The clown-painted duo, of Violent J (Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (Joseph Utsler), is better known as Insane Clown Posse - a horrorcore rap group from Detroit, Michigan.
The self-professed "most hated band in the world" have had now-legendary controversial relationships with both Island and Hollywood Records/Disney, but their own Detroit-founded and self-funded Psychopathic Records has done remarkably well and continues to be a successful enterprise, even as the music industry and sales landscape changes around them.
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 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 the notoriety ICP had garnered. That notoriety only increased 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 their entourage were involved in a brawl at a Waffle House in Indiana, and both members eventually pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charges.
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Bret
Self professed swim suit model