Search - Insane Clown Posse :: The Ringmaster

ICP - "Ringmaster"

Justin Linker (Ninja In Action) | Midland, NC USA | 06/26/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."