So you’re jaded with the Insane Clown Posse shtick. You think you’ve seen it all – all the songs, all the albums, all the concerts, all Faygo, all the Juggalo wrestling, all the ICP gear. Everything there is to do ICP, you’ve been there, done that.
But wait, what are you referring to when you say you’ve seen all the Juggalo wrestling? Are you only considering the Juggalo wrestling you’ve witnessed at the Gathering of the Juggalos? Or maybe not only the Juggalo wrestling, but also the Juggalette oil wrestling? Because if that’s the only ICP-oriented wrestling you know about, you’re missing out! Especially on when Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope were ECW wrestlers!

Which brings me to my point – if you only know about the above mentioned types of Juggalo wrestling, then you don’t know about ECW Wrestlers or JWO wrestling, two kinds of Juggalo wrestling that are pretty big but not directly under ICP’s musical property umbrella. And if you don’t know about ECW wrestlers of JWO wrestling, then you must not have any of that Juggalo wrestling ICP gear, available in the ICP online merch store with the rest of the ICP gear.

We’ll get to the available ICP gear in a minute, but for now let’s look at the background of these types of Juggalo wrestling. Don’t forget that both Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope were aspiring wrestling stars in their own right before they grew disillusioned with the politics of ECW wrestlers and management and gave it all a rest.

Back in those days (90s), both competed in amateur wrestling rings independently from 1990-1997, and then formed the Insane Clown Posse wrestling team in 1998 when they began competing as ECW Wrestlers.  After this stint as ECW wrestlers, they moved onto compete in WWF wrestling for a while, but it didn’t last very long.

Regardless of the reason why they didn’t compete long as ECW wrestlers, it’s clear that Juggalo wrestling is something they are passionate about, seeing as they’ve made every effort to create new Juggalo wrestling programs and leagues over the past 10 years. Their most recent effort in the arena is the JWO (Juggalo World Order), a professional wrestling stable that feeds into another ICP project, JCW (Juggalo Championship Wrestling). These wrestlers might not be as well known as ECW wrestlers, but they’re still important on the amateur wrestling scene.

It’s difficult to follow, I know, but once you do a little more research on various Juggalo wrestling entities it will all make more sense. Let’s focus on the related ICP gear available.

If you didn’t believe yet that Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope were ICP gear marketing masterminds by now, then you don’t have an excuse for not knowing now! The guys have designed a plethora of ICP gear for Juggalo wrestlers – JWO shirts and stickers, hats, and a ton of DVDs featuring JCW matches, some of which include wrestlers that had stints as ECW wrestlers, just like Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J did way back when.

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ECW wrestlers, fans of all Juggalo wrestling and wrestling in general, the guys in ICP have made sure not to leave the wrestling component of their careers out of the ICP gear store. To learn more about ICP gear for wrestling enthusiasts, please visit http://www.hatchetgear.com/bands/jcw.html.

Best is a subjective term when referring to music, which is one reason it’s so great. One person can think a band or song is great, and another person might think that song or band is the worst thing they’ve ever heard. There’s no science to what’s good or bad in music (regardless of what some theorists and tech entrepreneurs tell you), so everyone is free to enjoy whatever they want, including Juggalos.
Juggalos are no different with the ICP material they love or hate, but because ICP’s cult following is so strong, it’s rare that Juggalos come across an ICP release they don’t absolutely love. But can the same be said for clothing like ICP’s apparel? What about other Insane Clown Posse stuff like stickers and pins? Where does subjectivity come into play here?

When browsing the online ICP apparel store, hatchetgear.com, it becomes apparent pretty quickly that there is a sea of Insane Clown Posse stuff for Juggalos to choose from. Clothing, books, DVDs, bags, you name it. If a Juggalo would want it, it’s here.

Let’s start with the basic ICP apparel – shirts. Concert and band shirts have been around just as long as the concert and band have. Ever since the modern concert blew up in popularity in the late 50s and early 60s, collecting that unique concert t-shirt has almost invariably been part of the concert-going experience. The same can be said for Juggalos who attend ICP shows and gather Insane Clown Posse stuff – ICP apparel from Gathering of the Juggalos and all other ICP events is highly collectible.

Inside the ICP apparel store online, one can view each merch item individually. The shirts jump out on top, and at least on page 1, one can see just how creative the guys are with their ICP apparel. The first shirt is a Dark Lotus shirt depicting some sort of growling monster, the next an ICP shirt that is a sport shirt, followed by ICP shirts with different sleeve lengths and colors.

Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope want Juggalos to know how diverse their ICP apparel product offering is.  You have to click through a couple pages before getting to the ICP shirts that are ICP-album specific, but they’re there.  With all that said, the coolest piece of ICP apparel would have to be the blaze orange ICP old school family t-shirt, featuring an old picture of the group on stage and a hatchetman on the back. And it’s orange!

Aside from the shirts, this online store offers much in the way of general Insane Clown Posse stuff for the hungry Juggalo. To get a good idea of what Insane Clown Posse stuff I’m talking about, take a look at the accessories section in the online store. My favorite item here are the sunglasses. Who would have thought of ever designing Insane Clown Posse stuff for sun protection? Who knows, but it’s there, and is probably sold in large amounts to Juggalos at the annual Gathering of the Juggalos festival.

What is your favorite piece of ICP apparel? What about general Insane Clown Posse stuff? Do tell in the comments!

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Insane Clown Posse stuff is almost as ubiquitous as the band is. To learn more about it and which insane clown posse stuff is best, visit their online store, http://www.hatchetgear.com/bands/icp.html

Horror rap, by its very definition, is not for the faint of heart. How many music fans could honestly say they’d prefer to be scared while listening to music rather than enjoy it sonically? Juggalos will argue the case that they can do both, which may seem absurd at first, but the claim can be legitimized thanks to an early Insane Clown Posse movie, Shockumentary.

Shockumentary rhymes with documentary for a reason – it’s a documentary of the rise of ICP in the early 90s. This Insane Clown Posse movie does not have a plot or anyone acting in it. If that’s what you’re looking for, then this writer would recommend the Insane Clown Posse movies Big Money Rustlas and Big Money Hustlas (both with plenty of Psychopathic Records artists cameos).

Instead, the ICP video Shockumentary is an ICP video depiction of the fans and horror rap movement of the time. Rarely has any Insane Clown Posse movie, or any other musician documentary that’s not an Insane Clown Posse movie, provided such a candid insight into the behind the scenes life of some of music’s biggest stars. 

In fact, most viewers might be surprised that Shockumentary was an Insane Clown Posse movie intended to market the band to those who had never heard of them. I say that because much of the video focuses on parents’ disapproval of their children listening to the group’s horror rap music and message, but then again, this exact point is the reason why the group blew up to begin with. Kids love to do anything their parents hate!

Shockumentary was so successful that it helped boost the sale of ICP albums from 17,000 a week to 50,000 a week. One of the reasons Shockumentary was such a success, aside from the reasons listed above, is for the fact that it was aired on MTV for its release.

Now remember, MTV may not be very influential any more, but in the late 90s it was dominant. Getting exposure on MTV for anything was bound to skyrocket your career. Even if you’re the Insane Clown Posse and you’re demographic is nothing like the demographic that watches MTV. How many one-time haters were converted once they saw the Insane Clown Posse movie Shockumentary or any other ICP video on MTV? Probably many. 

What else has MTV done for the career of ICP? Most obviously, they’ve featured a number of ICP videos (music videos, the kind that are traditionally intended to market albums) back in the day when MTV still played videos. Some of the most popular ICP videos are living on YouTube today, first and foremost being “Miracles” and “Hokus Pokus.” What was your favorite ICP video? Did you ever watch it on MTV? Where else do Juggalos watch ICP videos?

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The smash success of Insane Clown Posse movie Shockumentary brought ICP from a lesser known, Midwestern act, to international fame. After a series of other Insane Clown Posse movies and ICP videos on channels like MTV, the group is now immensely successful. To learn more about  Insane Clown Posse movies like Shockumentary and ICP videos, please visit http://www.hatchetgear.com/bands/icp.html?media_options=105.

Most fans of hip hop are male. An even larger percentage of the horror rap fan base is male. That leads us to the grand conclusion that almost all of Insane Clown Posse fans are also male. However, that conclusion is incorrect.
Anyone who’s ever been to an ICP concert or the Gathering of the Juggalos can tell you that Juggalettes (female Juggalos) abound. Juggalettes can be seen donning whatever ICP gear they can get their hands on, and Juggalettes never stop short of anything their male counterparts will do to display their ICP fandom.

For instance, Juggalettes paint their faces, shower in Faygo, and even oil-wrestle each other in competition at every Gathering of the Juggalos. Some Juggalettes are even attractive enough to compete in the annual Juggalette beauty pageant that takes place at GOTJ every year.

Now that that myth has been debunked, let’s tackle the more important question at hand: With all the extra large and baggy ICP gear available for Juggalos to sport in pride of their favorite band, what are Juggalettes supposed to wear to do the same? Fear not. Once visit to hatchetgear.com will have any fashionable Juggalette’s mind at ease.

First, feast your eyes upon the Insane Clown Posse shirt selection. Not all Insane Clown Posse shirts are the same loose, baggy style you see Juggalos flaunting. Nor are all Insane Clown Posse shirts of the novelty type – their only purpose to catch attention of passersby. (Which Insane Clown Posse shirts do you prefer – novelty or traditional?)

Hatchetgear.com has a Girl’s Apparel section, the first items in which are Insane Clown Posse shirts for women. In just one more demonstration of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope’s marketing genius when it comes to ICP gear, every Insane Clown Posse shirt in this store is cross-promoting an album. For the rebellious Juggalettes that enjoy brazenly displaying their renegade spirit, there is an Insane Clown Posse shirt that proudly boasts the band to be “the most hated band in the world.” 

Furthermore, if plain Insane Clown Posse shirts aren’t enough to display your sense of belonging in the Juggalette clan, then the Insane Clown Posse shirt displaying the Juggalo flag (more ICP gear marketing) might do it for you.

The most outrageous piece of ICP gear for women that is not an Insane Clown Posse shirt is undoubtedly the ICP gear thong. How many other bands manufacture merchandise as unique and pointed as this example of ICP gear? Of course not all of the Insane Clown Posse shirts will blow you away, but it’s moves like this one with the ICP gear thong that really show Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope’s dedication to their fan base.

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Insane Clown Posse shirts and other ICP gear is not only highly diverse in its offering, but also very marketable to every demographic that chooses to wear it. To learn more about the Insane Clown Posse shirts and other ICP gear available to Juggalos and Juggalettes, please visit http://hatchetgear.com/bands/icp.html. 

It’s one thing to produce the same generic band t-shirt and poster – that’s what the rest of music does. But Detroit horror rap duo ICP? These guys have diversified their merchandise to such an extent that they even have collectible merch items! Continue reading to see just how ICP has converted their online merchandise store, Hatchetgear.com, into a mecca of all things Juggalos would ever want to own.

Yes, of course the ICP store has a wide variety of Insane Clown Posse shirts. But, stopping the description there would be criminal, because it should also be obvious that the ICP store is not going to be like any other music merchandise store you’ve seen – the ICP store has 146 varieties of Insane Clown Posse shirts! That’s 15 pages of Insane Clown Posse shirts, to be exact.

The most exciting selling point for any Juggalo interested in owning any Insane Clown Posse shirt would be the fact that no Insane Clown Posse shirt is the same. Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope have made sure that each individual Insane Clown Posse shirt is as unique as their music is. Colors, designs, shapes and sizes, you name it – you could wear one Insane Clown Posse shirt for 146 days in a row and not have to be worried about your fashion being repetitive!

It would be foolish to ignore the fact that all ICP merchandise designers took their market into consideration when not only designing the color and image for each Insane Clown Posse shirt in the ICP store, but also the fit. Hip hop clothing, by nature, is baggy. Whether the hip hop clothing you wear is a shirt, jeans, or even a chain, it has to droop in some way, shape, or form to be considered hip hop clothing.

Hip Hop clothing was most notably baggy in the 90s and early ‘00s when gangster rap was at its peak. Today, rappers like Kanye West are actually noted for their modern fashion styles that do not flaunt any baggy clothing to speak of.  However, ICP itself came to power in the 90s, and it’s this writer’s opinion that forever the hip hop clothing worn by ICP and hip hop clothing available in the ICP store will reflect their heritage.

Feeling overwhelmed with all the Insane Clown Posse shirt choices? The ICP store has a function that allows anyone interested in buying the hip hop clothing therein to compare their choices. How many other stores that sell hip hop clothing can boast such advanced technology?

It would be remiss to not mention the merchandise other than Insane Clown Posse shirts that are available in the ICP store. Though not traditional hip hop clothing, the ICP store contains backpacks, belts, patches, pins, stickers, and even comic books that all do their part in promoting the ICP brand. Keep an eye out for more on those topics in future articles about ICP and merchandise!

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This article discusses ICP’s marketing tactics in regards to their ICP store online, hatchetgear.com, which features hip hop clothing. To learn more about what merchandise is available in the  ICP store , please visit http://www.hatchetgear.com/bands/icp.html.