ICP - "Ringmaster"
The Insane Clown Posse's sophomore LP, "Ringmaster", was released in 1994 and I am still kicking myself because I waited so long to give this album a chance. Yes, I was one of the millions of people who automatically hopped on the "ICP is the worst group ever" bandwagon. But in late 2006, I opened my mind to the wicked clowns.

After hearing their classics "Carnival of Carnage" and "Beverly Kills 50187" for the first time, I instantly craved for more. I'm the type of person who perfers to listen to an artist(s) discography in order, so I purchased this album with expectations through the roof, and needless to say, my expectations were met face to face.

Unlike their previous releases, this album only includes 2 members of the Insane Clown Posse; Violent J and 2 Dope, which has been the current roaster up to this day. They both find themselves indulging into more horrorcore rap rather than gangsta rap (although, there are a few cuts of gangsta rap here) and this (along with "The Wraith: Hell's Pit") are in my personal opinion, their most sinister albums to date.

ICP's rapping has improved by a landslide since their debut, which is easily pointed out on just about the majority of the tracks. Their flow improvement is the most pinpointed improvement this time around, but their lyricism is getting more praise from me as well.

The beats here are produced by legendary Detroit producer Mike Clark, as well as ICP themselves, Chuck Miller didn't produce anything here since his studio went out of business, but that doesn't take anything away from the quality at all, sonically.
There isn't much variety in the song selection, since most of the songs are more focused on horrorcore, but there are some street hard songs (Murder Go Round), some sexually explicit songs (Love Song) some funny songs (Bugz On My Nugz) and some downright disturbing songs (The Dead One). This should satisfy those who pursue the darker form of hip-hop.

Here my breakdown/ratings of each individual track.

01. "Wax Museum" N/A
02. "Murder Go Round" (A+) (my favorite)
03. "Chicken Huntin'" (B-)
04. "Mr. Johnson's Head" (B-)
05. "Southwest Song" (A)
06. "Get Off Me, Dog!" (B+)
07. "Who Asked You" (B+)
08. "The Dead One" (A-)
09. "My Fun House (ft. Jump Steady)" (A+)
10. "For The Maggots" (A)
11. "Wagon Wagon" (B)
12. "The Loons" (A)
13. "Love Song" (B+)
14. "Bugz On My Nugz" (A)
15. "House Of Mirrors (ft. Capitol E)" (A-)
16. "Ringmaster's Word" N/A

This album came as no disappointment to me. As I said, I recommend this to fans of the more darker form of hip-hop, not neccessarily just Juggalos, but Gravediggaz fans or maybe early Triple Six Mafia fans. Overall, this is definitely a classic album from the Insane Clown Posse.

Peace.

~Raw Hide

Jump Steady appears courtesy of Psychopathic Records.
Capitol E appears courtesy of Birth Star Records.

Thousands of Dead Souls Covered in Wax...
This was the first ICP album I got, and ranks as my favourite. The beat in "Wax Museum" is catchy beyond belief and a straight up awesome song.
A definite must-buy, and if you can get your hands on the original print, DO SO!

Best of Unhinged Rap
I give Ringmaster 5 stars because it is awesome in its category. It's definitely not a CD for little kids. Liberal use of profanity throughout the record, and there is imagery and story telling at least as demented as anything Eminem has put out. That said, I find this CD really good for when I'm in kind of a grungy mood. It just kinda helps you get those bad feelings from out of you through the music. ICP has good flow on this record, and they know how to set a mood. Here's the particularly good raps:

Wax Museum - great intro. Explains who the Ringmaster is and sets forth the point of the album

Murder Go Round - rapper winds up being "next in line, on the Murder go Round."

Mr. Johnson's Head - class geek murders teacher and nurses to himself the satisfaction of having his brutal secret

Southwest Song

Get off me, Dog!

Dead One

Fun House

Wagon Wagon

The Loons

Great demented rap. Less great as measured by standards of music generally.

Don't Fall Off The Wagon
This is one of the first ICP albums I heard and I have stuck with them since. To me this is a great album and is a huge Juggalo favorite. At times there is a bit of an uneven feeling while listening to this cd. Like all albums it has its ups and downs.

Wax Museum(7/10) Good intro. Gives you an idea of whats to come.

Murder Go Round(10/10) What can I say? One of the best songs on the album.

Chicken Huntin'(5/10) Ok, this is a hard one. If you have never heard ICP before, this is a realy good song. If you are up on ICP then you have undoubtedly heard the remix version of this song on Riddlebox. There are different opinions on which version is better. I personaly like the Riddlebox version better, but this is still a good song.

Mr.Johnson's Head(7/10) Same thing with Chicken Huntin'. There is a remix version on forgotten Freshness that I think is better. Still the chorus and lyrics are great on this one.

Southwest Song(9/10) This song is realy killer. Sets the way for future ICP songs.

Get Off Me, Dog!(10/10) Shaggy's first solo song on the album. This song rocks and led to Shaggy's first solo album F*** Off.

Who Asked You(6/10) Decent song. Becomes a little annoying over the years.

The Dead One(4/10) For some strange reason I could never get into this one. I like the content but the delivery wasn't as good on this one.

My Fun House(9/10) Another one that paves the way for future projects. Love the lyrics.

For The Maggots(5/10) One of those I couldn't get into. Liked the Lyrics, not the music so much.

Wagon Wagon(9/10) Classic ICP. Great lyrics.

The Loons(10/10) One of my favs on the album. Continues the darker direction ICP took into the wicked s***.

Love Song(2/10) Worst song on the cd. Just my opinion, but I couldn't get into it.

Bugz On My Nutz(10/10) Another one of my favs. The chorus is mad funny.

House Of Mirrors(10/10) That wicked s*** flavor. Nuff said.

Ringmaster's Word(9/10) Shaggy does some nice cuts on here.


All in all a good album. MCL

The Riiiiiing masta!
The Ringmaster was released in 1994 as the 2nd Jokers Card, and second LP release by ICP. Still without a record deal, ICP released this album exclusively through Psychopathic Records and made a lot of noise in the Detroit underground scene.

Wax Museum: Intro to the album. Features the sound affects of a person walking up to a machine and inserting a coin and being told his fortune, wich is he will be visited by a traveling circus. Basically gives the introduction to the Ringmaster. Nice beat, and carnival music.

Murder Go Round: 4/5 - Classic ICP track. This is more of a gangsta type song.

Chicken Huntin': 2/5 - This is the original version of the song that later became ICP's biggest song. Its about killing rednecks.

Mr. Johnson's Head: 3/5 - A very dark song. Its about killing a teacher and cutting his head off. This song was also made into a comic book. ICP remade this song in 1997 as a Halloween song.

Southwest Song: 4/5 - This was probably meant to be an anthem for Southwest Detroit, just ICP rapping about craziness.

Get Off Me, Dog: 4/5 - Shaggy rapping solo for the first time.

Who Asked You?: 4/5 - Very energetic song.

The Dead One: 2/5 - Very slow and dark. JCW star Evil Dead used this as his entrance theme.

My Fun House: 4/5 - Its about rich kids being locked in Violent J's Funhouse where they are terrorized.

For The Maggots: 3/5 - ICP releasing some anger

Wagon Wagon: 5/5 - This is actually a final version of the song "Hey Vato" that can be found on the album "Forgotten Freshness 1&2"

The Loons: 4/5 - A very dark song. Violent J calls a girl and tells her hes on his way to kill her, its about his trip to her house, and every verse he gets a block closer.

Love Song: 1/5 - My least favorite song on the album. It isnt really a love song though, at all.

Bugz On My Nugz: 5/5 - A funny catchy song about having sexually transmitted bugs on ur testicles.

House Of Mirrors: 4/5 - Features a Detroit rapper Capitol E.

Ringmaster's Word: 2/5 - Basically an outro for the album. Just a beat and a sample of some creepy guy talking.



I give this album 4/5.