Issue #85: Insane Clown Posse – Forgotten Freshness Volumes 1 & 2

Released:  August 18th, 1998

Recorded:  1991 – 1998

Genre:  Hip-Hop, Horrorcore

Record Label:  Psychopathic / Island / PolyGram

Duration:  102:52

Producer:  Various

Personnel

Track Listing

Singles

Why Forgotten Freshness Volumes 1 & 2 is One of My Favorites

I don’t remember exactly when I first heard music from Insane Clown Posse (ICP), but I’m thinking it was probably around 1997 or ’98.  I don’t even remember how it really came about, but I do remember that I had 3 tracks available to stream through the old Real Audio player.  One of them is lost to time; the other 2 were “Dead Pumpkins” and “I Didn’t Mean to Kill Em.”  So this was the ICP I first got into and lived off of.  When it came time to track down a real CD, I had my eyes open for either one of those tracks, especially “I Didn’t Mean to Kill Em.”  I looked, and looked, and looked, and I never found it.

Eventually, I turned to what was, back then, the “new fangled internet,” with sites like CDNow.com, and I finally found not one but both tracks on a compilation called Forgotten Freshness Volumes 1 & 2.  Long story short, it was actually one of the first items I ever convinced my parents to buy me off of the internet.  I find it pretty weird that 2 of the 3 tracks I got into from ICP ended up on a collection of rarities, but that’s the way it was, and for a couple of years, Forgotten Freshness was how I got my ICP fix.

During this series, I’ve done my best to honor the album (and occasional EP) as an artform, and therefore I’ve tried to avoid compilations, minus the brief Volume 2.  As much as I like Queen or Billy Joel, including them on a list like this is a bit like cheating, especially since the majority of their work wasn’t even a product of the 90s.  But I do want to make an exception for Forgotten Freshness, mostly because Forgotten Freshness is itself an exception.

Most of the time sets of rarities, B-sides, and other non-album tracks are made available for the die hard fan who has to have everything.  They can be exciting in theory, but unless you’re really into the artist, it can quickly become clear why all these “rarities” were scattered around on soundtracks and overseas singles instead of landing spots on the album.  The idea behind this double CD set of Forgotten Freshness is essentially the same – the difference is that these tracks are great, maybe even some of ICP’s best.

I can appreciate ICP’s approach towards the Dark Carnival and all the concepts that they’ve continually interwoven in their music (even if it doesn’t always make sense), though the work here on Forgotten Freshness makes me wonder if they should’ve just cut loose more and not worried so much about the Joker’s Cards.  There’s an eclectic mix of styles and subjects spanning the two discs, featuring some of ICP’s “best” (read: funniest) lyrics.  Much of it isn’t nearly as rap oriented as the group’s first three albums and represents a more experimental side of the group that remains hidden when it comes to their earlier records.

“Hey, Vato” features the usual trashy lyrics about bitches and nutsacks, and also has a great hook backed by excellent production.  Eventually this would be reworked into the track “Wagon Wagon” on Ringmaster.  A remix of “Mr. Johnson’s Head” pops up as well, the original again found on Ringmaster.  Excellent use of synth and/or sampling (especially the weird piano/chime sounds) send this version ahead of the original and after all, haven’t we all had a teacher or two whose head we wanted to carry around in our bookbag?  Surprisingly, while humorous, it takes a somewhat serious look at the abysmally low self-esteem faced by under-privileged youths in the classroom.

Some of my favorite cuts were scrapped from Riddle Box – “Fat Sweaty Betty,” “I Didn’t Mean to Kill Em,” and “Willy Bubba.”  “Kill Em” was one of the first ICP songs I ever heard and still remains one of my favorites with its uptempo beat and great storytelling.  “Willy Bubba” has a laugh-out-loud call-and-response chorus with the strangely voiced teacher asking, “Who kicked Willy Bubba’s ass?” while the class answers “I did!” and on it goes.  The country flavored guitar and irreverent nature of the song are exactly what made ICP so great to begin with, especially before they started going on about magnets and God.

Other songs come from special Christmas and Hallowicked releases that were originally printed in limited numbers and sometimes only distributed locally in and around Detroit.  Halloween songs like “Dead Pumpkins” take the trickery associated with the night and turn it up to 11, while Christmas cuts like “Santa’s a Fat Bitch” are overt commentaries on how miserable holidays can be for the poor.  It’s all wrapped up in a vulgar package, but at least the guys are trying to make a point about how a holiday all about peace and love is remarkably tied to wealth.

The remaining tracks come from a variety of sources, including early releases and scrapped projects.  Shaggy 2 Dope’s solo project, Shaggs the Clown, never made it off the ground, but one song produced called “Southwest Strangla” demonstrates a possibly different sound that would’ve emerged as a result.  “Witching Hour” is classic ICP horrorcore, and “85 Bucks an Hour” is a hilarious freestyle with the members of labelmates Twiztid.  Perhaps the most notable inclusion is “Piggy Pie (Old School),” the original, unedited version of the track that appeared on The Great Milenko.  Of all companies, Disney ended up being the parent of Island Records, and they objected to all the cop-killing happening.  Not that it’s all that obvious, but the group apparently toned down the lyrics of the song as it appeared on Milenko, having restored it to its original version on Forgotten Freshness.

A few songs are weaker than others, but overall the quality of these non-album tracks is very impressive.  It might not be anyone’s first instinct to pick this up as a casual ICP fan, though I think it’s a collection that may appeal to non-hardcore Juggalos even more than some of the early albums due to its diversity.  It also offers up a great mix of what ICP was up to between 91 and 98 from the rawer sounds of “Dog Beats” (back when they were Inner City Posse) to the unique sound they carved out with songs like “Hokus Pokus” and “Piggy Pie.”  This may just be one of the best rarities compilations, in terms of how representative it is of the group’s sound, that I’ve ever listened to!

Written by The Cubist

Other albums from Insane Clown Posse in this series:

• 1997 – The Great Milenko – Issue #33
• 1999 – The Amazing Jeckel Brothers – Issue #86

Back to The Cubist’s 90’s Albums

Written by The Cubist

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