Quick Thoughts: Juggalos, Clowncore, and The Last True Counterculture
An Outsider’s POV
What is a juggalo?
A juggalo
That's what it is
Well, fuck, if I know
What is a juggalo?
I don't know
But I'm down with the clown
And I'm down for life, yo
-Insane Clown Posse, “What Is a Juggalo?”
What is a Juggalo?
According to Merriam-Webster’s:
A Juggalo is a fan of the rap duo Insane Clown Posse, also known as ICP…Like the members of ICP, Juggalos often wear black and white clown makeup. The name is reportedly linked to the band's 1992 song "The Juggla," but the term Juggalo didn't start appearing in mainstream news publications until the late 1990s. Female Juggalos are sometimes referred to with the term Juggalette, a name that appears to be almost a decade newer, at least in mainstream publications.
Juggalos has always existed in the margins of pop culture, being referenced in media such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Saturday Night Live, and even Scooby-Doo. I knew that Insane Clown Posse was a rap duo whose whole thing was “gangsta clowns,” and I heard them described as “Eminem for people who are too white trash for Eminem” (harsh). But it wasn’t until I stumbled upon an article about Juggaloism among homeless youth (it’s estimated that up to 15% of all HY in Los Angeles are down with the clown), that I went down the rabbit hole of Juggalo culture, and it’s actually really interesting. I’d even go as far as to say they’re the last true counter-culture.
In 1989, rappers Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, better known by their stage names Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, formed the hip-hop duo Inner City Posse (eventually renamed Insane Clown Posse) in Detroit, Michigan. Their aesthetic can be summed up as Killer Klowns From Outer Space meets the Rust Belt.
ICP collab with Danny Brown, another Detroit icon
ICP being surprisingly wholesome
Reading the comments on their videos, you notice that a lot of people give them the same sheepish, throat-clearing praise that they would Donald Trump: “Look, I want to make very clear that I am NOT, nor have ever been, a supporter of ICP, however this song is an absolute bop.” Sure, as horrorcore rappers their lyrics are violent and kind of off-putting to my pearl clutchy side, but it’s not any more graphic than other gangsta rap that gets glowing praise. The lore the duo has created for their music is actually really cool and creative. For decades, they’ve been putting together their own mythos based on the concept of the “Dark Carnival,” which the Juggalo Wiki defines as “a concept of the afterlife in which souls are sent to a form of limbo while waiting to be sent to Shangri-La or Hell's Pit based on their individual actions.” For a more in-depth explanation of Dark Carnival theology, see this Rolling Stones article.
(Also apparently in the early 2010s, “I Fucking Love Science” Reddit types started beef with ICP for not understanding how magnets work or something).
But Insane Clown Posse are less known for their music itself and more known for their devoted following, known as the “Juggalos.” Juggalos have gone from a mere fanbase to their own subculture, with their own fashion (the black-and-white clown paint is their tribal tattoo), lingo, symbolism, and gatherings.
On Pinterest and Instagram, there’s also a surprising amount of Gen Z Juggalos. Part of this is probably because of popularity of the “clowncore” aesthetic in recent years, along with other clown-based media like The Amazing Digital Circus. With so many aspects of the world getting duller and grayer, the children yearn for bright colors, silliness, and subversive whimsy.
Another aspect of Juggaloism I think is neat is how, unlike pretty much every other subversive cultural movement, them and the mainstream still don’t mesh with each other. Quite the opposite, in fact: the FBI has designated Juggalos as a gang, a classification the clown fam vehemently denies.
You won’t see the DNC begging for a glowing endorsement from Violent J or Shaggy, or schools around the country offering “Juggalette Story Hour.” Unlike kinksters or furries, Juggalos aren’t absorbed into the progressive omnicause of “sex positivity” or the meaningless umbrella of “queerness”. Besides offhand anti-racism messaging and a general attitude of “live and let live, let your freak flag fly, and screw anyone who says otherwise”, the Juggalo canon is refreshingly apolitical.
Even Faygo, the signature drink of the Juggalo, refuses to market towards them and says they aim to keep a healthy distance from the scene. The Juggalos and Juggalettes know that people view them as a freaky, fringe subculture, and are perfectly fine with that.
Also, one more thing- in the future tech dystopian surveillance state, Juggalos may very well be our last hope.
ICP are notable for their hustle, building their unpleasant but significant "brand", following, and culture from scratch. I'm reminded of Ani DiFranco, whom I respect enormously as a principled and successful producer and businesswoman, and whose music is like kryptonite for my ears.
You alluded to the beautiful months-long arc in the wake of Miracles, where the Internet derived considerable harsh mirth from ICP's admission of bafflement over how magnets work. Finally someone dug up an old video interview with Richard Feynman, wherein the question is posed. Feynman, master of exposition for a general audience, takes ten minutes to irritably summarize just the domain knowledge required to even consider any theoretical answer. And the Internet did fall silent.
I had a brief dalliance with them early on in the pandemic. I'm not a rap guy, and I don't really hold ICP in any high regard on a musical level. But they are fun novelty song purveyors for me, and if people want to be way more into it than that, that's cool with me.
Plus they manged to find Mozarts most dirty piece and cover it (with Jack White). I dont know exactly what to make of it, but I respect it.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk2HD8-UtO4