Insane Clown Posse: Twisted, Deranged Clowns or Christian Do-Gooders?
Clown makeup, blood and gore, and ridiculous lyrics that just barely make sense. That’s essentially what you tend to see with Insane Clown Posse. It would almost be scary if it weren’t so absurd. Every band has something that defines who they are and with ICP, they seem to be going for an image of a group of twisted, deranged psychopaths with an intense hatred for American upper and middle class citizens. That hatred is what draws in the “Juggalos.” They listen to ICP and they connect with the hatred and the violent urges. How dare they ignore us? How dare they enjoy life while we struggle just to eat? How dare they have what we can’t? Unfortunately, it’s a very powerful and compelling idea, and in many of their songs, that’s the message they send out. However, The Joker Box Set has a different message. Live your life well. Think about your actions and consider the consequences. Although this message is very out of character for them, they still manage to make the idea work by giving out these ideas through their typical grotesque storytelling.
“The Great Milenko” (1997)
This one is the most interesting to me. Milenko represents that voice you hear in your head that tells you to do something you know you shouldn’t. He’s the little devil sitting on your shoulder saying, “Do it, do it.” 
Every person struggles with this every day and most of us are able to ignore it and do what we know is right, even though we can’t help but think of what our lives would be like if we could pull it off. Milenko is an illusionist who likes tricking people into committing sins. He shows you your life the way it could go if you go through with whatever thought is going through your head and it works out. His magic only works on you if you believe in him, but if you happen to be one of the ones who do, his magic can get you in a lot of trouble. For example, let’s say you’re poor, walking to work every day in the cold so you can keep feeding your kids and keep a roof over their heads. You look over and see a car with the keys still in the ignition. You try the door, and it’s unlocked. This is where you see Milenko’s magic. He’ll show you a vision of you, driving off with the car and being able to get to work every day, getting a promotion and a pay raise, maybe even getting your kids out of the ghetto where you live now and putting them up in a nice house with a white picket fence around your yard. If you fall for this, most likely you’ll get caught, go to jail, your kids will end up in a foster system, and you’ll eventually end up in Hell. Or, you realize it’s Milenko, and you walk on.
Every person struggles with this every day and most of us are able to ignore it and do what we know is right, even though we can’t help but think of what our lives would be like if we could pull it off. Milenko is an illusionist who likes tricking people into committing sins. He shows you your life the way it could go if you go through with whatever thought is going through your head and it works out. His magic only works on you if you believe in him, but if you happen to be one of the ones who do, his magic can get you in a lot of trouble. For example, let’s say you’re poor, walking to work every day in the cold so you can keep feeding your kids and keep a roof over their heads. You look over and see a car with the keys still in the ignition. You try the door, and it’s unlocked. This is where you see Milenko’s magic. He’ll show you a vision of you, driving off with the car and being able to get to work every day, getting a promotion and a pay raise, maybe even getting your kids out of the ghetto where you live now and putting them up in a nice house with a white picket fence around your yard. If you fall for this, most likely you’ll get caught, go to jail, your kids will end up in a foster system, and you’ll eventually end up in Hell. Or, you realize it’s Milenko, and you walk on.“The Amazing Jeckel Brothers” (1999), “The Riddle Box” (1995), and “The Ringmaster” (1994)
These three are meant to make the listener think about what kind of person they are. How many sins have you committed? If the phantoms came to get me, would I be allowed entry into Heaven? If the Jeckel Brothers were trying to juggle my sins, would they be able to keep them in the air? If I found the riddle box, where would the portal take me? Each person should have a different answer and be able to take away something different from these songs.
The Jeckel Brothers were a pair of twin jugglers that you meet after you die and you’re waiting to see whether you’re going to go to Heaven or Hell. Jake is your positive side, and Jack is your negative. Jack and Jake will juggle balls of fire, each one representing your evil deeds, the times when you just weren’t as good a person as you should have been. If Jack and Jake can juggle your sins without dropping them, you gain acceptance into Heaven. If they can’t keep the balls of fire in the air and they drop them, you go to Hell.“Riddle Box” takes you into a room with a dusty table in it and on that table, there is a Jack-in-the-box with
a big question mark painted on the side. When you turn the crank, you hear the typical music of a child’s Jack-in-the-box, but when it opens, instead of a puppet on a spring jumping out at you, it’s a portal that leads either to Heaven or Hell. The Jack-in-the-box would decide while you were turning the crank what kind of person you are and it would take you to which ever place it decided you need to go.
a big question mark painted on the side. When you turn the crank, you hear the typical music of a child’s Jack-in-the-box, but when it opens, instead of a puppet on a spring jumping out at you, it’s a portal that leads either to Heaven or Hell. The Jack-in-the-box would decide while you were turning the crank what kind of person you are and it would take you to which ever place it decided you need to go.
The Ringmaster is the overseer of the Carnival of Carnage. Created from each individual’s sins, he is the leader of the phantoms of the dead, who tear tormented souls from their bodies and take them to Hell. There, the Ringmaster, along with a few others, judges the person’s soul to determine whether he goes to Heaven or Hell. The song is meant to make you think about what would happen to you if he sent the phantoms for you.“The Wraith: Shangri La/The Wraith: Hell’s Pit” (2002)
“The Wraith: Shangri La” and “The Wraith: Hell’s Pit” went together to create one message. Before this 
album, most people didn’t know that Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope were Christians, but their message here is pretty clear. Put your trust in God and let Him show you the way you should be living, or suffer for eternity. “Shangri La” was an attempt to convince people to follow God’s path and be a good person so you can be rewarded by being accepted into Heaven. “Hell’s Pit” takes you on a tour of the Underworld, showing you the horrors that wait for you if you choose not to follow God’s path.
album, most people didn’t know that Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope were Christians, but their message here is pretty clear. Put your trust in God and let Him show you the way you should be living, or suffer for eternity. “Shangri La” was an attempt to convince people to follow God’s path and be a good person so you can be rewarded by being accepted into Heaven. “Hell’s Pit” takes you on a tour of the Underworld, showing you the horrors that wait for you if you choose not to follow God’s path.“Carnival of Carnage” (1992)
“Carnival of Carnage” was a representation of the violence and brutality that goes on in the ghettos of cities. The Carnival is a disguise for a group of people who travel around the wealthier neighborhoods and deliver that same violence and brutality to the upper class people who are ignoring the poor’s cries for 
help. This one doesn’t quite fit with the Joker Box Set, because rather than following the pattern of “live your life right,” this one’s purpose is to spread the idea that the upper class is responsible for the poor’s lot in life, because the rich have what the poor can’t. It has to be somebody’s fault that we live this way and those people who seemingly have everything are the easiest to blame. It seems like most people should understand how ridiculous that is, but unfortunately, if you get a Juggalo to talk about his feelings on the subject, most of the time you’ll hear something vaguely along those lines. Some are less quick to blame the upper class, but still have a low opinion of people who fit into that category. They immediately assume that if a person is in the upper or middle class, it means that they’re stuck up, ungrateful and not worth the time of day.
help. This one doesn’t quite fit with the Joker Box Set, because rather than following the pattern of “live your life right,” this one’s purpose is to spread the idea that the upper class is responsible for the poor’s lot in life, because the rich have what the poor can’t. It has to be somebody’s fault that we live this way and those people who seemingly have everything are the easiest to blame. It seems like most people should understand how ridiculous that is, but unfortunately, if you get a Juggalo to talk about his feelings on the subject, most of the time you’ll hear something vaguely along those lines. Some are less quick to blame the upper class, but still have a low opinion of people who fit into that category. They immediately assume that if a person is in the upper or middle class, it means that they’re stuck up, ungrateful and not worth the time of day.So….
All six songs still have the twisted, macabre voice that is Insane Clown Posse. Each song tells a story that makes the listener cringe. However, for the most part, each Card also has a purpose that isn’t in any of their other songs. With the exception of “Carnival of Carnage,” they are meant to make a person stop and think about whether he’s living a good life, or if he needs to make a change. Even if their style isn’t your thing, this message is one that anyone should be able to appreciate and make use of. So, are these guys the twisted, deranged psychopaths that most of their music portrays, or are they something more? Looking deeper into the songs in The Joker Box Set, you can tell they’re not always simply singing about grotesque nonsense but with other songs, like “Fonz Pond,” all that really comes through is the twisted image they like showing. Until they have something real they want to say, they’re just the twisted clowns.
Musical Minds 