Part rap group, part societal phenomenon, Insane Clown Posse grew an unlikely cult around their cartoonish and critically loathed horrorcore rap styles. Loosely connected themes of psychopathic clowns, Faygo soda, and the importance of friendship was enough for thousands of die-hard fans to don clown make up and proclaim themselves 'juggalos,' part of a community of Insane Clown Posse superfans drawn to their lowest-common-denominator humor and shock-factor rhymes. Staunchly independent, ICP only had brief and controversy-heavy associations with major labels around the time of their 1997 album The Great Milenko, but spent much of their decades of existence releasing their albums (as well as the music of an extended family of artists) on their own Psychopathic Records label. The group's grassroots approach resulted in millions of album sales, with a creative and commercial peak happening around the time of their highly conceptual late-'90s/early-2000s output. A loose narrative exposed over the course of several albums -- records like 1995's Riddle Box and 1999's The Amazing Jeckel Brothers -- was presented as different 'joker's cards,' culminating with the spiritual reveal of 2002's The Wraith; Shangri-La.

Studio Albums. Fearless Fred Fury. The Calm comes at a pivotal moment in the history of the Insane Clown Posse and offers new material and new.

Down to a duo, ICP were originally formed in 1989 as a hardcore Detroit rap group called Inner City Posse. After combusting in 1991, the only members left, Violent J (born Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (born Joseph Utsler), slightly altered their name to reflect the fact that they had been visited by the Carnival Spirit, who ordered them to carry word of the impending apocalypse by touring the nation and releasing six 'joker cards' (popularly known as LPs) with successive revelations of the final judgment. The first, Carnival of Carnage, appeared in 1992 on their own Psychopathic Records label. The group became notorious in Detroit's underground scene, but several tours around the region failed to ignite much more than the rage of community leaders.

After the release of 1994's The Ringmaster, ICP began to get a bit of attention as a possible follower of cartoon metal bands like GWAR and Green Jelly. Jive Records signed the group and released The Riddle Box in 1995, but the record bombed and ICP returned to the ranks of the indies. Just one year later, Hollywood Records gambled on the band and spent more than a million dollars while ICP recorded their new album, The Great Milenko. On the day of its release in 1997, however, Hollywood pulled the record, citing obscene lyrics and gruesome content -- possibly a move by its owner, Disney, to deflect criticism of its practices by the Southern Baptist Federation. In a bizarre twist, yet another major label, Island Records, stepped in to release the album and capitalize on ICP's notoriety, which continued to increase thanks to several incidents that kept them in the headlines: J was arrested after clubbing an audience member with his microphone in late 1997, and shortly thereafter, the group's tour bus ran off the road, leaving J with a concussion.

Next, the group and its entourage were involved in a brawl at a Waffle House in Indiana, and both members eventually pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charges. All the chaos took its toll, as J suffered a panic attack in April 1998 while on-stage in Minnesota. However, all of the publicity helped expand the group's cult following to the point where their next album, the 1999 concept record The Amazing Jeckel Brothers, debuted in the Top Five. As evidenced by the numerous different collectible covers for The Amazing Jeckel Brothers, ICP had become a virtual merchandising machine, complete with comic books to flesh out their elaborate Dark Carnival mythology. They also wrote and starred in their own straight-to-video movie, Big Money Hustlas, and made guest appearances at wrestling events.