Out of all the EP's released by the I.C.P., this ranks as #1 on my list.
This concept EP is short, yet incredibly sweet. From the Carnival of Carnage era, this was easily my favorite EP following my favorite Joker's Card. Besides the dirt and grime of this early I.C.P. work, the contributions from mentor and Acid Rap Originator Esham The Unholy only make an excellent effort better.
'Chop! Chop!' featuring and produced by Esham is one of two of the Esham-laced gems. If you liked 'Taste' from C.O.C., you'll love this even more. Wicked lyrics with dark beats by E(even earning a censor, courtesy of I.C.P., when Esham raps "Into newborn baby's heads I drill".)
'17 Dead' remains one of my favorite of all-time I.C.P. songs, produced by Esham The Unholy at his studio in Detroit, The Hell's Doors. I love the old school, grimey production. The 17 reference is referring to how many people bought their previous effort, COC. Yup, the multi-millionare self-made pioneers of underground rap started their carrer out with 17 sales on the day of their debut as Insane Clown Posse.
With the help of local record store owner Alex Abiss(aka Double A), Violent J, Shaggy 2 Dope and Shagg's brother John started the label, Psychopathic Records.
By the time their debut was released, John Kickjazz was a rapper of the past. He was, for a minute or two, replaced by another local friend of I.C.P.'s, an underground Detroit MC, called Greez-E(Real name Eric). He only raps on 'In The Haughhh!', a pretty tight track. Soon after, Greez-E dropped the mic, left the music scene and got married.
The last track, 'Joke Ya Mind', was a stray from the norm and worked well. With dope production from none-other then Mike Clark, Violent J shines with good lyric writing. This song was later re-made into a much tighter, darker and updated version on J's brother Jumpsteady's debut EP, 'The Chaos Theory'.
From the comic book cover(drawn by Shaggy), to the concept, I love it. This is where I.C.P.'s anti-mainstream works began and continued up until Milenko, where I.C.P. actually got a little taste of success. If your a newer fan of I.C.P and just dig their newer stuff(Milenko and up) this may sound quite a bit different then what your used to hearing. I.C.P. were two nobodies hungry for attention and just hungry literally, which shows in their lyrics and overall sound. This is the I.C.P. that made me become a fan. I love the darker, older works much more then the newer stuff they've put out since Riddlebox(My favorites being C.O.C. and Ringmaster, specifically). If your more Hell's Pit then Shangri-La, this is for you!