So, I’m new here. Not new as a reader, but new as a poster. The last Psychopathic show I attended was…Wow, I want to say 14 years ago, for the Hell’s Pit tour. It’s been so, so long. And yet, I still feel this insane connection to this movement; this family.

Not to brag or anything, but I have done a lot in my life. I was a professional wrestler trained under Corey Graves, I am a hip-hop musician with international radio cred, and I am a published novelist. All of this happened without a high school education (I dropped out after 9th grade).

Throughout life, I’ve had all these crazy dreams. And, while many people can say they’ve done a lot of things…Man, I really feel like I’ve hit the peak of Everest at times, if just only in my own mind.  Everything I’ve ever done has been a challenge for me; so much of a struggle. And having to learn all of it, every single bit of it, from scratch, by myself…Even if I never “make it” in the ways I hope for, I can’t ever say I didn’t try. In some very literal examples, I have the scars to prove it.

My brother was a Juggalo. After my Dad died from lung cancer, we moved in with him and my mother, as my father wanted nothing to do with them while he was alive. We were half-brothers, him with a different dad; same shitty upbringing as me, just happening under different circumstances. My father hated his father, so therefore he hated him.

This all went down around ’97. After I roomed up with my bro, I had the pleasure of hearing ICP’s entire discography at the time, start to finish, within a couple months or so. I still remember the chills that went up my back whenever I heard Prom Queen played through the little boom box in our room…

Even then, I knew what the clowns were all about; the hard times, the work they put in to make this all happen, the “never give up” attitude they possessed, along with a penchant for making waves in ways no one ever had before.

I just want to say, despite the fact I haven’t been an active part of the scene in a very long time, despite the stigma associated with the movement right now, I appreciate every single thing all of ya’ll have done. For the ones sticking around and making sure this is something that continues, even as times change and interest may either dwindle or flourish depending on what’s going on, this entire ride has been incredible.

In the past few months, I have been working on a new novel. No, it has nothing to do with Juggalos, or Psychopathic, or MNE, or anything of the like. But, it has been making some big waves. Between the publishers I’ve talked to and my beta readers, this is looking to have the potential to become something really big. Think of that; ONE novel from a high school drop-out, accepted by a publishing house that is willing to invest in their work…That’s absolutely insane to consider in the publishing industry. I have three of them now, with the next one possessing the potential to become a best-seller. 

I have been played on a niche international radio show, I have worked with people who are WWE and TNA superstars right now, and I now have the opportunity to win a Stoker award and become a huge name in my field. All without a high school education, all without anyone pushing me or supporting me, and all through a family who still receives Food Bank every couple of weeks and risks losing their house at the beginning of every month.

That is what this movement has meant to me. When I hear Cemetery Girl, or Psychopathic, or Buckets of Blood, or One Last Chance, I hear the stories meant to be played out in the songs, yeah. But, I also hear the subtext underneath; the people who have worked their asses off to rise up from nothing and do what they love to do. I recall an old Violent J interview where he stated ABK had lived in a trailer park before Hatchet Warrior gave him the funds to buy his own house. Similar stories from Twiztid, Blaze, and the clowns. (Yes, I’m lumping them all together, despite all the stale ass hate that’s being spread around right now. The present doesn’t erase the freshness of the past). No matter where they are now, there is no doubt that they’ve been successful beyond what the world gave them to make it so. And we were the ones who made that happen, because they took a gamble on us and believed we would.

My point to all of this is, whether the music is not your thing anymore, or whether Violent J truly has become an egomaniac, hellbent on controlling any Psychopathic acquisition like a puppet, or whether Tech N9ne and Twiztid have truly “sold out” the family and have decided they need better…can’t we remember that, at one point in time, these people were all just like us? Just like me, with nothing, except for a passion to do something I loved and a game plan that went against society’s established norms to make it happen? Isn’t that what brought Juggalos together to begin with: this idea that society does not define our limitations or potentials for a successful life, and that, sometimes, it’s okay to be a little different and still do our own thing?

Don’t forget that, no matter what happens now. That’s what brought us together, and that’s what still drives me every day to get better at my various crafts and make something of myself. Not for money or adulation, but because it’s what I love doing. That’s why Juggalos are bigger than ICP, Psychopathic, MNE, Twiztid, Boondox, or anyone having to do with the official mumbo-jumbo of all this shit going on now.  For everything this movement has done for me, whether motivating, informing, or just giving me a way to release my stress and continue on in my pursuits, I’m so grateful.

I’m not WWE champion; I’m not on the Billboard top 100. Despite my hopes for the future, I’ve only sold a few thousand books since I embarked upon this new career of professional writing four years ago. But, I’ve done a lot more than most people can say. Not because of myself, but because of what I heard through a little boombox in Hick Town, Pennsylvania, so many years ago. 

I’m just saying, I remember what this has done for me, and that reminds me why I am thankful for it. Despite what happens in the years to follow, even if the concept of Juggalos happens to pass away with J and Shaggy 40 or 50 years from now, this has been a large part on what’s fueled me to keep on going and pursue what I love, and I want that to be the same for all of you. It’s such a beautiful thing, man; let’s always do our best to maintain and respect that.

Whatever happens now, don’t forget how it started. That’s still real, as long as we want to make the love real for one another and continue on. Thanks, you guys. And thank you, ICP and Psychopathic. For real, you’ve helped to make so many of my dreams come true, I just thought you should know.

PEACE OUT; chugging some more beers, talking to my Filipina fiance, and waiting for the publishers to email me back. It can’t get any better than that, eh?

Thanks, ya’ll.