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Switched on Pop

The Beauty and Horror of Insane Clown Posse's Summer Festival

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.62.7K Ratings

🗓️ 17 August 2021

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Gathering of the Juggalos is the music festival centered around the rap duo Insane Clown Posse. Their songs are hyper-violent and profane; their stage show features grotesque clown makeup and blasting the audience with their favorite drink, Faygo soda; and their fandom has even been designated by the FBI as a loosely organized gang. Musically, they’ve historically been rejected by critics: The Guardian has called them “a magnet for ignorance;” Allmusic has called them a “third rate Beastie Boys,” and Blender called them “the worst band in music.” Nate became fascinated with them after watching the 2011 documentary American Juggalo — that’s when he realized that there’s more to Insane Clown Posse and its fans than he previously thought. For the second episode of our summer festival series, we dig into the sound of Insane Clown Posse to ask: Is their music really as bad and offensive as all the critics say? What is the general public missing that ICP’s fans are hearing? To answer these questions, we talk to Nathan Rabin, the author of You Don't Know Me but You Don't Like Me: Phish, Insane Clown Posse, and My Misadventures with Two of Music's Most Maligned Tribes, and 7 Days In Ohio: Trump, the Gathering of the Juggalos and The Summer Everything Went Insane. Songs Discussed Insane Clown Posse - House of Horrors, Hokus Pokus, My Axes, F*** the World, Miracles, Down with the Clown Esham - The Wicketshit Will Never Die Eminem - Stay Wide Awake More Check out more of Nathan Rabin's writing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Just a heads up that this episode is filled with profane language.

0:05.2

So if you have little ones around, you might want to cover their ears or shoot them away.

0:23.2

Welcome to Switched On Pop. I'm a musicologist Nate Sloan, and I'm songwriter Charlie Harding.

0:28.4

Charles, it's the second episode of our Summer Festival series.

0:31.9

Indeed.

0:32.4

In our first episode, we focused on some pretty mainstream music festivals.

0:38.4

You know, we're talking Woodstock.

0:40.5

We're talking Coachella.

0:42.8

And in that latter category, it's like these are corporate festivals that really cater

0:47.6

to as wide an audience as possible.

0:50.8

Right, right, right.

0:52.1

But there's another side of the music festival phenomenon.

0:56.6

And that we might call like the subcultural music festival.

1:02.0

Not trying to bring in the widest possible audience, but really focused on a particular identity,

1:08.1

a particular group, particular culture.

1:11.3

We find these across the country, right, from the LA Skins Native American Music Festival.

1:17.8

To the Boston Celtic Music Festival.

1:27.1

So very well, my own true love.

1:32.8

Every identity and every sound seems to have its own gathering.

1:37.6

I feel like if we're being honest with our listeners, it should be known that you have

1:40.8

been during the pandemic getting into Irish whistle music.

1:45.0

And that I can tell that there is that festival made just for you in Boston.

...

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