Detroit horrorcore duo, Juggalo Championship Wrestling founders & the longest reigning 2-time JCW World Juggalo Tag Team Champions Insane Clown Posse have formally unveiled their seventeenth studio LP & the ultimate Joker’s Card of the 2nd Deck. Consisting of JCW Commissioner Violent J & the shortest reigning JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion Shaggy 2 Dope, many don’t know that 3 different members got here & went in the course of the first 5 years of the group’s inception. Not solely would The Duke of the Wicked & the Southside Strangla go on to create seminal depraved shit albums like The First 6, additionally they gained a particularly loyal fanbase within the course of & their self-owned Psychopathic Records turned an unbiased hip hop powerhouse because the label’s roster continued to develop till they needed to focus extra on their very own legacy. Commemorating the 25th annual Gathering of the Juggalos or the Gathering of Legends kicking off tomorrow & The 2 Day War between JCW & Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) starting later this weekend, The Naught will discover the afterlife in an idea differing from The Wraith’s exhibitions of Shangri-La & Hell’s Pit.
The title observe produced by Shaggytheairhead after the intro opens with a lure music breaking down the titular character’s which means whereas “Watch Me” reunites with longtime collaborator Mike E. Clark speaking concerning the depraved shit splitting your shit up throwing it again to the Bang! Pow! Boom! & The Mighty Death Pop! days instrumentally. “Everybody Dies” strikes ahead with a 6-minute rap rock-influenced Violent J solo minimize making the purpose that we’re all gonna meet our demise sooner or later simply earlier than the semi-boom bap influenced “Happy Fun Day” makes use of wordplay for the Duke to ask what precisely others discover fallacious with him in having bloody enjoyable.
“Only Wicked Shit” goes for an EDM lure path because of Brian Kuma so each of the clowns can symbolize their type of music they’ve been making for over 3 many years & after the “Flashback” skit, “Dead Kelly” blends these bells & hi-hats collectively to inform the story of the titular character. Shaggy 2 Dope getting his personal observe with the carnivalesque “Here We Go” seeking to tear the place down alongside the remainder of his hatchet household whereas the playfully humorous “Cinnamon Pigtails” describes a story of Violent J assembly a lady on Instagram who turned out to be a catfish.
Devereaux helps ICP dabble with lure steel on “I’m Still Breathin’” speaking about their gratitude of being alive regardless of the chaos on the planet whereas “Pop Out” continues the 2nd half of The Naught with one other 2 Dope solo joint that DJ Clay makes extra lure oriented than the final one angrily making the audio system soar whereas the disco rap-inspired “Throw ‘Em Up” after another “Flashback” skit talks about throwing your hatchets up. Violent J descriptively airs out his grievances towards a “Softy Pillow Man” using a prominent tuba within the beat leading into the occult “I’m Fallin’” speaking about them pondering nobody ought to attempt to die.
Expressing some sort of decision from the battle inferred from the remainder of The Naught, the long-lasting Toto single “Africa” will get closely sampled all through “While It Lasts” ending the 2nd Deck of Joker’s Cards structured equally to “Low” off Fearless Fred Fury the place the Duke’s singing throughout bulk of it & Shaggy drops off a quick rap verse. Wasn’t one in all my favourite songs off FFF personally however “While It Lasts” is conceptually stronger than “Low”, principally speaking about having fun with the time all of us have on this planet.
Common complaints concerning Yum Yum Bedlam from what I’ve heard amongst juggalos is that it felt like a mixtape than a Joker’s Card or the producer tags, neither of which I had any points with personally as a result of I appreciated it being the primary feminine character within the Dark Carnival mythology & it’s themes of loyalty. The Naught nonetheless must be my third favourite Card of the 2nd Deck, with #2 being Bang! Pow! Boom! & after all The Mighty Death Pop! at #1. The manufacturing seems like a throwback to the carnival sound even with Kuma & Mythic Mindz ending the 71% that Mike E. Clark had but to finish due to him transferring & the clowns themselves answering the query of if one was ever alive in any respect if there’s no afterlife once we die.
Score: 9/10