Cincinnati area Insane Clown Posse fans won’t have a chance to see the Rap duo any time soon, but this week area Juggalos can experience half of ICP. Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J — who founded ICP in Detroit 30 years ago — are each on solo tours that will wind through different parts of America until Feb. 15, when the pair rejoins forces in New Orleans for a special Mardi Gras edition of its Juggalo Weekend fan fest.
That same day, the anticipated new ICP album Fearless Fred Fury (the “fourth jokers card of the second hand”) is being released. The duo’s individual tours are actually hitting some of the same cities/venues — hardcore Southwestern Ohio fans can catch Violent J (with Esham) in Dayton, Ohio at Oddbody’s on Jan. 25, then see Shaggy 2 Dope (with Ouija Macc) at the same club on Jan. 30. (UPDATE: Violent J abruptly canceled his tour over the weekend.)
Playing Harrison, Ohio's Blue Note this Thursday (Jan. 10), Shaggy released his third solo album, F.T.F.O.M.F. — which stands for “Fuck the Fuck Off Motherfucker,” obviously — on ICP’s Psychopathic Records in 2017. It topped the Billboard independent label chart when it was released and was Shaggy’s best-selling solo effort to date. It also received some relatively positive critical acclaim (relative in that ICP never gets a fair shake with critics) due to the rapper and DJ Clay’s creative co-production work on the album.
In a recent interview with Ann Arbor, Michigan’s Current, Shaggy (real name: Joseph Utsler) said that on his current tour he’ll be performing ICP material (though nothing from the new album) alongside his solo work. In the same interview, he also addressed an incident involving Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst, which put Shaggy in the music headlines in 2018. While a viral video appeared to show the rapper muffing a dropkick attempt on Durst as he performed, Shaggy says he was just messing around after telling his friends he’d dropkick Durst if he got close enough. Shaggy — who has participated in many pro-wrestling events over the years — says he did the move correctly, but it looked bad because an unaware Durst didn’t “sell” it like an actual pro wrestler would have.
“But straight up — if I really wanted to dropkick his ass off, he would’ve went flying ’cause he was not prepared for it whatsoever,” Shaggy added. “He had no idea it was coming.”
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Updated to reflect the news that Violent J abruptly canceled his solo tour.
