The new edition of the Hatchet Herald is out today, and consists of a variety of topics!

Covered in today’s edition are:

• upcoming vinyl releases
• solo tours
• Juggalo Weekend
• Charity event for Rude Boy (Feb. 24th)
• upcoming games
• Announcement of the last U.S. Riddle Box show
• VJ and Rudy Boy working on a track called “The Kids Song”
• Interview with Rude Boy
• and much more

You can check out the full Hatchet Herald below.

Juggalos…HOW THA FUCK ARE YA!???!?!? This is your pal J-Webb with one of the last Hatchet Heralds of the year. I can’t believe that 2016 is nearly done because it went by so fuckin’ fast. On the other hand, I can’t WAIT for this year to be archived in the past because outside of the Juggalo world, 2016 suuuuucked skiffilofigus-ridden dick. Not only did three of my all-time favorite singers pass away – David Bowie, Prince, and Leonard Cohen – but it seemed like there was just a constant feeling of dread in the air at all times. Everyone was angry about the presidential election, people kept seeing so called “killer clowns” everywhere (the only good thing to come out of that whole thing was that my homie Violent J got asked to write an article about it for TIME magazine. You can read it here: http://time.com/4521464/insane-clown-posse-killer-clowns/ ), it was just a year of general staleness…EXCEPT…IN THE JUGGALO WORLD!!! Gathering 17 will go down as one of the happiest experiences of my life because the Juggalo family love there was SO THICK. Much love to the hot Juggalette mom who let me squeeze her titties and rub them in my face when she saw I was looking haggard and tired at the wristband table. Wherever you are, ‘Lette, thank you! Thank you to all the ninjas who gave me mad karma by just coming up and giving me a hug. It was just the best feeling in the world. Even the New York-fucking Times wrote a big ass story about Gathering 17, giving it props for standing out as THE REAL DEAL in a world of fake ass, corporate dick-sucking festivals that pretty much only exist to make money. Violent J’s dope ass audiobook got released; remember—you can download it instantly on iTunes and Amazon or buy the dope ass action figure-style USB drive on Hatchet Gear. Jumpsteady’s Juggalo-approved and critically-acclaimed deckbuilding game “Enter the Echoside” took the gaming world by storm (stay tuned for the game’s first expansion set “Oracle of the Three Rings” soon, as well as the long-awaited, irreverent-as-fuck party game….JUGGALOS AGAINST HUMANTITY, coming sooner than you think, directly from the genius that is Jumpsteady).

And we ended 2016 with the launch of our upcoming line of dope ass vinyl reissues of classic Juggalo albums with the OG version of “A Carnival Christmas.” Our next entry in the Waxworks series (yup, that’s what we’re calling it) will be the remastered version of both the regular AND the XXX-rated version of “Tunnel of Love,” which drops just before Valentine’s Day on Friday, February 3. The regular version of the album contains a SICK looking picture disc and the XXX-version has Shaggy’s wang out in all of its glory on the cover, which will make this VERY hard to find in record stores and we’re only pressing 1000 units, making this an INSTANT collectable. Some day, perhaps at a Gathering seminar, I’ll tell you the story of what it took to make the XXX-version happen. Did you know that most record manufacturers are too wussy to print “pornography?” Dumbasses.

So as of right now, I’m putting 2016 behind us here at the Hatchet. We had a BOMB ASS year with many dope new products to keep our Juggalo fam entertained, one of the best Gatherings ever, and two of the hypest tours in recent Juggalo history: The Riddle Box tour and ICP’s first tour of Canada in over 12 years!!! But now, it’s time to look ahead to what it is perhaps THE BIGGEST YEAR EVER IN PSYCHOPATHIC HISTORY. The Year of the Juggalo. The year where a hurricane of diamonds will be sweeping across the Juggalo nation, the year with the number of the Juggalo sacrament: 2017!!!

First, we’re igniting the powder keg that will be The Year of the Juggalo RIGHT AFTER THE YEAR BEGINS! While millions of people around the world are recovering from there New Year’s hangovers, we at the Hatchet will be delivering A BRAND NEW PSYCHOPATHIC PSYPHER FEATURING THE ENTIRE CURRENT HATCHET FAMILY ROSTER! There’s been a LOT of speculation about who our NEW ARTIST is and shortly after the beginning of the Year of the Juggalo, in the dope new Psypher—called “If We Were A Gang”—you will be schooled on who is currently running with the Hatchet. We will also be dropping a new DOPE ASS INFORMERCIAL OFFICIALLY WELCOMING EVERYONE TO THE YEAR OF THE JUGGALO.

Also on New Year’s Day we’ll also be launchingwww.juggalomarch.com, which provides a big overview as to WHY we’re marching and WHY WE NEED EVERY JUGGALO AND AMERICAN WHO CARES ABOUT FREEDOM AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS TO BE THERE! Like we do with the Gathering of the Juggalos website every year (Quick note: DON’T FORGET WE’RE DOING OUR VERY FIRST WEST COAST GATHERING OF THE JUGGALOS IN 2017! STAY TUNED FOR A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT SOON!), more info will be added bit by bit, such as what hotels to stay at and shit, but the site will tell you all the important info you need to understand WHY we’re marching, WHERE we are marching, and you’ll even meet some of the people who have been personally affected by the FBI’s gang labeling. So on New Year’s Day, put down the champagne flute for a minute to check out all the dope freshness at www.juggalomarch.com as The Year of the Juggalo begins.

Oh, real quick. We’ve plugged these before but it’s a gentle reminder: Hopefully we’ll see many of you next weekend at Pop’s in Sauget, IL for our first non-Detroit Big Ballas Annual Christmas Party (get tix here: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=6952725&REFID=clientsite) and for you Denver Los, be sure and check out Big Hoodoo’s Green Tree Christmas Party on Tuesday, Dec. 20 (tix here: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1390139?_ga=1.143104181.1090168485.1480532271&__utma=1.9869664.1480532271.1480532271.1480532271.1&__utmb=1.1.10.1480532271&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1480532271.1.1.utmcsr=google|utmccn=(organic)|utmcmd=organic|utm)

Once the Year of the Juggalo is in full effect, those road dogs named Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope are gearing up to hit the road to come entertain the Juggalo family. This time, though, it’s gonna be just a LIIIIIIIIIIITTLE bit different. ICP is still hitting road, but this time with a twist. And that twist is called ICP’s Short Solo Sideshow Spectacular Tour.

Let me explain.

J and Shaggs are each embarking on a short solo tour, playing the same cities and venues days apart. Make sense. So, say you go see Violent J’s solo show at your nearest venue one week. About a week later, tha Southwest Strangla himself, Shaggy 2 Dope will be performing a solo set at that same venue. Dig? Here are the dates for the Short Solo Sideshow Spectacular Tour, which are also available in the tour section of Insaneclownposse.com.

LOUISVILLE

Violent J — Monday, Feb. 13 @ Diamond Pub Concert Hall: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?eventId=7038695&pl=harper&dispatch=loadSelectionData

Shaggy 2 Dope — Thursday, Feb. 23 @ Diamond Pub Concert Hall: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?eventId=7038705&pl=harper&dispatch=loadSelectionData

CHAPEL HILL, NC

Shaggy 2 Dope — Wed., Feb. 15 @ Local 506: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1389178

Violent J — Tuesday, Feb 21 @ Local 506: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1389187

CLEVELAND

Shaggy 2 Dope — Monday, Feb. 13 @ Agora Ballroom: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?eventId=7039065&pl=agora&dispatch=loadSelectionData

Violent J — Thursday, Feb. 23 @ Agora Ballroom: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?eventId=7039075&pl=agora&dispatch=loadSelectionData

BIRMINGHAM

Violent J– Tuesday February 14 @ Zydeco: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1389565

Shaggy 2 Dope — Wednesday, February 22 @ Zydeco: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1389605

ATLANTA

Shaggy 2 Dope — Thursday, February 16 @ Masquerade: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E005176D1474E73

Violent J — Monday, February 20 @ Masquerade: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E005176D25E4FC3

COLUMBUS

Shaggy 2 Dope — Tuesday, February 14 @ Alrosa Villa: http://www1.ticketmaster.com/shaggy2dope-of-insane-clown-posse-columbus-ohio-02-14-2017/event/05005176B984361A

Violent J – Wednesday, February 22 @ Alrosa Villa: http://www1.ticketmaster.com/event/05005176BA813691?clickid=3uRSX90SlREHz3-0z4xFXS1YUkkQga3VMUqbTY0&camefrom=CFC_BUYAT_258042&impradid=258042&REFERRAL_ID=tmfeedbuyat258042&wt.mc_id=aff_BUYAT_258042&utm_source=258042-Eventful&impradname=Eventful&utm_medium

In between those sporadic solo dates, ICP and their homies Twiztid, Blaze and others will all meet up in St. Petersburg, Florida on February 17 and 18 for JUGGALO WEEKEND 2017! The first night will be a double-headliner with sets from both Twiztid and the Southwest Strangla himself…SHAGGY 2 DOPE! The second day concludes with an ultra-rare performance from Dark Lotus perfoming—for the first time EVER in its entirety—“Tales From the Lotus Pod!” And don’t forget—there will be a special Juggalo Weekend 2017 commemorative copy of the two-disc, 180-gram vinyl version of “Tales From the Lotus Pod” for sale at the merch stand that weekend…with only 500 numbered copies available!!

And don’t forget…this two-day event will include one of the FRESHEST meet-n-greet packages ever put together! For the first time ever…a DARK LOTUS MEET-N-GREET!! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet the mysterious and mystical Dark Lotus up close and in person! The VIP package for this exclusive event includes all of the following:

1. PRE-SHOW MEET AND GREET with DARK LOTUS – VIOLENT J, SHAGGY 2 DOPE, BLAZE, MADROX and MONOXIDE … all together

2. Juggalo Day 2017 DARK LOTUS VIP PASS (will be given to you at the show)

3. Juggalo Day 2017 DARK LOTUS VIP POSTER

4. DARK LOTUS HAT PIN

5. DARK LOTUS Die Cut Sticker

6. DARK LOTUS VIP Draw String Bag

7. DARK LOTUS 12×12 Double Sided Flat

Purchase your Dark Lotus VIP experience here:http://www.twiztid-shop.com/Juggalo-Day-Dark-Lotus-VIP-Package_p_1301.html

And you can get your Juggalo Weekend 2017 tickets here:

Juggalo Weekend 2017—Day 1:https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1342679?utm_medium=bks

Juggalo Weekend 2017—Day 2:

https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1342683?utm_medium=bks

Following that explosion of flavor, ICP will be making a quick detour to Jacksonville, Florida to perform the Riddle Box Show that they were forced to cancel due to the stupid fucking hurricane two months ago. So if you got the bone last time, you can catch the Clowns at Limes in Jacksonville on February 19! And you can grab those tickets here, friends:https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1381531

 

And finally, this whirlwind frenzy of touring comes to a stop with a show that you cannot AFFORD to miss, because THIS IS LITERALLY A CONCERT OF HISTORICAL PROPORTIONS! On February 25, ICP will perform—FOR THE VERY LAST FUCKING TIME IN THE UNITED STATES … THE ALMIGHTY RIDDLE BOX SHOW!!! After two legs of touring and celebrating the 20^thanniversary of the powerful 3^rdJoker’s Card, ICP will perform “Riddle Box” from start to finish…for the very last time in America. No tricks, no fooling, no bullshit—this will be the VERY LAST RIDDLE BOX SHOW ON AMERICAN SOIL! It’s certain to be an emotional night with both tears and Faygo flowing like blood from Cactus Sac’s head…but all good things must come to an end. And thus will end the Riddle Box Tour in these United States. Forever. Tickets for this will also go on sale this Monday, December at insaneclownposse.com and psychopathicrecords.com.

As many of you may know, ICP’s longtime friend, homie, and JCW wrestling icon the Rude Boy recently underwent triple bypass heart surgery. He’s in a lot of pain and suffering but is taking it day by day and is definitely on the road to recovery. However, as anyone who has ever had to endure the staleness of staying in a hospital for several days can tell you, THAT SHIT IS EXPENSIVE! And that’s why on February 24 at the Majestic, ICP will be presenting The Rude Boy Benefit Show WITH ALL PROCEEDS BEING DONATED TO HELP PAY FOR RUDE BOY’S MEDICAL EXPENSES! This is the only show where you’ll able to see both Violent J and Shaggy do full separate sets at the same place. There will be several special guest performers including Zug Izland, DJ Clay and a full JCW show as well. Tickets for this very special and emotional show will be on sale this Monday, December 12 at insaneclownposse.com and psychopathicrecords.com.

There will also be a separate fundraiser for Rude Boy this Saturday, December 10 at the Diesel Lounge in Chesterfield Township, with performances from Bake Lo, that sick fuck Keegan the Creep Ass, 10/31, Razor Ray of Motown Rage fame and many more! And there will be wrestling sports entertainment from almost every independent wrestling promotion in Michigan (more info on this event is discussed below. Keep reading!). Members of the Psychopathic Family will also be in the house showing support. Diesel Concerts, 33151 23 Mile, Chesterfield, MI. 5 p.m. – 1 a.m. $10 suggested donation.

And today, as I wrap up the Hatchet Herald, the Rude Boy is actually here at Psychopathic Headquarters working on a project with Violent J—the first song they’ve recorded together since the much beloved “The Mom Song” from the early 2000s. As Violent J and Str8Jacket got the track ready for laying down vocals, I sat down with the Rude Boy to find out about his recent heart problems and brush with mortality…and about this new and exciting project that he and Violent J are collaborating on.

Thanks for sitting down with me, Rude Boy. I think the most logical place to start would to ask when you first realized you were having heart problems?

Well, I actually can’t tell you when exactly the heart attack happened. What I can tell you is that a week after Gathering 17, I was out mowing the lawn and I felt a weird chest pain. I didn’t think nothing of it at first but I went to my doctor a week later and told him what happened and he put me on an EKG to check everything out and that actually turned out OK. Then a few months later, I was back in his office because I was still experiencing chest pain. So he put me back on the EKG and he immediately told me to see a cardiologist because he told me “You’ve had a heart attack sometime over the last few months. We can’t pinpoint when, but you’ve had this heart attack.” Within four days of diagnosing me, they went in through the artery of my right arm with a camera and stints in the hope that they could just opening up my arteries. Unfortunately, when they came out they told me, “Look, you need a triple bypass. Now.” Two days later I was put into intensive care for the surgery and during the process there were two times that my heart stopped beating—I actually died. They had to shock me back and unfortunately they weren’t able to finish the job when they were in my chest, so on the 14^th of this month I have to go and get another stint. My heart took too much trauma that day I had my first surgery and they just had to stop. They just couldn’t go on at that time.

When you came to after that surgery and the doctors told you that you had actually died twice on the operating table, what went through your mind?

Well, the first thing I wondered was “Where did these bruises on my chest come from?” And it turned out those were from the paddles they had to use to shock me back to life. I was like “You kidding me?” I couldn’t believe it because when you’re under those type of anesthetics and you wake up, it feels like only 10 minutes have passed. Little did I know it was 9 hours. But the first thing I thought was “Wow. I obviously still have a purpose here on Earth. There’s still some reason I’m alive.” I thanked God and I looked up and I saw my family crammed around the hospital room and my cell phone was just blowing up from everyone on tour—Joe, Joey, Carlito, just everyone. That’s one of those surreal moments where you realize you take life for granted sometimes and now I smell the roses a whole different way.

Let’s be clear here. This wasn’t just a brush with death—you literally died. Twice. How has this brush with mortality changed you both spiritually and emotionally?

I’ve always proclaimed that I’m a born-again Christian, so if death happens, I’m not worried. I know where I’m going. Of course, I don’t want to die; I have family who depends on me. Not just family but the different civic and community organizations that I help, especially during the holidays. This year we weren’t able to do much because of my recovery. Walking into Psychopathic Records two weeks after surgery and seeing everybody was just…man, again, sometimes you just take things for granted. And one of the biggest things that meant so much is that even though Violent J was on the great Riddle Box Tour at the time this went, he was immediately blowing up everyone in my family’s phones because he knew the severity of this. I’m not preaching or anything but the reason why I’m alive—and the doctors told me this—is because I’ve never smoked. They said “Your lungs are strong, man!” So my message to everyone is don’t let what I had to go through be in vain.

That leads me directly into my next question. You’re still a young guy. What exactly led to your heart problems at such a young age?

Well, unfortunately, both my parents died of heart disease. My mother not only had heart attacks but she also had a stroke, and my father, believe it or not survived 11 heart attacks and three open heart surgeries. But you’re talking about people who grew up in a different time. My parents were both smokers and ate every fried food you could think of. Fortunately for us in our generation, we’re educated a lot more about health so we can live longer if that’s the way the ball bounces.

Now you’re here at Psychopathic Records today working on a special project with Violent J. Can you tell me about that?

Oh yeah. For many years, people have been talking to us over and over about “The Mom Song.” To be honest with you, it’s one of the things I’m most proud of that I’ve ever done at Psychopathic. There we were in Albuquerque, New Mexico and we were wondering what we could get our mothers for Mother’s Day. You can buy your mom anything but Joe and I were on the bus and we said to each other “Hey, man, let’s write a song!” We found a studio and later we presented the song to our mom’s and that was such an incredible day because the song was so heartfelt. When we released it, we just said, “Well, let’s just put it out there and see what kind of response it gets.” And holy shit, the response was just overwhelming. People just had this intense love it. People were talking about how they played it at their mom’s funeral, or played it during the mother-son dance at their wedding. So since we realized that song so many years ago, we’ve always been asked “Why don’t you do more songs together?” That and “Why don’t you perform it live?” But throughout this ordeal I’m going through, Joe came up to me and said, “Rudy, why don’t we get back in the studio? Let’s do what we do, man. Let’s just get in there and school it.” And then he said “We’d like to release this on Psychopathic and we’d like to give you and your family all of the proceeds.” Because when you go through open-heart surgery, you’re out of commission for at least 4-6 months; I don’t care who you are. When you’re trying to walk upstairs and you can’t breathe, that’s a reality check right there. You just can’t go out and earn money. So he came up with this great idea and that’s what I’m doing here today.

I understand that the new song you’re working on with Violent J today is called “The Kids Song.” Can you tell me more about it?

Right. First we put out “The Mom Song” and now it’s “The Kids Song.” It’s a positivity song. We’re both parents of great children and since we honored our moms and dads in “The Mom Song,” we’re doing this for our children. It’s something we can leave for them where we’re dead and gone. One of the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of in my lifetime was that “Backyard Wrestling” video game because no matter where I go in my lifetime, I’ll always be immortalized in that game. And it’s the same thing with this music. So we’re excited about this and I’m confident that it’s gonna be really cool. I know one thing: Love it or hate it, there’s a genius right now working on that song downstairs in the studio and sometimes you get blessed enough to be in the studio with that genius.

I understand the plan is to release both “The Mom Song” and “The Kids Song” on a limited edition CD, have both you and Violent J sign it, and then all the proceeds will go to you and your family during this financially hard time.

Yes, I’m very humbled by it and very thankful. I have to record it today because next Wednesday I have to go back into surgery to get that last stint and then the recovery has to start all over again. But let me clear on this—this is not a pity party for Rudy Hill. I am so blessed to be sitting here across from you talking about this.

Violent J has told many stories over the years about growing up with the Rude Boy and one he mentioned to me this morning that I’d love to hear you elaborate on is that you were the one who introduced him to the infamous Zug Island on the Detroit River.

Absolutely. Joe would stay the night at my house and every night from them pouring the steel on Zug Island mixed with all that toxic waste and pollution it would light up the sky at midnight. It was so bright it was like daytime. And it still goes on to this day—every night at midnight on Zug Island, there’s this explosion of light in the sky. You could see the Detroit River from my house and we were up in my room just chilling and listening to some music and all of a sudden Joe was like “What the fuck?!” because there was this giant bright light coming out of Zug Island. And I was immune to it because I’d seen it 100 times and he’s like “What is that?!” I told him that was Zug Island and he got all excited and wanted to know everything about it, so that night we walked to it—it was about a mile away—and as we got closer and closer, the security started to bum rush us so we were like “Holy shit! There’s some serious stuff going on in there.” Later, there were a few times we actually made it over there and I’m sure some of those toxins are in my body right now.

In conclusion I want to talk about these upcoming fundraisers for you and your family. I understand that the first one is tomorrow night (Saturday, December 10) at the Diesel Lounge. Can you tell me about that?

It’s been put together by a group called NFG Promotions and Management and they came to me and said “Hey, man, we’ve seen what you’ve done for so many people in Detroit throughout the years, so now it’s time to give back to you, Rudy.” They got together some great artists and all of the major independent wrestling promotions in Michigan, who all hate each other. But for real, they put aside their differences and they all came together for Rude Boy. And that is unheard of; were talking about promoters who hate one another saying “We’re gonna send our guys out to help the Rude Boy” because of what I’ve done in the past. I’m so humbled by that. And here’s the thing—I’ve never asked for anything in return; giving should only be done for the sake of giving. To have all these people pull together for me is just so humbling. There’s many times where I’m sitting at home looking at a stack of bills going “What am I going to do, man? I’m the breadwinner.” I was talking to my doctor after I got out of surgery and he told me “You’re gonna go through depression,” and I was like “Yeah, right” because I’m a positive person. But I’ll be damned—I’m going through depression now. But tomorrow at the Diesel is going to be amazing. The guys from Critical Bill said “You have to have the party at the Diesel” and I want to send a very special thank you to those guys; they have hearts of gold. Keegan, the Juggalo comedian, will be hosting the event. DJ Clay, who I actually brought to Psychopathic Records. Razor Ray from Motown Rage will be there and many more including an ‘80s hair band tribute called Whiskey A-Go-Go, and you know how much I love music from the ‘80s. The suggestion donation is $10 but if you only have $5 or $1, come down. It doesn’t matter. Every little bit helps and I’m so thankful. One thing I have to say—there were some naysayers who were wondering why this fundraiser was announced before anything Psychopathic announced. Well, that’s because they were still on the Riddle Box Tour when shit went down and because they were still planning and organizing the event in February by the time this first one came up.

So let’s conclude on that note and talk about the big fundraiser ICP is presenting in February on you and your family’s behalf at the Majestic.

I’m so thankful for that. I still don’t know all the details about it but I just that Joe came up to me and just said, “Rudy, man, you know we’re putting one down for you.” And I’m humbled and thankful for everything. Everything. I know that people care for me and the thing that’s most amazing is when you’re hurting and people come to you and say, “Rudy, we got you, man. We got you.” And this straight out of Joe Bruce’s mouth: “You know what you gotta do, Rudy? You need to just recover. Because we need you for those Gatherings. We need you for that Juggalo March. You’ve got to be there hosting stages at the Gathering. You gotta be at Juggalo Day. These are important things that we created!” And one of the heartfelt things that Shaggy said to me was “It wouldn’t be the same without you.” And you know, if seems like such an easy phrase that you can just blow off but it means a lot to me. It’s heartfelt. And it feels amazing, man.

Wow. I can’t think of a better and more powerful ending to a Hatchet Herald than that so I’m just gonna get out of here now. Please keep Rudy in your prayers and try to attend his fundraiser this Saturday at the Diesel Lounge. I will see you there!

With Juggalo Family Love,

J-Webb

Websites:

• insaneclownposse.com