Brett Callwood from LAWeekly recently had the chance to interview Shaggy 2 Dope.
In this interview Shaggy discusses Fearless Fred Fury (which drops this Friday!!!), ICP evolving between albums, what to expect at the release party in LA and more.
You can check out the interview with Shaggy below.
Following two solo shows from Insane Clown Posse men Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope at the Whisky this month, the duo will join forces once more for an ICP record release party at the Regent Theater on Feb. 15, a celebration of new opus Fearless Fred Fury. We chatted with Shaggy about it all…
L.A. WEEKLY: The new Fearless Fred Fury album drops on Feb. 15 — are you excited for the fans to hear it?
SHAGGY 2 DOPE: We’ve been working on it for well over a year. It’s not the longest record it took us to record, but it’s definitely not the shortest. But this record, it was more nonstop. A lot of other records, we would be in the studio certain times, and this was just constant. Weekends and no days off. Not because we had to but because the creative drive was there. Just sitting around the house, sitting around anywhere, not working on it, just felt weird. We canceled some dates that we had and stuff like that, just because it didn’t make sense doing other things when we’re supposed to be finishing this record up. I’m not gonna say it took a long time, but this record here is something special. I can’t stop listening to it. Every time I hear it, it’s better than the last time, and I already loved it the second we recorded it. I’m super geeked, not just for juggalos to hear but the world in general. To me, it’s some other shit. And I can’t wait for everybody in the world to hear it.How did the group evolve between albums?
We evolve with every album we do, because we’re artists. We have a lot of people at meet-and-greets who tell us we need to make another record like The Great Milenko, but those records have already been made. If you try to make another record like that, what you’ll get is, “It’s all right but it sounds too much like The Great Milenko.” So I think our music is always evolving because we always evolve as artists. If we try sticking to the same formula, it comes out sounding somewhat different because we’re not the same people. I’m not an angry 20-year-old anymore, I’m a 44-year-old married father of five. I’ve got just as much drive to make music, but the drive is different.What can we expect from the set at the Regent?
Just the same old shit we’ve been doing, just elevated up. Our machine’s so well oiled that when we’re onstage now, it’s like science. Everything that’s done up there is done for a reason. We’re gonna turn it up a little extra hard for Fred.When the album’s out, what else do you have planned for 2019?
Tour, and more tour. Videos — the sky’s the limit. Hopefully we’ll hit Australia, Canada, the U.K. and, of course, the States. It’s gonna be a long year of touring. We like to get in the trenches and do a little bit of everything, so you never know when we’ll pop up. No rest this year?Do you have anybody new signed to Psychopathic Records that we should be checking out?
No, we’re not signing anybody right now. We’re too busy working on ICP. We ain’t stopping for shit.Insane Clown Posse play at 9 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 15, at the Regent Theater.
Faygoluvers Comments
kukluxklown
Comment posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 09:23 am GMT -5 at 9:23 am
SO APPARENTLY THERE IS A NEW DARK LOTUS RECORD IN THE WORKS FOR 2020
THIS ALBUM WILL BE OG LOTUS MEMBERS
ICP + ESHAM + MARZ
THIS ALBUM WILL BE ONLY ABOUT LOVE & LIGHT AND DENOUNCE ALL PREVIOUS BLACK MAGICK
SPELLS!
ALSO A NEW KILLJOY CLUB WILL FEATURE ICP ESHAM DJ PAUL COLD 187 & VICE
WOW THIS IS EPIC!!
Karacalla
Comment posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 03:41 pm GMT -5 at 3:41 pm
Lol, more from your super secret sources, which are now 0-3, guy.
‘Where’s the faygo’
Jor MF D
Comment posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 11:13 am GMT -5 at 11:13 am
Dude if they love FFF so much, makes me even more excited to hear it! Whoop motha fuckin whoop biiiitch!!! Lol
Jor MF D
Comment posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 11:19 am GMT -5 at 11:19 am
I agree with shaggy, if every album sounded the same then they wouldnt be as talented.. people like the way j sounds when he raps angry… and expect him to rap angry when he’s talking about he loves his brother or his mom wtf lol
Jake Jeckel
Comment posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 04:51 pm GMT -5 at 4:51 pm
Actually Karacalla, he did get the DJ Paul feature on Flip The Rat correct, so he gets a 1. But yeah, I haven’t heard Shaggy this excited about a Joker Card in a hot minute. But since they are going to announce the 5th Joker Card 8 times throughout FFF, it makes me wonder if they won’t be holed up in the studio between shows working on the next Joker Card, which I heard may be out in 2020. And if FFF lives up to the hype, I’d be psyched to see Str8Jaket and MEC co-produce the next album. But how long has J said they aren’t signing anybody and just focusing on ICP? As long as I can remember around the time TMDP! was released. And KKK, how is that when recently J said “fuck those guys. I can’t believe who they’ve turned into. I can’t even listen to DL anymore” (or something to that extent). And plus the OG Dark Lotus was ICP and Twiztid, listen to The Shaggy Show on TAJB, then they added Blaze like a year later. And TKC would be shit if they added Esham and or Cold 187. If they wanted to do what J had planned out for the group (a supergroup comprised of Juggalo favorites that have platinum status), then the only other person they’d add that’d make sense would be Vanilla Ice. ICP, DM6 & VI would interest me more than anybody else. But I think Ice would have to seriously change his schedule in order for that to happen, so who knows.
mikeysinder
Comment posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 06:13 pm GMT -5 at 6:13 pm
KKK is clearly an insane bastard, more so than me, who clearly just talks mountains of insane shit for seemingly no reason, just let him jabber. What makes you say they’re going to name drop the 2nd 5th Card on FFF like that? That’s dope if they are. I think over the past few years aswell as working on music they’ve also been distracted by rebuilding the Psy roster, (since they had that bad snake problem). Now that they’re happy with their roster again they can really only now focus FULL force on music.
Jake Jeckel
Comment posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 06:49 pm GMT -5 at 6:49 pm
Did you not watch the last WFW? Said it right there on the bottom of the screen. And that’s true, but still, when you say “we are just focusing on ICP and not signing anybody new, even if that means it’s just us left”, then you’re really not focusing on you as much as you say you are. But I think you’re right, they got a select few, and they seem satisfied, but they need to get DJ Paul back, or TDF and PJB, that’d be cool as shit in my book. Ik I’m one that’s driven this into the ground but they need to release that damn Vanilla Ice album, don’t do like what they’ve done with ABK and Shapeshifter his ass.
mikeysinder
Comment posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 07:29 pm GMT -5 at 7:29 pm
Hell yeah I watched it, funny as fuck, I guess I was too busy being entertained to read the shiz at the bottom, but I’m glad others were, fresh. I think when they say we’re just focusing on ICP they mean in the past (with Twiztid Blaze Boondox etc) they always had a hand in the creative process of their artists, like with their characters and some of the music, but with their new roster theyre very much just going to trust the individual artist to steer their own ship at Psy, while they purely focus on ICPs music, instead of ICPs and 4 other artists aswell. Only one that was stopping Shapeshifter coming out was ABK. I think a follow up Killjoy Club album is definitely in order RIP Koopsta
Jake Jeckel
Comment posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 08:15 pm GMT -5 at 8:15 pm
Yeah I was watching it and saw something about the 5th card and had to rewind it and rewatch it. But in that aspect your not really focusing on you, if your being hands on with your artists, see what I’m sayin? But yeah that’s what J has stated in the past, this is more of a learning point for the artists on Psychopathic. And I heard DJ Paul (I think) say something about a new album being in the works. And Killa can’t take all the blame. I know an artist that was signed to NWI and his manager was ABK’s manager as well that said PSY was just sitting on it after ABK turned it in, because it had production from people they don’t work with anymore, one being YW. So to me both sides fucked up. PSY for sitting on it and not putting it out after hyping it for 5 years, and Killa for sitting on it and saying it would be out on his label. I just hope it lives to the hype, and is as good as Killa believes it is. Soon this year we shall find out if all is true.
mikeysinder
Comment posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 08:54 pm GMT -5 at 8:54 pm
Just watched WFW again, That’s freshhh that they revealed the next card like that, almost wish it was a surprise. I’m saying they were hands on with their artists in the past, with the new roster they will be less hands on. And Killa can take all the blame, Psy doesn’t wanna work with little shits like Otis, and for good reason, so they don’t want Otis’ beats on a Psy product ever again, Abk had already admitted that he’d changed the beats like 3 times before making new ones with Otis, No reason why he couldn’t just change them again, or if he doesn’t want to do that he has his own label, release Shapeshifter on that however you want, so he could either remix the album or release it on NWI, but he didn’t do either for years and years.
Jake Jeckel
Comment posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 11:01 pm GMT -5 at 11:01 pm
To a degree it is a surprise. And yeah, but they do let their artists go and do their own thing after their debut album, except for Gang Rags, Blaze got the bone on that, but J & MEC came up with some dope shit. Asylum was all Hoodoo, Gutterwater was all Ouija (I’m almost 100% on that), and if it is, it’s the only release ICP wasn’t the “masterminds” behind everything. And yeah he did change them like 3 times, that is until he finally got what he wanted. He could change a song or 2 and maybe release a deluxe edition of the album with the songs PSY didn’t want to release through NWI. But ABK has the same problem that PSY does or did, with not paying people when they should, so that may not happen, who knows.
mikeysinder
Comment posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 11:36 pm GMT -5 at 11:36 pm
Don’t see how that’s a bone for Blaze, MEC is a straight up genius. I agree Asylum would have been all Hoodoo and Gutter water definitely all Ouija and I reckon Lytes new shit will be all Lyte. ABK and Psy have a problem with not paying people when they should? Please explain.
You must be logged in to post a comment.