You can't fuck with the Juggla
Carnival of Carnage is Insane Clown Posse's 1992 debut album and the first Joker's Card. It marked the change from the Gangsta Rap Inner City Posse to the Wicked Clowns. The concept is that if nothing is done to repair the inner cities, the violence of the ghettos will be visited on suburbia. The album sold a mere 17 copies on its day of release, which led to the band turning the number into a Running Gag.
It is one of only two Joker's Cards to not feature the word Juggalo in the lyrics, the other being Hells Pit, for completely different reasons. It isn't on Carnival Of Carnage because ICP didn't have enough of an audience yet to make it worth the effort to name them, and it's isn't on Hell's Pit because, as Violent J said on the "Seminar" DVD included in some editions of The Wraith: Shangri-La, "I don't want to see any Juggalos in Hell's Pit.''
Tracklist
- Intro
- Carnival Of Carnage
- The Juggla
- First Day Out
- Red Neck Hoe
- Wizard Of The Hood
- Guts On The Ceiling
- Is That You?
- Night of the Axe
- Psychopathic
- Blackin' Your Eyes
- Never Had It Made
- Your Rebel Flag
- Ghetto Freak Show
- Taste
"Tropes of Carnage":
- The Cameo: John Kickjazz, Jumpsteady, Nate The Mack, Capitol E and Esham all appear on "Taste."
- Circus of Fear/The Freakshow: It's right there in the album title and in the title of "Ghetto Freak Show."
- Cluster F-Bomb: All over the record.
- Creator Provincialism: "Wizard of the Hood":"'Cause there ain't no place like Detroit."
- Deep South: "Red Neck Hoe," "Your Rebel Flag"
- Donut Mess with a Cop:
- From "Night of the Axe"
"I'll get a job at the Doughnut Shop
Just to poison a cop" - Early-Installment Weirdness: The Dark Carnival mythology doesn't appear on this album.
- Foreshadowing: "The Juggla" mentions "The Night of the .44," which would be a song title on Hells Pit 12 years later.
- I'm a Humanitarian: From "The Juggla":"The doctor told me I'm a psycho
So I ate his face like I don't know" - Just Got Out of Jail: The subject of "First Day Out"
- "Kick Me" Prank: From "The Juggla":"I'm that nerd in the back of the class
Who went psycho and killed your ass
I cut and stab and hack
With a 'Kick Me' sign on my back, Jack" - Monster Clown: They weren't the Inner City Posse anymore.
- Off to See the Wizard: "Wizard of the Hood", with Shaggy 2 Dope as The Scarecrow, Shaggy's brother John Kickjazz as The Tin Man and Kid Villain as The Cowardly Lion. They shoot the Wizard and steal his car. J wakes up from drinking at a party.
- Outliving One's Offspring: The spoken intro to "Psychopathic":"The ghettos of America are breeding grounds for the criminal minded
As for years they have killed each other off
And America has enjoyed its creation
But now these ghetto-minded criminals have crossed the line into your neighborhood
And will soon give you a taste of the hell that they have lived for so long
So pops, this time it's your son that gets shot
Deal with your own creation" - Political Rap/Protest Song:
- "Taste" rips then-Michigan Governor John Engler for not doing enough to help the inner cities.
- Record Producer: Mike E. Clark, Violent J, Esham and Chuck Miller.
-
Retroactive Recognition: Yes, that was the Kid Rock appearing on "Is That You?" — 6 years before he went 7x platinum. - Returning War Vet: Jumpsteady served in The Gulf War and, in his verse in "Taste," he raps that he'd be willing to "pay a little extra to the gallon" if it meant that the government would pay more attention to the violence of the inner cities instead of sending troops overseas.
- Rouge Angles of Satin: "Blackin' Your Eyes"
- Sampling:
- "The Juggla" samples Prince's "Kiss".
- "Red Neck Hoe" samples War's "City, Country, City".
- "Wizard of the Hood" samples "We're Off To See The Wizard," "Over The Rainbow" and "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead".
- "Psychopathic" samples John Carpenter's "Halloween Theme" and Zapp's "More Bounce to the Ounce".
- "Blackin' Your Eyes" samples Color Me Badd's "I Wanna Sex You Up".
- "Never Had It Made" samples Black Sabbath's "The Wizard," Beastie Boys' "Pass The Mic" and Johnny Hammond's "Big Sur Suite".
- "Ghetto Freak Show" samples Esham's "I'd Rather Be Dead".
- "Taste" samples Esham's "Word After Word" and "I Believe In Miracles" by The Jackson Sisters.
- Shout-Out:
- Your Head Asplode: "Guts On The Ceiling""Oh, you'll never guess what's up
My muckin' head blew up" - Your Mom: When the judge in "Never Had It Made" asks Violent J if he has anything to say before he is sentenced, he says, "Yeah...your mudda".
Dedicated to the Butterfly
