Friday, May 1, 2020

A Journey to Hatchet City Part 0: Introduction



Although they have been around for nearly 30 years, I know very little about the music of the Insane Clown Posse. I know they are predominantly independent rappers who through the years have built a large following. I know they hold festivals and political rallies and have been on the FBI's gang list (fairly or not) for at least 10 years.

But I still know very little about their music.

A few weeks ago, I was given a large collection of CDs. Included in the collection was 62 CDs from ICP and other Psychopathic Records acts to include Twiztid, Blaze Ya Dead Homie, Anybody Killa, Esham the Unholy, Zug Island, and others. There are also mixtapes, soundtracks, and solo albums.

If I ever wanted to learn about ICP and their affiliated acts, this is the perfect time.

In the name of fairness, I am going to go through each act in chronological order and write a quick review and possibly grade each effort. Then I will make a cumulative list of which albums and acts I liked best or didn't like. My goal is to be as honest as possible.

My only research thus far has come from wikipedia and faygoluver.net's Psychopathic Records Chronology. This idea was inspired by Elijah Watson's article "I listened to all of Insane Clown Posse’s albums, and now I understand" published in 2017 in The Daily Dot. But whereas Watson only listened to 13 ICP albums, I intend on listening to 62 ICP and Psychopathic Records releases.

I have no idea how long this project will take. It could take weeks, months, or years. I might never finish. But at a minimum, I would like to listen to ICP and Twiztid's official catalogs. They are the biggest collections of the allotment.

About me: I am a longtime hip-hop fan whose collection is predominantly old school NY acts such as Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, Biggie, Def Squad, and Duck Down Records. My initial thought is that ICP and acts may be like the Wu-Tang Clan and their affiliated acts such as Sunz of Man, Killarmy, Killah Priest, La The Darkman, GP Wu, Shyheim the Rugged Child, and the Killa Beez. But I assume they are more into shock value like early RA the Rugged Man (whose work I enjoy) or early horrorcore group the Flatlinerz.

I am curious and somewhat excited. I like checking out new music and trying to figure out the ICP allure will be interesting.

Let's do this.