FAYGOLUVERS INTERVIEW: JCW: Rasslerap Charity Tour – In part two of our holiday interview series Mad Man Pondo joins Juggalotus to discuss the tour, wrestling in Japan, Training Crazy Mary Dobson, The Juggalo Family and Much more!
All pictures provided by Roxxi Red, and any watermarks can be seen on the images
1. So you have your Roxxi Red page and I know you do local shows. Is singing something you are pursuing as a full time career?
I would love to pursue this as a full time career, but it’s so hard to make a living from it. I wish I had realized the potential to make an actual career out of this when I was younger. Now I work at a restaurant, and DJ to make ends meet, and I am also model on the side, but music remains my main focus. I’m currently working on my bachelor’s degree in Music Business from Full Sail University and that takes up the majority of my time. I figure that if things do work out with my music, I will have the knowledge and training to run my own career and start my own label. If not, I will still be working in the music industry, ideally in artist development or music festival planning, and performing at local venues on the side.
2. How long have you been pursuing it as a career?
I guess I’ve technically been pursuing it my whole life in one way or another. I started college as a music education major but all they wanted to teach was opera and I had already been doing that for so many years that I didn’t want to do it anymore. Then I worked in musical theatre for several years which I LOVED and miss a lot, but I guess it wasn’t until probably 2012 when I got signed that I started performing popular music and living more of a musician’s starving artist lifestyle. It’s funny how that works.
3. Do you write your own songs? If so can you tell us a little about the creative process?
I do write my own songs however when left to my own devices with a guitar and a pad of paper they often come out very dark, with kind of an Evanescence or Ani DiFranco vibe. My producer has to help guide me away from that a little and once I get on track I can run with it. He lives in Nashville so he’ll call me on Skype with his guitar and we’ll spend all day working on one song, me on the lyrics and melody and him on the instrumentation. We must make a good team because Sony bought my song Ink a couple months back. But they also contracted him so now I’m in the market for a new producer lol every one I’ve tried to work with gives me straight rap beats and as a vocalist I can only do so much with them.
4. Do you play any instruments?
I was first chair alto saxophone all through middle and high school. I was also in the marching band, first with the sax and then on the drum line. Don’t even get me started on the jokes I had to endure being the band camp ginger around the time American Pie came out. But I wasn’t allowed to watch R rated movies so I didn’t get the joke and just kept right on telling band camp stories… I also play a little piano and taught myself guitar.
5. Are you using an agent or are you doing it on your own?
I was signed to the hip-hop label XRECORDS/Malaco Music Group for 2 years and even though I am no longer with them I have nothing but love for my old team. Now I’m doing it on my own and it’s a hell of a lot harder because I don’t have someone financially backing me anymore, but I also have complete freedom when it comes to my music. I can make what I want instead of being molded into what a label wants me to be. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.
6. Do you have any advice for others that might be interested in getting into the field?
Don’t sell out. It’s really easy to lose yourself in the hype, or to lose sight of the line between yourself and your stage persona. I’ve seen a lot of people forget that and that’s how monsters like Kanye West happen. Work hard, keep your friends close, be open to new opportunities and network, network, network. Every situation you are in you need to look at as a networking opportunity. Who you know can take you far in this industry.
7. What was the first ICP song you ever heard?
I wasn’t introduced to ICP until after I got out of high school. This guy was like “hey listen to this song it’s so funny” and put on the Neden Game, so technically that was the first one I heard. But after I dropped him off he forgot his CD in my car and I didn’t have any others on me so I just let it play… I remember Boogie Woogie Wu came on and something about it just caught my attention hardcore and I played it on repeat for like the next 4 days lol I had never been exposed to that kind of music before because I was such a sheltered kid, I don’t think I even heard any rap music other than Gangster’s Paradise and Space Jam until I got to high school. I don’t know, something about ICP just spoke to me when I first heard it and I was hooked for life.
8. How were you introduced to juggalos?
I’ve been down since 2004 and got my hatchetman tattoo in 2006 but it wasn’t until 2009 that I actually met any other juggalos and I found them through MySpace lol I had just moved to the city by myself and didn’t know a single person there so I ended up hanging out with this lette I met on MySpace and she introduced me to this huge group of juggalos in the area. They were so welcoming and it was crazy because I suddenly had this instant group of friends who are still my best friends today. As a teenager I worked really hard to maintain this preppy sorority girl cheerleader image that my family wanted for me and it just didn’t fit me at all so I can’t even explain to you how amazing it felt to be around people who actually understood me for once in my life. Totally life changing.
9. How many Gatherings have you attended?
Just two, 2013 and 2015. For several years this guy I used to date kept promising to take me and then would find an excuse right before it was time to go. So in 2013 I said screw him and went anyway. I’ll never miss another one, that’s for sure.
10. Do you have a favorite Gathering memory?
Oh gosh I don’t even know how to pick just one, it’s all so amazing. The Tech show my first year was absolutely mind blowing for… several reasons lol but I’m a huge Tech fan and that was the first time I’d ever seen him live so that was great. Also anything I did that involved my girl April Butler, bouncing on an inflatable couch with Randy Atkins, taking topless beer bongs with this awesome ninjette I met this year Kimeko, and getting matching Chubby 3 Fingers tattoos with Kimeko and this other awesome chick I met this year, Jessica. My birthday also fell on the night of the ICP show this year so that was pretty epic.
11. Besides ICP, what is your favorite underground artist?
I was introduced to Tech about a year or two before I started listening to ICP and have always been a huge fan, I probably listen to him more than anything else and I think my friends get annoyed by it lol other than him I like a lot of the Strange Music artists, particularly Stevie Stone, Mayday, and Prozak, and I also really like Hopsin, AMB, and Dope D.O.D. I didn’t start getting into Twiztid much until the past few years actually, but now I listen to a lot of them too.
12. Favorite Faygo flavor?
Candy Apple and Cotton Candy. It’s funny because I absolutely refused to try the Cotton Candy because the idea of a cotton candy flavored soda seemed absolutely disgusting to me, but someone convinced me at this year’s gathering and now it’s my favorite.
13. Batman vs. Superman who wins?
I gotta go with Batman. For no real reason other than he is a badass and I think Superman looks like a little bitch.
14. Are there any charity events you involved in?
I’m really involved with the JDRF, I do the walks every year to raise money for juvenile diabetes research and help DJ the events at no cost. I’ve also helped host vacation bible schools both locally and overseas, and I’ve done work with the March Of Dimes and the local humane society. I really enjoy giving back where I can.
15. What does being a juggalette mean to you?
To me being a juggalette is about loving yourself and embracing your individuality instead of conforming to societal norms, and not giving a fuck about whether anybody else likes it or not. It’s about doing what you want, accepting the uniqueness of others, and loving every moment of your wicked ass life.
Listen to Roxxi Red here:
https://m.soundcloud.com/roxxired/ink
https://m.soundcloud.com/…/fragile-tech-n9ne-kendrick-lamar…
Shout outs to some other local artists from Roxxi Red
The Search http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTQ4j09V5M4
The Real Chaos www.reverbnation.com/therealchaos
Loco Pimp www.soundcloud.com/locopimp
From the Hatchet Herald:
What up doe? You aint gonna believe this flavor! Remember last issue I was tellin you ninjas all about the RassleRap Charity Tour that we’re doing to hook up the sick kids of St. John’s Children’s Hospital of Illinois? Remember how I told you that 2 local acts from every stop on the tour was going to perform along with the one and only Young Wicked? Well, that’s all still true, only mad more flavor has been added! MAD MORE!!! The tour is now fatter. Much fatter! Like it’s been stuffin’ its fat fuckin’ face with chocolate Twinkies! It seems the holiday spirit is spreading and we received several calls from absolute powerhouses in the rap world who wanted to be on this tour and help hook up the kids! Now the tour not only features 2 local acts from each city, plus 5 exciting and brutal JCW Matches and a hype ass, slammin’ set from Psychopathic’s hottest act in years Young Wicked, but it also features the Best in the Southwest, The Psychopathic Iconic DJ, Dangerous DJ Clay! And also added to the tour, strictly out of love for the kids, it’s The mother fuckin’ Louisville Slugger himself, Bukshot! How dope is that shit? And it don’t stop there, my friends. Talk about Psychopathic Icons, how does this sound… from the South Bronx of New York City; he’s actually my brother-in-law… I’m talkin’ about Myzery! And you know Myzery wrecks shop! But there’s still more, ninjas! I’m tellin’ you all the heavy hitters called and wanted to jump on this tour to lend their support for free! How cool is this shit? Also performing some witchcraft on every stop of the tour, is the witch doctor of Detroit Murderous… Big Hoodoo! It just keeps gettin’ liver and fresher! Everybody called and wanted to come out on this tour and support the cause … for free! And that’s why we need you ninjas to come out and show YOUR love. Let’s show the world how fuckin’ awesome Juggalos really are! They say we’re killers but we’re actually saving lives. I’m dead serious about this, y’all! We need your help. We need to pull together. Even if you can’t afford to be an Elf, a Snowman, or a Big Baller Santa Clause (if you don’t know what I’m talkin’ about, click here “SCHOOL ME”) Just you buying a ticket to this big ass show helps the cause plenty, homie! We need you there to help them kids and that’s why we’re making the tour as fat as can be. And we still ain’t done stuffin’ its fat ass and makin’ it even fatter! Because also on the tour is the Hatchet Warrior. How about a fat dose of some Native Funk y’all? That’s right, ninjas, also on this incredible tour is Anybody Killlllla!!! Straight Up Murderous!
Before we drop EVEN MORE NAMES, let me run this down right quick: We got 2 local acts from each city that hopefully don’t suck, we got 5 bloody ass JCW matches going down, we got The Hatchet’s sharpest weapon, Young mother fuckin’ Wicked rippin’ it down, We got the Southwest bad ass, Deadly DJ Clay, we got big, bad Bukshot in this bad ass bitch, we got the East Coast, serial killa Myzery bustin’ out a fat set, we got some Detroit west side wicked shit with Big Hoodoo, and we still ain’t even done! We also got the bloodthirsty serial killer herself, direct from SKR Records, the one and only Razakel, who can bring the wicked shit just as hard as anyone in the boys club. Peep the fresh video to her song “Bite Me” if you don’t believe me! I swear to God this shit has turned into an indoor Juggalo Festival! No lie. That’s exactly what this shit is now. In fact I’m officially changin’ the fuckin’ name right now. This shit is now called The RassleRap Charity Festival Tour, bitch, know that.
And now I’m about to peel your wig back and slap you on the top of your bald ass head, with even more flavor. I couldn’t even believe it when I saw his name callin’ my phone. I instantly got nervous. He’s one of me and Joey’s biggest heroes, and when he told me he wanted to do the tour, I instantly peed my pants a little and passed out. When I woke up, the pee was dry, but then I remembered what he said and I peed and passed out again… I’ll just get to it. Joining the RassleRap Charity Festival Tour is… From the motherfuckin’ 5th Ward in Houston, Texas… A true pioneer of Horrorcore Rap, from the mother fuckin’ Geto Boys … Willie D!! I’ll give you a second to find your wigs … It probably flew off your head and landed somewhere behind you… did you check in the garbage can?… Maybe the cat took it…. It could still be stuck to the wall back there… Well, you might as well just glue it to your fuckin’ dome piece because I’ve got more news. Yes, Willie D is going to be there performing Geto Boys classics, but your mind is not playing tricks on you, there’s still more flavor.
I’ll be honest though, there is a big bit of major staleness I have to tell you about, and there is no way to get around it other than to just come out with it. It turns out that Shaggy Shaggs cannot do the tour. He is having emergency back surgery. I know, I know, that fuckin’ sucks buttholes. Those of you that follow us closely know that Shaggy has had serious back problems with a fucked up spine ever since he was wrestling in Milwaukee years ago and got slammed off the top of a steel cage. Well, those problems only got worse and worse and now he’s finally doing something about it. He’s having a Laminectomy/Discectomy for you medical students and doctors reading this, and I’m sure there’s LOTS of them out there. The problem is, the only surgery date they could fit him in for right away happens to be on December 11th, dead smack during the tour. But, Ninjas, please don’t let this staleness discourage you from coming to see the show. Number 1: We WILL have a life sized, cardboard, cut out stand of Shaggy posted on the stage. Number 2: Don’t forget the sick children that need your ticket money and support! All hope is not lost, as the song says, “The Show Must Go On” and it will! You see, there’s one more act that’s going to perform on this tour! In fact he’s going to headline this bitch! Performing solo for the first time in his entire career and for the absolute last time — in fact, this 6 city tour will be the ONLY time this ninja will ever perform solo in his lifetime! He’s doing it for the kid’s y’all, for the fuckin’ kids! Who is it you ask? It’s ME!!! Violent J! Yes it’s true, I will be performing ICP jams, and some of my solo joints as well, for the first and last and only time in my life. I will have a fresh ass hype man up there with me, though. He’s the only ninja capable of standing in for the great Shaggy 2 Dope. If I can’t be with my brother up there on stage, then instead I’ll be with my brother. My brother from the same mother… Jumpsteady! I’m trying to say that my brother Jumpsteady will be my hype man for these ultra, ULTRA RARE, solo performances. So if you want to see something happen, that will absolutely, positively, never, ever happen again, then come see me perform along with all the above mentioned greats on this massive, indoor festival tour, the now forever legendary RassleRap Charity Festival Tour!!!!! We at Psychopathic Records and the Juggalo underground are proving to this wicked dirt ball that we all live on, that we Juggalos will do WHATEVER it takes to help out the sick and needy kids of St. John’s Children’s Hospital of Illinois.
And now, some very sad and serious news…
OK. Here it goes. Loooong time Juggalos, I’m talkin’ really, really long time Juggalos. Juggalos from way, way, WAY back before the fuckin’ internet, and before cellphones and even before DVDs, those long time Juggalos actually remember ICP’s first professional release… It was called “The Dog Beats Maxi Single”. It was 4 songs recorded at a studio called Miller Midi Productions with a crazy, whacked out ninja named Chuck Miller who I’m assuming took waaay to much LSD during his hippy days. He was cool most of the time with rare, sporadic, evil outburst of anger. He moved slower than a tortoise full of rigor mortis. He pretty much sucked as an engineer.
Anyway we had previously only recorded on a karaoke machine so we didn’t know any better. We had a few tapes out. When I say “out” I mean for sale in one store, and we gave them out or sold them for a buck, mostly in Southwest Detroit. One of them was called “Intelligence and Violence” that one was me (the Violent rapper) doing songs with a kid I hardly knew who called himself D Lyrical (he was the intelligent rapper, I guess) We recorded at his mom’s house in her basement because he had a karaoke machine. His mom hated me because I cussed so loud when I rapped. When I finally got my own karaoke machine that was the end of D-Lyrical and I started rapping with my real homies Joey (Shaggy), his older brother John (John Kickjazz) and another kid named John Rode (Kid Villain). With them we did a tape called “Basement Cuts”, and another one was called “Enter The Ghetto Zone”. When we hooked up with our first manager, a ninja named Alex Abbiss, who together with his brother operated the record store that sold our bootleg tapes, we became dead serious about having a career in rap (Remember record stores? Stores full of tapes and CDs and vinyl albums? They we’re fuckin’ awesome. We used to spend hours in them places. Anyway, don’t let me lose focus).
When we walked into that real recording studio (remember those too? Nowadays all you need is a computer and a mic) with our manager, it was on for real. We consider that day the official beginning of ICP’s career. That was when we first decided that we were going to “make it” as rappers and failure wasn’t an option. My entire life changed forever that day.
Just after the recording of “Dog Beats” came out, John Rode quit the group. It was too much work for him. Everybody in the group had to get a job and pitch in all our money to the group and work endlessly on handing out flyers and promoting the group. Constantly. And that proved to be too much work for John Rode and he was like “fuck this” and left. And just before we released our first album and 1st Joker’s Card “Carnival of Carnage” Shaggy’s older brother John quit the group. And I very rarely ever saw either one of the Johns ever again. Our lives completely changed from that first day in the studio. For Joey and I it became all about ICP and only ICP. It was way to much for the Johns and they were outti. We worked like seriously obsessed psychopaths. If you’re interested in more about our struggle and the slow rise of ICP you can read our book “Behind The Paint” (available at HatchetGear.com).
The Johns just weren’t having the extreme change in our lives. They weren’t about all the constant work, work, work. They wanted to party and party they did. What sucked was they fuckin’ kept parting harder and harder. They fuckin’ partied way to hard. To make a long and sad story short, John Rode (Kid Villian) eventually got into serious hard drugs and he fuckin’ overdosed on heroin and died in his mid 30s. He can be heard on the song “Dog Beats” as the drive through window guy, and he can also be heard on the song “Ghetto Zone” as the bitching old man in the chorus. John Rode is also on the original song, “Wizard of the Hood” playing the role of the lion.
Joey’s older brother John had several problems. At first, after he left the group, things were going somewhat OK for him. He had a girlfriend and he was working as a DJ at some clubs around Detroit. Plus he was making beats from time to time. He never released anything professionally but at least he was still involved in what he loved. John was who actually introduced me to rap. The first rap song he played for me was called “Roxanne Roxanne” by a fresh group called U.T.F.O. Years later he introduced me to “Freaky Tales” by Too $hort. It was even John that first played me Eazy E, and N.W.A. I will never forget hearing Eazy E’s high pitched voice for the first time. And the shit he was saying in his raps was so fresh and funny. I’d never heard anything that sounded like that before. The closest to it was The Beastie Boys album “Licensed To Ill” and John put me up on that too. I remember John and Joey went to see the Beastie Boys on the Licensed To Ill tour. I was so, SO fuckin’ jealous that I was actually mad. John was my best friend from the 6th Grade all the way until I was 19. We went from being little kids, through all of those super impressionable years of becoming a teenager and then becoming young adults, we went through all of that together as best friends. Those are the years you spend discovering who you are, and what crowd you fall into and what music you like. We were even discovering girls for the first time together. Those years mean so much in a ninja’s life. They define so much about you and who you are for the rest of your life. John was my best friend during this special time. It was even in my bedroom that John got some neden for the first time in his life from the girl who lived down the street from me. John was always the smart one of our crew. He always was the one who got the decent grades and he always knew how to spell shit right. Or do a math problem. And again, I was always so impressed about how much him and Joey knew about music. Even rock bands like Deep Purple and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. I was hearing those names for the first time in my life.
John always knew how to hook up a car stereo or a turntable. Later in life when we became crooks, he always knew what car stereos were fresh and which ones weren’t worth shit. He knew about all that shit. Of course he was the first one to get his license and he would drive everywhere. He would borrow his stepdad’s jeep. We would take the top down off that bitch and bounce that fuckin’ thing everywhere, man. We had a big crew in our teenage years. Noel Simington, John Rode, John Klein, Lacey Morris, Rudy, me, Joey and John all piled into the jeep bumpin’ NWA and Awesome Dre. I never drank or even swore back then, but then when my brother Rob went into the Army, suddenly all bets were off for some reason. Suddenly I was the only one, who didn’t cuss, or drink and so after about a year of that I was like “Fuck This” and I just started swearin up a storm. But I never drank much. I drank, but those guys drank all the fuckin’ time. I would get pissed at them for drinkin’ so much. I would be like “Come on, man, we just fuckin’ drank yesterday man! What the fuck, man! Two days in a row, that’s fuckin’ stupid, man!” I bitched about drinkin’ so much that they started to ditch me. Man, that would hurt. I dropped outta school long before those guys did and I would find out they all skipped school and never picked me up because they would all go drinkin’ someplace and they didn’t want me around. Fuck I hated that shit. We would go all the way out to Milford or Melvindale, MI in the jeep chasin’ bitches. Man, I loved those times. I practically lived over at John and Joey’s house. Joey was my boy, but back then John was my ace in the hole. We were so close, we shared the same dreams — first to be wrestlers and then to be rappers. I was over there constantly. We would sit upstairs in John and Joey’s bedroom and just spin albums. Joey would scratch and we’d all listen. Sometimes at night we would cut the lights out and play D-Roz or Danny “K”AE tapes for hours. They were two rappers that were so unbelievably fuckin’ incredibly fuckin’ amazingly terrible that it was awesome. I can’t explain it but we fuckin’ LOOOOOVED to listen to their music. It just relaxed us and put us in a great mood. Their music for some strange reason was like drugs to us. Both D-Roz and Danny “K”AE were local from Detroit and we used to dream about how great it would be to hang out with them. I’m pretty sure some of Danny “K”AE’s shit is on You Tube but D-Roz fuckin’ vanished from the earth long before You Tube. But holy shit did we love there shit, man. The cool thing is, last year J-Webb actually contacted Danny “K”AE who now lives in Alaska (ALASKA!) and we brought him to the Gathering to perform! Me and Joey were fuckin’ front row for his show, just watching in awe at the magical spectacle. It was him. It was actually him performing the great music. Songs that only he could write like “Track and Field”, “After School Snack Attack”, and “The Goverment’s Responsible.” I’m not exaggerating AT ALL when I tell you that standing next to Joey and watching Danny “K”AE perform in person, front row, at the Gathering was easily one of the best times of my entire fuckin’ life man. It’s just too fuckin’ bad that John wasn’t there with us to enjoy the greatness of The “K”AE. We did film it, though, and that DVD is one of my absolute greatest possessions. Some ninjas in the crowd were just confused by what they we’re witnessing and most weren’t really paying attention, but there was one ninja, I’ll never forget him. He was totally gettin’ live, and rockin’ out. He got it. He fully understood the magic of what makes Danny “K”AE so incredibly fuckin’ awesome. Maybe we will bring Danny “K”AE back for Gathering 17 because it’s, well you know, Gathering 17 and all!
Anyway, John was a more than a great friend and he played a very important role in my life for a very long and special time. Back then our crew were so close to each other that we considered each other sellouts if you had a girlfriend. John always had a job too. He was always the responsible one working all the time. He just really had his head screwed on right tight while the rest of our crew was more like me … dumbasses. Ha!
Once we began ICP though, it became a straight up obsession for us. When John Rode left it sucked ,yeah, but when John Utsler quit I was devastated. I was crushed. We all were. Me and Alex just stared at Joey wondering what his next move was going to be. Was he gonna leave now? We had John’s raps all over the album and now he was gone. Besides that I’d just lost my best friend. I always say that was the fuckin’ night Joey became a man in his life. For real. The night he made a strong, enormous decision for himself and it paid off. My respect for Joey suddenly intensified to the point of no return. But I felt demolished at the same time over the fact that John could just up and walk out on us like that. It was so shocking, it truly terrified me that a person could do that to a friend. How could somebody be that cold hearted? We didn’t have money to redo the entire album and take him off it. This was years before Pro Tools where you can just upload the song and pick up right where you left off. This was back when running a mix to tape was incredibly difficult. Everybody had several jobs to do when we would run a mix. Mike would have to remember to turn down the claps at a certain point and turn up a certain vocal. I would have to turn down the guitars during the second chorus and make sure the high hats were loud enough at the ending and Joey would have similar responsibilities. We would all have to work together just to get a mix on tape. If anybody fucked something up even the slightest, we would all have to do it again. The shit would take forever. So to remix the entire album replacing John’s vocal parts was mission impossible. So we decided to just release the album as it was, with him on there. He is now forever cemented in Juggalo history because his vocals are all over the 1st Joker’s Card “Carnival of Carnage”.
The two Johns went one way in life and me and Joey went completely in another direction. Joey saw John around his mom’s house from time to time but as the years went by, he saw less and less of him. I was constantly asking Joey if he saw John and if he said anything about us. Whenever the two spoke, which was rarely, John would never speak about leaving the group. Ever. I was obsessed with knowing how he felt about it, because it had hurt me so bad when he walked out. In a lot of ways it was like losing a girlfriend that you deeply loved and knowing somebody who knows her now. You would be asking, “What did she say about me? What did she say?” I wanted to know how he felt, and when we started to do better and better, I ,of course, wondered if he regretted his decision.
One year it was crazy as hell though, because we actually decided to have Joey ask John to appear at the 3rd Annual Gathering in Peoria as a mystery guest. Surprisingly, he showed up for a question and answer session. It was very weird. I hadn’t seen my former best friend in years. We didn’t say much of anything at all to each other. I think John was overwhelmed and extremely nervous about all the Juggalos asking him so many questions and snapping pictures of him. He barely spoke. He let Joey answer it all. He had never in his life been a part of anything like that and it completely freaked him the fuck out. He had no idea people were that interested in him like that. He wouldn’t come back after that year. Think about it. The answers to all the questions they were asking him had to of all been let downs.
Anyway, he and John Rode continued on down that dark path getting further and further into hard drugs. A few years later, Joey and I decided to try and help John. We hired him at our warehouse but that only lasted a few weeks. He just kept fuckin’ up. Over and over again. Sometimes I would go in the back to try and talk to him but it was always the same. He would just dodge my questions and I could see how uncomfortable he was so I’d just leave him alone. He would come in super late and we’d find him asleep in the warehouse. It just didn’t work out at all and after a while we had no choice to let him go. It’s true what they say — you can’t help somebody who doesn’t want to help themselves.
Things only continued to spiral downhill for John. Around the same time that John Rode died, (Kid Villain) something terrible happened to John. Joey told us that they found him lying out front of his house in a puddle of blood. Nobody knows exactly what went down, even he says he doesn’t remember. I guess they pretty much cracked a hole in his skull, Doctors had to remove a piece of his skull because his brain was swelling up so badly that it couldn’t fit in his head and he had to wear a soft helmet for a year so. The incident really did some serious damage and he and was never really the same again after that. Joey thinks it was possibly some kind of drug deal gone bad, like maybe John tried to fuck over some bad dudes or something. But nevertheless, John still kept on using and drinking.
The years continued to roll on by and John just kept on moving into and getting kicked out of group homes, the Salvation Army, convalescent homes and shitty places like that. At one point he was even living in an abandoned house. Joey’s younger brother Mike called and said “We gotta do something about John and get him out of there” so Joey went over there and found John laying on an old mattress in the back room and described him as skin and bones. So he helped him up and into his car and took him home. John stayed with Joey for a while as Joey fed him and nursed him back to somewhat decent health until he caught John drinking again and stealing from him. Joey had no choice but to drop John off again at another Salvation Army. Things were OK for a while until one night about 8 years ago, John had a seizure and fell out of his bed and hit his already wounded head on the floor. From that day on John damaged the nerves his brain and could no longer walk. Even while confined to a wheelchair, John continued to use basically any drug he could get his hands on.
I saw John at Joey’s wedding about 2 years ago. He was smoking a cigarette outside on the side of the chapel. He was barely recognizable. His skin tone looked almost grey to me and there were large black circles around his eyes. I thought about not saying anything to him at all, but instead I walked up to him and said a friendly “What up, John?”, and introduced my wife Michelle. He just muttered out a simple “hey” avoiding eye contact with me, and instantly rolled himself in the other direction.
As the beautiful ceremony was being conducted down by the water, way up behind everybody, sitting at the top of the hill where you couldn’t hear anything being said at the wedding, there was John sitting silently by himself. He wore a blank expression on his face, seemingly staring off at nothing. He was definitely sitting there, present at the wedding, but the John we all knew and loved, and my former best friend in the world, had check out of there a long time ago.
And on that bright, sunny, summer day, parked up on that green ass grass, next to that beautiful white chapel, was the very last time most of us would ever see John alive again.
Joey’s Uncle Ed and his younger brother Mike would sometimes come by whereever he was staying at the time, to check up on him and drop off a bag of groceries and maybe a $20 spot for whatever as John continued to live his life at rock bottom, until the morning of November 20th, when he was found dead in his bed, living at a group home in Highland Park, Michigan. The autopsy report won’t be back for another two months or so, but it’s believed that he had a major seizure in his sleep. An empty pint of vodka was found stashed under his bed. a clear violation of the rules at the group home he was living at.
At the memorial, Joey’s Uncle Ed told me and my wife that about three months ago, he went to visit John and he was playing a CD of “Carnival of Carnage” and as his Uncle was talking about something, John interrupted him and said “Wait, listen… This part is me… that’s me rappin’ right there”
Had John Utsler only known that he is forever in time, a true, certified and authentic, Juggalo legend. Forever solidified in all of space, as one of the original three MC’s of the legendary 1st Joker’s Card, “Carnival of Carnage.” The album which started it all. The red and blue engine which pulls a train a million miles long. The first chapter in a series of 6 chapters that mean so very much, to the lives of so very many, special people of this world, and even beyond. John probably never even realized how many thousands and thousands, how many millions and millions of ninjas around the world, knew every word to every one of his verses, to every one of the songs he ever made. He most likely never knew that during every minute, of every day, there is at least one human being out there in the world, rapping along to his lyrics as the CD plays. There is at least one, and that’s guaranteed, but most likely there are hundreds, at any given time, 24 hours a day, all the way around the clock, as “Carnival Of Carnage” has sold or been burned or dubbed or copied, or bootlegged millions and millions of times, since it was first released way back in 1991. The 1st Joker’s Card that started it all. John Utsler probably never even realized he was an absolute Hall of Famer in our Juggalo Universe. John Kickjazz is a legendary superstar without a doubt. He’s every bit of a hero to millions and millions of wonderful and important, human lives around the world and around the entire universe as well.
He is eternally cemented in greatness for his work on “The Basement Tapes” that are true and iconic hidden treasures that remain somewhere out there, in this world sought after by collectors and traders around the globe. And his work on “Dog Beats,” the first ever authentic professional recording of Inner City Posse remains timeless and forever new as somebody somewhere retraces the Dark Carnival’s fantastic voyage back to its inception every day that goes by. John Kickjazz’s voice appears on songs that are sung by millions of fascinating and intelligent people across the planet. John’s witty and astonishingly entertaining lyrics are respected, repeated, memorized and idolized by men and women of all races and religions who lead incredible, fantastic lives. And of course “Carnival of Carnage” from The Insane Clown Posse remains a treasure trove of vast knowledge and secrets that can not only unlock time but can also allow one a peek in through the back stage doors of the Nethervoid. The 1st Joker’s Card has gathered the attention of so many millions of lonely, misunderstood and frustrated souls and eventually turned their fates around and forever blessed them with the rich and priceless gifts of family, love and eternal salvation. It was John Utsler’s own works of art that helped lead these people to discover one another as well as their own faith in a higher power. Today these people form this planet’s last genuine, authentic subculture… unlike anything before its kind. It was John Utsler’s own youthful, karma shine that helped attract, draw forth and bring together the ultra-important, mystical and magnificent lives of those who call themselves… The Juggalos.
You, John Utsler, are a savior. You, John Kickjazz, are a champion of free speech. Your art and talent, your ideas and skill, your style and charisma has helped to save something more precious than anything known to man… human lives. Thank you, brother.
I look forward to when we will reform the original group of all 4 members once again. The original ICP, together behind the golden gates of Shangri-La!
FAYGOLUVERS INTERVIEW: In part one of this holiday interview series Juggalotus talks to JCW legend 2 Tuff Tony. They discuss the Rasslerap Charity Tour, His early career and training, his dynamic finishing move The Flaming Fist, and much more!
https://juggalonews.net/ The Foot and Butterflies caught up with SCUM outside the Detroit 2015 Fright Fest Show! They talk about upcoming projects and the Fright Fest Tour!
Krizz Kaliko Live 2016
Krizz Kaliko Live 2016
Dates & VIP – http://www.strangemusicinc.com/tour/#…
Live Hip Hop | Strange Music
Krizz Kaliko Live 2016
VIP Packages now available at StrangeVIP.com!
Complete dates – http://www.strangemusicinc.com/tour/#…
Krizz Kaliko on Twitter – http://twitter.com/krizzkaliko
Facebook – http://facebook.com/therealkrizzkaliko
Instagram – http://instagram.com/krizzkaliko
Soundcloud – http://soundcloud.com/strangemusicinc…
Official – http://strangemusicinc.com
Merchandise – http://strangemusicinc.net
TOUR DATES – http://strangevip.com
SUBSCRIBE
http://www.youtube.com/user/strangemu…
The Juggalo Show – December 3rd 2015
Part 1 – Captured Live on Ustream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/psychop…
Tech N9ne – CYPHER IV (Feat. Krizz Kaliko, Rittz & Prozak) – Official Music Video
Tech N9ne “Strangeulation Vol. II – Cypher IV” ft. Krizz Kaliko, Rittz, & Prozak
iTunes – http://apple.co/1XCSFqk
Official Hip Hop Music Video | Strange Music
Strangeulation Vol. 2 | Available now!
Tech N9ne “Strangeulation Vol. II – Cypher IV” ft. Krizz Kaliko, Rittz, & Prozak
taken from the album – Strangeulation Vol. 2, in stores now!
Buy – http://bit.ly/1USivFm
Buy it on iTunes – http://apple.co/1X6J0EX
Check out the other cyphers:
Strangeulation Vol. II – CYPHER I – https://youtu.be/ptohSJxIaA0
Cypher II (Feat. Stevie Stone & Ces Cru) – https://youtu.be/ptk-UdXQtx4
Check out more music from the album:
Slow To Me – https://youtu.be/pZuykNVAS3U
MMM (Michael Myers Mask) – https://youtu.be/u_TA2ryI3Tw
We Just Wanna Party – https://youtu.be/gV_gPrRBs1U
Push Start – https://youtu.be/TdYC6duvNTk
Blunt and a Ho – https://youtu.be/t4R0c9AC4M4
Tech N9ne on Twitter – http://twitter.com/techn9ne
Facebook – http://facebook.com/therealtechn9ne
Instagram – http://instagram.com/therealtechn9ne
Krizz Kaliko on Twitter – http://twitter.com/krizzkaliko
Facebook – http://facebook.com/therealkrizzkaliko
Instagram – http://instagram.com/krizzkaliko
Rittz on Twitter – http://twitter.com/therealRITTZ
Facebook – http://facebook.com/RittzMusic
Instagram – http://instagram.com/rittz
Prozak on Twitter – http://twitter.com/therealprozak
On Facebook – http://facebook.com/therealprozak
On Instagram – http://instagram.com/therealprozak
Soundcloud – http://soundcloud.com/strangemusicinc…
Official merchandise – http://strangemusicinc.net
TOUR DATES – http://strangevip.com
SUBSCRIBE
http://www.youtube.com/user/strangemu…
What made you decide you wanted to be a rapper? How did you get into the industry?
Well I started off as an Internet radio dj for a website called cryptic radio, back around 2005, I used to freestyle on air while drunk and listeners would gas me up telling me I’m dope even though I sucked so I decided to get into actually making tracks with concepts and such. I’ve always loved music, so I guess it was just destiny lol
You have your own record label Highly Intalksickhated Ent. What made you decide to start a record label?
Well I’ve always wanted to be able to call my label a legitimate business, and I’ve always been inspired by the underground legends that paved the way independently so that’s the main thing that made me want to start a label. JP The Hustler, a comrade and head of another label actually walked me through the steps I needed to take which helped a lot.
Who all owns the label?
I’m currently the sole proprietor of the label but I don’t look at myself as “the boss”
Who’s involved?
There’s many people involved from recording artists to street team members, B Boys, Graf Writers, a lot of people chip in. The current roster of artists is myself, LiL Red, Ill V, Layzie, Immortal Assassins, Yung Cago , and Konsept.
You do a lot of music with your wife LiL ReD, what’s it like being married to someone who’s in the industry with you?
It’s pretty awesome, we inspire each other, we get to go on the road together, we’re like a modern wicked sonny
and Cher with less arguing and more cocaine.
What’s up with the chimp mask?
well one year I just found it and it called out to me, I feel like it represents me fully, monkeys are full of fuckery and playfulness, It’s just kind of how feel most of the time. Like a chimp.
Do you have a desire to be signed to a larger record label at any time or is it Highly Intalksickhated Ent. for life?
I have no desire to be signed to a larger label and abandon my ship lol I kind of have dreams of building our label into an empire or at least household name, I’d be interested in partnering up with another label if the opportunity seems right though.
Where can we hear your music?
My second album is available for digital download on cd baby, here’s the link http://www.cdbaby.com/m/cd/acetoneboogie
Also you can search highly Intalksickhated on Spotify and hear a lot of all our music on there, my soundcloud gets updated a lotwww.soundcloud.com/aicheye8989
My YouTube has funny shit YouTube.com/odeezy823(Be sure to check out my label mates pages as well
Facebook.com/9lilred9
Facebook.com/Illv.hi
Facebook.com/ImmortalAssassinsArizona
Facebook.com/solayzie951
Any special events coming up?
We’re doing a New Years show with the homies Scum and Insane Poetry on December 31st in Albuquerque, NM at The Jam Spot, I’m pretty excited about that. )
What was the first ICP song you ever heard?
Shit mr.johnson head
How many Gatherings have you attended?
Only two unfortunately , I know I know, lame
Do you have a favorite Gathering memory?
Well Shit, like the whole week is always my favorite memory, but there’s a few specifics like, walking around telling people to spank the monkey
Besides ICP, what is your favorite underground artist?
Twiztid, Dark Half, Twisted Insane, Cali G, Berner, J Stalin, Komatose, Grewsum, LiL ReD, Ill v, Immortal Assassins, Monstrosity , Smallz One, Miss Kisa (Ayee), Rittz, Brotha Lynch, Freddy Grimes, Axe Murda Boyz, Poisonous Logik, Mad Choppa, Legion, Uncle Phoenix The list goes on lol
Favorite Faygo flavor?
I’m gonna have to go with pineapple watermelon or jazzin blues berry
What does your mankini mean to you? Is it the start of a revolution?
I feel like this mankini IS the revolution , bringing sexy back slowly.
Batman vs. Superman who wins?
Is that even a question? Batman all day everyday! Obviously batman because he fucks different bitches and has 22 inch rims on his whip
As Reported on TMZ
One of The Game’s rivals is gonna need some stitches after getting KO’d outside a Miami Beach nightclub … by Game’s manager, according to witnesses.
The rapper’s name happens to be Stitches (appropriate) … and he’s had beef with Game for a few months now. Things boiled over in front of Story Nightclub Thursday night when Stitches couldn’t get in … he claims Game told security to block him.
Stitches waited outside — which he documented on social media — and when Game came out, it was on.
The video tells and shows the whole story. After Game’s manager, Wack 100, popped Stitches … it appears with one punch — cops showed up and tased Wack. Both Stitches and Wack got arrested.
This is Coffin Break Episode 26. On this episode of Coffin Break Blaze Ya Dead Homie talks about the sandwich conspiracy and Jared from Subway getting in trouble. What do you think?
About Blaze Ya Dead Homie:
Chris Rouleau, also known as Blaze Ya Dead Homie, is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. His stage persona is that of a reincarnated gang member killed in the late 1980s, and his lyrics derive from the hip hop styles of gangsta rap and horrorcore.
About Twiztid:
Twiztid is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. Formed in 1997, Twiztid is composed of Jamie Spaniolo and Paul Methric, who perform under the respective personas of the demented duo Jamie Madrox and Monoxide Child. Spaniolo and Methric are former members of the group House of Krazees.
Subscribe to the new Blaze Ya Dead Homie YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/official…
Visit http://twiztid-shop.com for all the wicked shit.
Visit http://blazeyadead1.com for more Blaze ya Dead Homie.
First the stale news, Shaggy 2 Dope will not be on the tour because he is having back surgery.
Now for a plethora of dope news. The tour will feature 20 minute performances by Young Wicked, Anybody Killa, Myzery, Big Hoodoo, Willie D of the Geto Boys, DJ CLAY, Bukshot, Razakel, and the first and only solo performances by VIOLENT J with hype man JUMPSTEADY !
There will also be 5 JCW matches. Sugar Slam will serve as the guest ring announcer.
Shout out to everyone in the chat, specially our homies at FLH for taking notes!