ROX-TV keeps rolling with more from the “Gathering of the Juggalos 21” coverage

(Author’s Note: By now you can guess how the lay out is if you’ve been reading along. I am trying my best to keep everything in sequential order but as you can imagine…four days at the Gathering of the Juggalos can bleed together like the wallpaper and carpet on some decent LSD. I will attempt to continue painting a picture of the experience but sometimes the wonderment and awe has a way of keeping every single detail and minute by minute description hard to account for. As I’ve said before, I’m a Los Drifter and drifting is what I do best.

Sometimes all the action was in the tent cities, other times on the stages, and even in the parking lots. I float…it’s what I tend to do, like a ship without a compass at times. The GOTJ literally has so much dope shit going on that seeing it all at once is impossible, like moving sand around in the desert. So I apologize up front for the time slips and scene bleeding.

If you were there you’d understand and if not, I hope you can imagine. There was a lot going on, so what I describe at times may seem like distant lands forming up on the horizon, slowly emerging from the fog. The images and experiences appear briefly before vanishing back into the smoke and another round of brain searing events float in. If I forget anyone or anything, please do not take it personal. As a writer, scene capturing is what I do, but this was like trying to memorize every image painted on the Sistine Chapel or every hieroglyphic in Giza)

Thursday 5:25pm

After checking out the homie Skitzo on the Clown Drip stage, we drifted back to the merch tents for awhile. There was shit going on everywhere. The sheer size of the place was finally coming into full view and I was adjusting to the awesome power and vibrations all around me. Rude Boy and DJ Carlito were hosting the “Flow Master Rap Battle” at the Luv Rising Stage.

It was a pure throw down for the rightful claim to the title “Top MC” and I was there to see it go down. The contestants had blocks of thirty seconds to prove that they were the fire and then they had to face judgement. Only the baddest two MC’s would remain, for a final showdown to leave one lone survivor as champion. The winner would receive a GOTJ Gold Plaque and three hundred dollars in cash, which could go along way in tent city or at the avenue of merch. The rappers could almost taste the sweet sweet victory and the final showdown was dripping with excitement. As I watched from the audience, the bell rung and the two fighters approached each other for one last epic battle.

Although I didn’t catch the winners name, the shorter cat pulled out a serious finale performance and K.O.’d his opponent. The Juggalos enjoyed the show and their applause and verbal participation just added to the excitement. A champion was crowned and it was on to the next sight and sound.

6:10 pm

It dawned on me that I hadn’t eaten a thing since I had arrived. I guess it was partially from the heat and the endless supply of moving parts, but by 6pm or so, I realized that I was in need of some nourishment. The main food area was just down the hill from the Luv Rising stage, so myself and Polk D of Project Born cruised down the hill to check on the eats.

 

There was a lot to choose from besides the basic Carnie food. Some places were jamming out pizzas and Stromboli’s, other joints had a large selection of BBQ, a few spots had the classic fried menu, and still others boasted delicious tacos. I usually don’t deviate to far from the basic staples and decided that it was time to eat some taco’s. I rolled up to the righteous taco spot and got in line behind a string of other hungry Juggalos.

In proper fashion, there was a giant bucket of Faygo on ice, so I grabbed a Red Pop and ordered three of their finest tacos. It was still hot out and sweat was dripping off my brow from time to time. I needed a cold drink and killed that Faygo in about three gulps. I’m normally not a big “water” fan, but I decided that the situation also called for plenty of H20. I didn’t want to “K” out before the weekend had a chance to stretch out, so hydrate was what I did.

After a few minutes my tacos arrived and I bypassed the standard “taco packets”, opting for the bottle of Frank’s Red Hot on the counter. I apologize to the Juggalos behind me that may have had the same idea, because I tipped 3/4ths of the bottle onto my tacos and dug in. I was careful not to get any of that “red sauce” (Red Hot and a little grease, intertwined to form that slow drip down the hand while chowing) on my Chucks, but it was close. I wasn’t ready to completely give up on my threads, at least not that early. The food was good and I would pay this little taco stand many visits over the coming days.

6:20 PM

As I ate my food, I checked out 9 Dead who were killing the Bedlam Stage. I was a little late to the set, but they were playing as hard as a coffin nail. The Juggalos were slamming around near the stage and things were good. 9 Dead is a tough crew from the East Coast. (ROX-TV will be featuring them in an exclusive interview in the coming days so look out for it on the website) They were heavy and I was impressed by their stage performance and energy. Although I am just getting turned onto these cats, I wouldn’t hesitate to see them again, wherever they played. Tough music for tough people. I added their video below because my phone just didn’t do them any justice. Check them out.

7:50pm

Well, I don’t know about you but I’m from the eighties….although technically I was 15 in 1995 (basically coming of age in the greatest decade of the last one hundred years) so I claim 90’s. It’s not so much when your born, its when you become a rebel that really matters and I caught the nineties like the lucky hippies caught the summer of love. Some people just luck out I guess. As far as I’m concerned without offending anyone, the early, mid, and late part of that decade offered some of the best music ever made (personal opinion skewed by direct involvement).

I remember being a short dog in the early part of the decade, and sometime around middle school Kid n Play dropped a movie called “House Party” (1990) and a follow up in 1991 called “House Party 2” (right). They were some of the industry cross overs, who started with rap and got in on the acting bit. I remember watching “House Party” at a sleepover and that it was funny. Their music had a fun, positive vibe type thing going on and I believe they played some of their music at our local roller skating places in Flint.

I do remember the Kid n Play “Kick step” dance which they had made their own. How could I miss out on a chance to see these guys? The answer is that I couldn’t. These guys were around when I was young and only a fool would miss a shot at memory lane. I made my way down to the front of the stage and sure enough, they were out there doing their thing. They didn’t sound bad and even did the classic kick step dance. They were entertaining and weren’t afraid to mix it up with the Juggalos with some witty humor and a little banter amongst themselves. It was fun, definitely unique for the setting, and they sounded good. I’m glad I walked down to check these guys out. 1990 WHAT!!!

8:50 pm

No Comment although I was at the Bedlam Stage for DJ Paul. It was….well….yeah.

9:50pm Vanilla Ice

Well, I suppose that this was in the same vein as Kid n Play, at least kind of. I don’t give a fuck what anyone says today…if you were alive in early nineties than you know who Vanilla Ice is. Much has been said over the years, some good and bad, but when a guy sells fifteen million records off one album worldwide that pretty much speaks for itself. I remember when this guy burst onto the scene and the “Ice Ice Baby” track was so fucking hot, it could have melted the sun.

The song was everywhere and liked by everyone. Facts are facts. He earned a place in music history with “Hooked” released in 1989 on Ichiban Records, but after some shuffling was officially released in 1990 as “To The Extreme” by SBK Records. Initially “Play that funky music” was released as a single and the B-side was “Ice Ice Baby”. Apparently a DJ played the B-side one night and it set off an atomic explosion around the world. After that, no one on the planet could escape the track, which says a lot considering we only had radio and tv back then. Anywhere you went, “Ice Ice Baby” was jamming.

Eventually his record label led him down the road to over-commercialism which I think hurt the overall message. The guy had a doll, a movie, and crazy ass outfits before it was all over. Shit, he also got fat paid for his trouble. He actually did another album that no one knows about called “Mind Blowin”. It was a radical departure from “To The Extreme”. I actually had a copy of this.

The dude had come back from the shiny parachute hammer pants and crazy hair cuts, and in 1993 was rocking dread locks and smoking dope. Go figure. I thought it was alright, but the damage from that first roll out was not to be overcome, at least not at that time. Roll em up!

Vanilla Ice is an icon and helped melt the barrier between white people and rap music in general, at least that’s how I see it. You have to remember that rap was disliked rather hard by a large portion of the country back then. I took a lot of shit for being a rap head in the early 90’s. The pushback was real and people didn’t like it. This was for the commercial stuff, the blowback for ICP back then was fucking ridiculous. You had to fight for the music sometimes and that is a fact. I was there and I remember. Know your history and no asshole can lie to you. History is powerful because whoever owns the past, also owns the present, and will probably dictate how the future will play out. Don’t sleep on history and don’t destroy it. It is important whether its ugly or not. If you lose the history, your a fucking rudderless ship in the ocean, destined to walk with zombie eyes for all time.

Eleven Something: The moment the Juggalos had been waiting for, I C fucking P!!!!

By now I had linked up with the West Coast Wicked Shit killer, my big homie HEXXX from the wicked west. Also kicking it was Project Born. We were posted up near the taco spot, taking it all in for posterity. The Bedlam stage was absolutely fucking packed and every Juggalo and Juggalette was in attendance.

The moment we had been waiting for was finally upon on. The Insane Clown Posse was set to take the stage and there was pure magic in the air. The hairs on my arms were standing up, as they always do when the music touches me or the vibrational energy is peaking. It was going to be glorious night for the Juggalo Culture and I was there to see it all go down.

As the intro started for Bizaar, with that dope ass radio broadcast jump off point, I was instantly flashed back to the drop of Bizaar Bizarre and my Juggalo life flashed before my very eyes. The years peeled away like a fading dream in the morning and then my heroes took the stage to deliver what we all know is history in action. It was spell binding. Thousands of Juggalos got into the moment and the place exploded with energy that has to be seen in the flesh to understand. It had begun…

To be continued…

Signing Off,

Mike Shepard

ROX-TV Head Writer

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