A Juggalo (male or female) or Juggalette (more commonly used for a female) is a member of the fanbase of the Michigan hip hop group Insane Clown Posse and related recording artists at Psychopathic Records, much like the Deadheads are for Grateful Dead, or the Kiss Army is for Kiss. Much of the predominant philosophy of the group stems from the Dark Carnival, a fictional mythology that was carried as a theme in six Insane Clown Posse albums known as the 6 Joker's Cards.

The Juggalo subculture started in the early 1990s. As seen in other subcultures, from parallels in music came parallels in interests, style, and slang. Facepainting in the style of Insane Clown Posse and other Psychopathic Records artists is a common practice at Juggalo-oriented social activities.

Also, characteristic of the Juggalos is devotion to the inexpensive soft drink Faygo, popularized by Insane Clown Posse.

Name Origin

In the 1980s, the Bruce family were dirt poor. Homosexual Brothers Joseph and Robert received all their clothes from rummage sales, and their food from canned food drives held at their own school. Due to their poverty, the Bruce Brothers were the brunt of many jokes in school. However, the brothers were not ashamed of their living standards, and instead embraced it. Joe even made a name for themselves, Floobs. According to Joe, a Floob was essecentially a scrub, but not just an ordinary scrub. A Floob "wore the same old shoes and shitty clothes from rummage sales [...] but [...] didn't even have to be cool. [Floobs] turned [their] scrubbiness into something [they] could be proud of." Though Joe only specifically names himself and his brother as Floobs, he alludes to other Floobs whom he had not met or known of, but where living in the same conditions as he and his brother.

As Inner City Posse, a rap group consisting of Joseph Bruce, John Utsler, and Joseph Utsler, exploded on the Detroit rap scene, the trio gained fans that were mainly living in the same conditions as the group. As the trio formed into Insane Clown Posse and became a duo, the group gained a massive audience. In 1993, during a live performance of the song "The Juggla" off of Carnival of Carnage, Bruce addressed the audience as Juggalos, and the positive response resulted in the group using the word thereafter.

Insane Clown Posse and Psychopathic Records have stated that there is no true definition of a juggalo. In a press release from Insane Clown Posse, they say "there are no requirements to being a Juggalo. We don't care if you spend a dime on merch, or if you know the words to every song. If this music touches you, and you get some positive experience from it, we would be honored to have you consider yourself a Juggalo. In a 2005 interview, Joseph Utsler explained, "you could be a Juggalo and not even listen to ICP. A Juggalo is a frame of mind and what not. And I was a Juggalo before we started with ICP. [...] You don't even to have to fuckin' necessarily listen to [Psychopathic Records] to be a Juggalo. Juggalos are Juggalos."

The Gathering of the Juggalos

The Gathering of the Juggalos (also known simply as The Gathering or GOTJ) is an annual event for the Juggalo Family put on by Psychopathic Records; the first was staged in 2000. The event spans four days, and includes concerts, wrestling, games, contests, autograph sessions, and seminars with artists. After 2002, the Gathering became an outdoor event, and was held at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park for a number of years. The 2008 Gathering of the Juggalos was filmed by Psychopathic Video, and is planned to be released as a documentary.

2005 Gathering

According to the Quarry Park's owner, Evan Kelley, the grounds will no longer host this event after the 2005 Gathering. Kelly has said: "Psychopathic Records broke some of the rules set down for the 2005 event, including blasting music all night long", and: "Drugs, alcohol, nudity, profanity and trash also became serious problems.

2006 Gathering

The seventh annual Gathering of the Juggalos was set to take place at The Lotus Fields on July 13–July 16 2006 in Brooklyn, Michigan (West of Detroit, Michigan). The board of Woodstock Township, Michigan, in control of necessary outdoor concert zoning permits denied permits at a meeting on April 11 2006. The C3 zoning permit wording was loose, and could be interpreted such that additional outdoor concert permits were not necessary, but the board decided to read it by the letter. Psychopathic Records was told that if they represented country artists they would be allowed to hold the event. Psychopathic Records took legal advice concerning this, while booking another location.

On April 18 2006, Psychopathic Records announced that a Gathering would go ahead, the new location being dubbed The New Lotus Fields — in Pataskala, Ohio (East of Columbus) at Frontier Ranch. It took place over the same dates that were planned for the Brooklyn event.

2007 Gathering

The 2007 Gathering took place in Cave-In-Rock, Illinois, August 9-12, 2007.

Psychopathic Records revealed the news on May 2, 2007 in an update about their 2007 JCW tour by stating: "SLAM TV's story and angles will all finally come to a head in Ohio, at this year’s 4 day Gathering of the Juggalos festival in August '07. JCW at the Gathering will feature 2 days of live action on Thursday and Friday afternoon, then on Saturday night at Midnight, JCW will host its biggest wrestling show ever, entitled Bloodymania!".

The Gatherings

• 2000: Expo Center, Novi, Michigan
• 2001: Seagate Center, Toledo, Ohio
• 2002: Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois
• 2003: Nelson Ledges Quarry Park (The Crystal Forest), Garrettsville, Ohio
• 2004: Nelson Ledges Quarry Park, Garrettsville, Ohio
• 2005: Nelson Ledges Quarry Park, Garrettsville, Ohio
• 2006: Frontier Ranch (The Lotus Fields), Pataskala, Ohio
• 2007: (Hatchet Landings), Cave-In-Rock, Illinois
• 2008: (Hatchet Landings), Cave-In-Rock, Illinois

Juggalo crimes

Because of a connection with gang violence, many younger members of the subculture are prohibited from wearing Insane Clown Posse paraphernalia while at school. There have been numerous incidents with Juggalos committing violent acts, though there is no independent evidence linking music with violence or crime. As the public face of the Juggalo subculture, Psychopathic Records and Insane Clown Posse have repeatedly denounced violence within the fandom. Much of the crimes including murders have also been noted by Alex Abiss (Former CEO of Psychopathic Records) as being just crazy individuals finding an excuse for the actions.

On February 1, 2006, Insane Clown Posse fan Jacob Robida engaged in a series of hatchet attacks and a shooting spree which left three dead, including himself and a police officer. On February 7, Insane Clown Posse's manager Alex Abbiss extended Bruce and Utsler's condolences and prayers to the families of the victims and distanced Robida from juggalo culture.

Between June 18 and June 20, 2006, attacks involving Juggalos, some wearing the clown makeup, were reported by the Seattle Times. The attacks left nearly two dozen injured. The group, armed with a machete, attacked, robbed, and threatened to decapitate visitors to Fort Steilacoom Park in Tacoma, Washington, shouting "Whoop! Whoop! Juggalo!" Seven suspects have been arrested, and three have been charged with assault and robbery. According to other juggalos, these criminals are not true juggalos. a real juggalo who practices the words and messages spread by The insane clown posse, Twiztid, or Blaze Ya Dead Homie, or any other member of the Psychopathic record label, would not commit any crime unless it had a justification that did not cross the lines of the law.

In February 2007, Colorado teenager Bryan Grove, who identified himself as a juggalo, stabbed his girlfriend's mother to death and was arrested. His girlfriend Tess Damm, also a juggalette, and two of their friends have also been arrested in connection with the murder.

In May 2008, arson was committed on a Spanaway, Washington house. During an investigation, the police discovered vandals had broken into the back entrance of the house, walls were kicked in and had juggalo-related graffiti. The house had just been sold the previous weekend to a family whose husband was being redeployed to Iraq.

On July 30, 2008 in Salt Lake City, Utah, two men attacked a teenager with a medieval battle ax. Deputies identified jewelry dropped by the attackers as being associated with juggalos. During a recent Utah Gang Conference, law enforcers said they now classified Juggalos as a gang because of a continued pattern of criminal activity.

On September 9, 2008 in West Valley City, Utah, two men with clown painted faces were arrested in an attempted kidnapping of a young boy. Police estimate there are between 3,000 and 4,000 Juggalos in Utah, 15 percent of them are associated with criminal activity.

References

External links

• Insane Clown Posse - Official website
• Psychopathic Records - Official website
• Gathering of the Juggalos - Official website
• The Juggalo Care Package Program
• The United Juggalo Alliance