Year: 2025
Label: Psychopathic Records
It was already some time ago that US horrorcore legends Insane Clown Posse announced their next joker’s card album, but it took until this summer for the album to finally materialize. The Naught was officially released around this year’s edition of the annual juggalo festival The Gathering Of Juggalos.
For those not in the know, the joker’s card albums are sort of the key releases that build the mythology – if you want to use a grandiose word like that in this context – of Insane Clown Posse known as The Dark Carnival. This time the dubious duo take a look at the unfathomable concept of nothingness.
Well, sort of. How does rapping about a woman of questionable charms in Cinnamon Pigtails relate to nothingness? Beats me. But let’s not get fixated on whether the songs fit the theme. After all, this is juggalo rap, not a philosophical treatise.
What becomes quite quickly clear is that in comparison to 2021’s somewhat lackluster Yum Yum Bedlam (reviewed here), the duo of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope have stepped up their game. One reason might be that they’ve teamed up with some familiar faces from the olden days: Mike E. Clark and DJ Clay feature in the producing credits.
Whatever the reason is, The Naught is very obviously a tighter package than its predecessor. In particular, the album starts on a high note with a couple of highlights: the ominous title track, the silly Watch Me with its nonsensical lyrics and Everybody Dies with its chippy sentiments are arguably among the best stuff ICP have done in quite some time.
The album does lose some steam as it goes on, though. I would say it remains consistently above the level of Yum Yum Bedlam, but there’s no point in kidding oneself. The Great Milenko this isn’t.
But it is very obviously Insane Clown Posse stylistically. How else? The lyrics are offensive and full of ICP’s low brow humour. Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope still aren’t the most technically proficient rappers, but they know how to operate within the limits of their skills. The beats are wont to have a certain carnivalesque, playful flair to them.
And I can’t be without mentioning the final song While It Lasts. Liberally sampling – nay, stealing – Toto’s iconic Africa, including the vocal melody and the chorus, this is a typically irreverent ICP take. It might not technically be the best rendition, but I love it. It’s fun.
On first listen, I didn’t think too much of The Naught. It sounded okay, but kind of trite. However, continued listens revealed an album much better than the first impression. To reiterate, this is a rung below ICP’s big classics and best albums. But in comparison to a lot of what they’ve done during the last, oh, 10-15 years, The Naught fares quite well.
This is not the album to start listening to ICP from. It’s not an essential album for casual listeners. But if you’ve got a little juggalo or horrorcore fan in you, then you just might find something in here worth your time and money.
Only Death Is Real 