shaggy’s story. A lot more than the first book did. This book goes into thing me and Shaggy have gone through, and it covers them in depth.

FLH: Cool!

Violent J: This book goes into our personal lives a lot more than the first book. I gotta tell everybody, man, it’s not like the first book. The first book was a different time. We were younger; we were out running around bangin neden holes, wylin out and everything, and this is a different time. We’re faced with adult trouble and adult problems and shit, so some of it’s tackling adult issues and adult problems and shit. But, it’s still behind the scenes and behind the paint. One hundred percent, it’s still funny, I think, I hope. It’s just that we’re at a different place in life than we were when the first book was written.

FLH: You guys are juggling a hell of a lot of projects right now, it sounds like.

Violent J: Well yeah! That’s why everything is taking so long. Because you’re juggling, you’re carrying all this shit with you.

FLH: So, I know we that hear from Violent JJ and Ruby—primarily JJ. Do you think he has any aspirations to get into the rap scene or any musical aspirations?

Violent J: JJ?

FLH: Yeah.

Violent J: I ask him. I asked him, does he want to? He said maybe when he’s 10. He’s 9, and he said maybe when he’s 10. And when I asked him when he was 8, he said maybe when he’s 9. [Laughs] And the other thing was like we were at Big Ballas and he was supposed to come out and wrestle, but he got real embarrassed; he didn’t want to come out and wrestle all a sudden, so I don’t know. I’ll never make him do anything he doesn’t want to, but he maybe is starting to get shy all of a sudden. I don’t know what’s going on with that.

FLH: Well, Shaggy, you’ve got older kids. Cyrus and Isaac are like 18 now, right?

Shaggy 2 Dope: Yeah, they’ll be 18 this year.

FLH: Wow! So what do they think of ICP as a whole? And do they have any musical aspirations, or are they just kinda doing their own thing?

Shaggy 2 Dope: They’re doing their own thing, know what I’m saying? They just enjoy their privacy. With this whole shit with me right now, in the news and stuff, I kind of feel bad because it puts them on the spot and shit. They’re just really private guys. And they just like doing what they do, which I guess is playing videogames [Laughs] and marinatin’ with their friends.

FLH: Right right.

Shaggy 2 Dope: They’re just not “in the spotlight” type of guys. They just like doing their own thing and just moving, doing what they do, without being bugged, you know? And I respect that out of them. If they came to me and were like, “Yo, put us on, we want to do some shit,” you know, I’d be more than happy. I’d be ecstatic about it. But at the same time, I’m happy with the decisions they make just to do what they do.

FLH: So, I gotta congratulate both of you, because you were both recently married, so congratulations on that.

Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope: Thanks, man!

FLH: Has that changed your day-to-day life at all? Or was it just that you were both already in long-term relationships, so…

Shaggy 2 Dope: I mean, the marriage wasn’t just like an overnight thing, know what I’m saying? [Laughs]

FLH: Yeah, sure.

Shaggy 2 Dope: So, yeah, it’s cool. It’s awesome. But it’s like we’re kind of like doing the same shit. It’s not like we’re out wylin out like a couple years ago…

FLH: Breakin the hearts of juggalettes everywhere…

Shaggy 2 Dope: So it feels good, though, man.

FLH: Alright. So let’s talk about music today. What do you guys think about Eminem mentioning you guys positively on his new LP?

Violent J: Fuckin dope, man! An honor, man.

Shaggy 2 Dope: Yeah! But it’s like we still get that so much from so many different angles: “What’s up with the Eminem beef?” God, that was in 1999. And was it for real when it was out there? Yeah it was for real, you know? But people grow up. Wounds heal. And it’s like you might have beef with somebody when you’re in high school. Once you’re a grown-ass man, it’s like: “What were we beefing over?” And it was what it was. But now it’s just totally different. Ain’t no beef really now.

Violent J: I think it’s fucking dope he gave us those shout-outs. That really said something to me. I don’t know what that means. Are we on his mind or what? But that just really, really blew my mind, I’ll tell you that much, man.

FLH: ICP and Eminem collab in the future possibly?

Violent J: I’d do it!

Shaggy 2 Dope: That’d be totally up to him.

All: [Laughing]

Shaggy 2 Dope: That ball’s up in his court, know what I’m saying.

FLH: That’s what’s up. Alright, so, how do you guys feel about hip-hop today?

Shaggy 2 Dope: It’s hurtin, man. It’s definitely hurtin! It’s like, c’mon man, you got all these rappers that like “keep it real” just doing songs with these like teenie bopper fucking retards. I know everybody’s like “Man, it’s not what it was like in my heyday,” but seriously I been a rap head my whole life, know what I’m saying? And I mean there’s still some good stuff out there, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just like the line of “keeping it real” and just being rap dissolved. [Laughs] That hurts to see; it really does, when you got all these people doing songs with these Disney people.  I understand they’re just getting their money and whatnot, but still at the same token, it’s painful to see, you know? At least for me, it is.

Violent J: The fans have no rules no more, know what I’m saying? The people have no rules. It used to be you weren’t allowed to do stuff like that. You had to keep your credibility up. You couldn’t do a song or a tour with no artist like that. If you were a gangster rapper, you had to affiliate with only gangster rappers. And now it’s like there’s no laws, there’s no lines drawn in the sand.  It’s just crazy now man. It’s like everybody just works with other artists for the money and they don’t care if everybody knows it, you know?

Shaggy 2 Dope: And the whole thing now it’s like rap is now considered pop. It was never that back in the day, but rap is now pop and pop artists work together. What can you do, you know? It’s like rap is so involved in pop that sub-subgenres of rap are considered real rap now, just like rock is mainstream so you got your subgenres of rock that are considered like real shit for rock kids, know what I’m saying? And rap is so mainstream and so pop now that it’s jumbled in with every other kind of pop music.

FLH: Right. Well we’re closing in on an hour, believe it or not, so I want to ask you guys a few more questions and then we’ll wrap things up. Let’s talk ICP Theater. Do you guys have any say on what videos are chosen for ICP Theater?

Shaggy 2 Dope: No, they just throw them at us. But if it’s stale enough and we feel like we can’t do nothing with it, we just be like “We ain’t doin that one.”

Violent J: Yeah and it gets frustrating sometimes with ICP Theatre because they edit a lot of our funniest shit out. We do some really funny things and when we see the episode, they left it out. And that sucks, man.

Shaggy 2 Dope: It’s somewhat understandable because it’s gotta all be widdled down to a half hour, but if we were editing it, it’d be a lot different.

Violent J: It’d be a much funnier show if they let us do all the editing. Believe me, brother.

Shaggy 2 Dope: Then again, they might not be able to air it if we edited it.

FLH: True.

Violent J: They leave out some of our funniest shit, man.

FLH: Well, I think Juggalos everywhere are really enjoying it. And non-Juggalos too. I’ve had people come up to me at work saying, “Those guys are fucking hilarious.” So that’s pretty cool to see you guys getting your shine.

Violent J: You know, me and J-Webb were talking about this this morning: It’s always been an ICP thing to be funny, from going way back to Stranglemania. It’s like that one guy who wrote that book about following us and Phish fans…Remember?

FLH: Oh yeah. I don’t remember what that was called, but I do remember the book.

[NOTE FROM RACHEL: His name is Nathan Rabin and the book is You Don’t Know Me But You Don’t Like Me. Fun fact: Rabin recorded most of his interviews for that book at the Gathering without Juggalos’ knowledge or consent, on the sly tip. His writing is pretentious and demeaning at best and sounds like the narrative from a National Geographic documentary. Hence the boy’s book is whack…I’d like to think mine’s better ;]

Violent J: I saw him made a comment where he said, I forget the word he used, “There’s something ____ about watching two middle-aged men in clown makeup make fun of pop videos.” And I’m thinking, “Man ICP’s been cracking jokes in one way or another from Day 1 man.” ICP Theatre ain’t nothing new. We been doing this since Stranglemania…

Shaggy 2 Dope: We’ve have skits on our record since Carnival of Carnage

Violent J: We always have records with little skits and shit. We been cracking jokes from Day fucking 1. This ain’t nothing new for ICP, man.

FLH: Well you mentioned there being a lot of good bonus material on ICP Theater that’s hit the cutting room floor. Is there any plan on putting out a DVD or Blu-Ray with bonus material, or is that up to Fuse?

Violent J: I think the issue is getting the rights to those videos. I’m not saying they can’t. But I think that’s the issue though, or we’d already have a fuckin DVD out, if anybody will carry the DVD, know what I’m saying? But at least for Hatchetgear, we’d like to put a DVD out and sell it on tour and shit. One way or another, listen brother, we will release a DVD of the shows, even if we have to do it bootleg style here at Psychopathic and sell it on Hatchetgear. I promise you. We will be coming out with that DVD one way or another.

FLH: That’s what’s up! I know I’m looking forward to that. Last question about ICP Theatre:  How do you feel about K.G. as the new ninja on ICP Theater?

Shaggy 2 Dope: It’s awesome, man! He fits like a glove. It’s great working with him. He’s just so spontaneous and fresh.

Violent J: He’s funny, man!  He said fucking Nicki Minaj looks like Lil Kim through a funhouse mirror, man!

All: [Laughing]

Violent J: That’s the joke of the season! I’m telling you, man. That’s the funniest shit of the whole season, man.

FLH: It seems like they scaled back a lot of what he says, too. Is that the case?

Shaggy 2 Dope: They can only air so much because it’d be too insulting about so many people. They support these people as well; they can’t just have a half hour of us just ripping into people too. Because we do.  They just edit it out. They edit a lot of the shit out.

Violent J: Another thing—we have fun ripping into the guests. They don’t ever air any of that, man. You know, not everybody do we rip into, but we fuck with the guests a lot. We let them know before we go; we say, “Hey, we’re going to fuck with you a little bit out there.” And they’re like, “Bring it on,” you know what I mean?

Shaggy 2 Dope: I mean, a lot of those interviews usually last like a half hour, 45 minutes, know what I’m sayin?

Violent J: And when they edit it down, it’s like 30 seconds. [Laughs]

FLH: That sucks, man! So is Hammer going to bust out with like a 10-minute dialog in one of these episodes or what?

Violent J: [Laughs] I don’t know but we’re going to bust out with a Hammer shirt soon, I know that. With just his big fucking face on the front, know what I’m saying?

Shaggy 2 Dope: [Laughs]

Violent J: …And on the back of the shirt, it’s just going to say, “Hammer Time! ICP Theater.” How dope would that be?

FLH: [Laughs] Hell yes. I’d sport it in a heartbeat.

Violent J: Fuck, man, his big, pretty face.

All: [Laughing]

FLH: I’m going to ask you one, final question, but before I do, I want to just thank you on behalf of all Juggalos for standing up for us on the whole FBI/gang  lawsuit—just standing up for us and making sure that this doesn’t hold long term…

Shaggy 2 Dope: Hey, man, it’s our fucking duty. It’s our duty!

Violent J: That’s right, man. We live, we breathe, we die for Juggalos. The least we can do is defend em on that shit. That’s what we live to do, man. There’s no way we’re going to sit down and take that shit.

FLH: No doubt. So what do you guys want ICP to be remembered for most?

Shaggy 2 Dope: [Pauses] Fuck, man, did you just ask the heaviest question ever?

FLH: Yeah, I know, it’s why I wanted to end with it.

All: [Laughing]

Shaggy 2 Dope: [Pauses] Just the legacy of the Juggalos!

Violent J: Yeah, the Juggalos, honestly! We want to be remembered for the Juggalos, man, shit.

Shaggy 2 Dope: Man, when we’re dead and gone, I hope Juggalos as a whole are still going, you know what I’m saying?

FLH: Yup.

Violent J: Think about how many bands wish they had Juggalos. They wish to God they had Juggalos! It makes us forever. It makes us timeless, because as long as Juggalos are paying attention, we’re straight. We got our audience. Other bands gotta worry about shit; worry about whether their audience is paying attention to them or not. As long as we got Juggalos, we’re always in business. We fuckin love the Juggalos. They keep a shine on us. That’s what makes us anything, man. That’s what makes us everything is the Juggalos. I want to be remembered for the Juggalos! For inspiring Juggalos. For being the musical soundtrack in the lives of Juggalos. That’s what I want to be remembered for.

FLH: That’s dope. That’s what’s up. Well, guys, I really, really appreciate the more than an hour of your time. It was super dope! Way overdue. I really appreciate it. Thank you guys and J-Webb for making this happen.

Shaggy 2 Dope: No doubt.

FLH: Is there anything you want to finish off with?

Violent J: WE LOVE YOU, man! We love you guys, man! FOR REAL! We love you guys, and we got a lot coming around the corner. We got plenty of surprises. We ain’t going nowhere. We got plenty of time. There’s no rush. We’re going to keep dropping these bombs for the rest of our lives, man. Don’t worry about nothing!

Shaggy 2 Dope: And I hope to see you at Juggalo Day. The Milenko Show is going to be off the fucking chain!

Violent J: Yup!

FLH: Hell yes. Alright, Juggalos, that’s going to wrap it up for us at Faygoluvers. We’ve got Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope!  This is Scottie D. And we’re out!

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    Faygoluvers Comments

  1. scruffy

    scruffy

    Comment posted on Sunday, February 9th, 2014 06:37 pm GMT -5 at 6:37 pm

    oh, shit! flh bagged a shangrila show for dallas…

  2. Scottie D

    ScottieD

    Comment posted on Sunday, February 9th, 2014 06:47 pm GMT -5 at 6:47 pm

    hahhaa…i’m super fuckin’ hype about that Scruff!

  3. PunkRockJuggalo

    Comment posted on Sunday, February 9th, 2014 07:07 pm GMT -5 at 7:07 pm

    Not going to lie, I’m going to visit family in Texas just so i can go to this show.

  4. Bloodstepp

    Bloodstepp

    Comment posted on Sunday, February 9th, 2014 08:26 pm GMT -5 at 8:26 pm

    Great work fam! MEGA fuckin’ props for asking my question on the Aussie gathering! If PRJ and Scottie had neden’s I would be down for a 3-way! :)

  5. JuggaloJ

    Comment posted on Sunday, February 9th, 2014 08:42 pm GMT -5 at 8:42 pm

    Not Scottie’s fault but this was an hour long interview where absolutely no knowledge was dropped…just shaggy sayin “know what I’m sayin” 20 billion times (who woulda guessed?) and a bunch of “real soon but we can’t talk about it yet” like wtf

  6. Radam

    Radam

    Comment posted on Sunday, February 9th, 2014 09:04 pm GMT -5 at 9:04 pm

    Thanks for putting all of that together. I’m really geeked after hearing all of that. All of us Aussie Juggalos are! Thanks again for such a great interview!

  7. Alambert

    Comment posted on Sunday, February 9th, 2014 10:02 pm GMT -5 at 10:02 pm

    This was an awesome interview, especially considering most of the interviews we’ve been getting were months…maybe even a year old. Good job Scottie!!!

  8. ECJUGGALO

    ECJUGGALO

    Comment posted on Sunday, February 9th, 2014 10:53 pm GMT -5 at 10:53 pm

    WHOOP!WHOOP! CAN’T WAIT FOR THE DALLAS SHANGRI-LA SHOW.THOSE WERE SOME COOL CONCERTS WHEN SHANGRI LA CAME OUT!

  9. Scottie D

    ScottieD

    Comment posted on Monday, February 10th, 2014 07:16 am GMT -5 at 7:16 am

    Thanks everybody for the overwhelmingly positive response!

  10. REDwineRUM17

    REDwineRUM17

    Comment posted on Monday, February 10th, 2014 10:23 am GMT -5 at 10:23 am

    Thanks for asking my question! Great interview! MCL

  11. MaskedNinja

    MaskedNinja

    Comment posted on Monday, February 10th, 2014 10:37 am GMT -5 at 10:37 am

    Awesome interview Scottie! Talk about living a dream interviewing ICP – you got to be an inspiration to a lot of people. Anything is possible…Thank you & MCL.

  12. ganjadude

    ganjadude

    Comment posted on Monday, February 10th, 2014 12:52 pm GMT -5 at 12:52 pm

    I hope they don the shangri la face paint again for the dallas show

  13. Scottie D

    ScottieD

    Comment posted on Monday, February 10th, 2014 03:50 pm GMT -5 at 3:50 pm

    Thanks everybody! You’re right MaskedNinja…this was definitely a goal of mine that I didn’t know if I’d ever see. I interviewed J back in 2006, but the equipment I used to record it was horrible, and so the quality suffered.

    Ganjadude, I think that’d be the shit too! I’m sure we’re still a couple of years away from seeing Shangri-La for Juggalo day. At least 2.

  14. 86

    86

    Comment posted on Monday, February 10th, 2014 06:04 pm GMT -5 at 6:04 pm

    Holy shit man. This interview rocks! Seriously though Scottie, you did great. Props to ya ninja! Whoop whoop!

    “I’m thinkin, “What can we do to help?” And Juggalos are sending in stories of their problems, and I feel so connected to every Juggalo, especially today, you know? Because there was a time where more people were so-called down with us than there are today. And so I look at the Juggalos that are here today as extra special, beautiful Juggalos, and they mean everything to us. And it just—it just—man, I can’t even…I think about the shit and I get overwhelmed. I gotta see a doctor for the shit, man. Like I don’t think we created the Juggalos; the Juggalos created us. We were just a band. We weren’t anything extra exciting, until the Juggalos came and made our story legendary.”- Violent J

    If anyone was in doubt about what we, the Juggalos mean to ICP, the above comments were made by Violent J himself. WE ARE FAMILY.

  15. Surr3alZilla

    Surr3alZilla

    Comment posted on Tuesday, February 11th, 2014 08:48 pm GMT -5 at 8:48 pm

    hell yesss!!!! about time!!!!!! this shit bout made me cry, people can say what they want about ICP, that theyre musics not what it was or whatever. but J still puts it down when he speaks. and them EM collabo, fuck YES! fuck all that bs from the past, good music is good music. J and EM went thru alot of the same shit, J may have been more on the povery side but Rhyme or Reason sounds just like Fuck My Dad, theyre both in these “where the fuck was my dad when i was growing up” phases in their lives lol haha, so much good shit on this interview. glad to be a juggalo still to this day; 10+ years til the day I D-I-E (scrolling through my playlist looking for some old school psy shit then swerving into the wrong lane!!!). dopenss, glad to see their perspective on the Twiztid shit. pretty much the same way i felt, glad to see their on a good page and im PRAYING FOR THE NEW LOTUS! much love to ICP ill still be down and much love to all my fan!!

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