For more than 20 years, the rap duo Insane Clown Posse has courted controversy by rhyming about depravity, brutality and insanity. Now it causes trouble by making fun of Miley Cyrus, writes Dave Itzkoff in The New York Times, in an article that details the duo's troubles with, in order of importance, the FBI, a sexual harassment lawsuit and fears that ICP is becoming too mainstream.
The past year has been particularly trying for Insane Clown Posse, which, with an attitude that mixes silliness and over-the-top aggression, has built a worshipful cadre of fans, known as Juggalos.
On one front, Itzkoff writes, the band is waging a legal battle against the Federal Bureau of Investigation, whose National Gang Intelligence Center listed Juggalos as “a loosely organized hybrid gang” in a 2011 report. On another, the band is pushing back against a former publicist who is suing Insane Clown Posse for sexual harassment. Add these challenges to the group’s continuing struggle to preserve its underground reputation while pursuing mainstream acceptance, and you have the makings of a full-blown existential crisis.
Lately, Violent J said, he has been seeing a psychiatrist and taking medication to help him cope with the persistent feeling that he can never turn off the pressures of work.
“I want to come home, be with my kids, just kick back and watch TV,” he said. “And I can’t do it unless I take some sort of sedative to slow me down.”
“If you’re not banging the drums, making noise in this industry, nobody’s looking at you,” he added. “Nobody’s listening.”
