First Of All
I have been a big fan of ICP for 12 years now. I find a lot of entertainment, and dare I say, wisdom in their music. For better or worse, I’ve basically grown up with it. Suffice to say, I’ve defended them numerous times over the years, due to their status as the “Most Hated Band In The World”. Eventually, I stopped doing this as much because I realized that people just enjoy to hate things that they don’t understand.
In my opinion, Insane Clown Posse’s 2009 Release, “Bang Pow Boom” is nothing short of a masterpiece, and is easily in the top 3 albums of their career. With that said, the song “Miracles” happens to be my least favorite track on the album. I’m just not very fond of the beat or the chorus. Despite this though, I love the subject matter of the song, and have come to write this article in defense of it because the subject matter has come under attack on the blogosphere recently.
Why The Hate?
As usual, I don’t waste too much of my energy trying to understand the hatred that ICP attracts. To do so would invite too much negative energy into my life, and I don’t like to do that. I don’t expect everyone to like the same music that I do, or even to wrap their heads around the concepts that are presented in the music, but for the life of me, I just do not understand why so many people hate ICP on the level that they do.
The song “Miracles” is about how normal people overlook magical occurrences every day because they are used to them and no longer stop to think about them. They cite examples such as childbirth, music, and the very concept of life in general. The gist of the hate for “Miracles” seems to be based on the fact that people are criticisng ICP for asking “easy questions” in a track that is supposed to be profound.
Are The Insane Clown Posse “Stupid”?
This brings me to the first issue. A lot of people seem to genuinely think that Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope are unintelligent. My response to that is “No, they’re not”, but it really depends on your definition of “intelligent”. Both of them are High School dropouts who can’t spell very well. Shaggy 2 Dope isn’t the most articulate interview either. Not to mention that the general public seems to equate profanity with a lack of intelligence. Seeing as how ICP likes to season their music with hefty portions of profanity, a lot of people look down on them for this reason.
I believe that Violent J has an incredible mind, and if he had been properly educated, would have easily fit into the public’s idea of “intelligent”. I’ve read numerous articles and essays written by him, and he has, on many occasions, demonstrated aspects of critical thinking, logic, philosophy, and persuasive writing. He also holds an uncanny ability to tell stories, whether it is in the form of writing, public speaking, or in the form of song.
As for Shaggy, he’s what I would call as “Street Smart”. He has a lot of common sense, and a well defined belief structure. He tends to be the quiet one in interviews though for various reasons. One of those reason is simply because he isn’t as skilled about articulating his opinions as J is. Shaggy, however, is quite opinionated in his lyrics though, having the chance to think about them before recording them. And in this song, Shaggy opines several times on his thoughts about miracles.
“Fucking Magnets, How Do They Work?”
This has probably been the main reason that the song has been made fun of. This is one of Shaggy’s lines, which goes “Fucking magnets, how do they work? And I don’t wanna talk to a scientist, y’all motherfuckers lying and getting me pissed”
You may not realize this, but the EXACT same question (sans profanity) was brought up by a character in the Scott Adams book “God’s Debris”. If you’re not familiar with Scott Adams, he’s the author of the comic strip “Dilbert” and happens to be incredibly intelligent as a member of Mensa. And if you don’t know what Mensa is, then let me just put it this way… Scott Adams is way more intelligent than you are.
It happens to be a fact that there is no known substance that can block or insulate magnetic fields. This is not true for electricity. What’s more, you can not detect magnetic fields by themselves… you can only see the effects of the fields. Think about it, magnets are an unstoppable, invisible phenomenon that can literally move mass, and in which the causes are unknown by science. The only thing science has been able to do is show the EFFECTS of magnetism, not the cause. We, as the human race are unaware of what causes magnetism, and without magnetic fields, there would be no life on this planet. That’s why magnetism is considered to be a “miracle”.
.
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Are Scientists Lying?
If there’s one way to sum up this track, it’s that there’s a lot of interesting things to see and behold in this universe. We, as human beings, are all looking for the truth in our existance, and at this point, we are nothing short of CLUELESS. Despite what some people try to tell you, we have no idea about how this universe works, why we are here, or the causes for a lot of the things we see on a day to day basis.
However, a lot of people have clung to science in the same way that others have clung to religion. Scientists like to offer easy answers to hard questions in life. However, Science has failed to answer even some easy questions, and has glossed over the finer details of life in a frantic attempt to get their theories in textbooks.
Simply put… Yes, scientists are lying because they refuse to acknowledge that there are some things that they do not understand yet. They claim to know all of the answers, which puts them into the same category as organized religion.
Children
Moving along, Violent J made it a point to mention his little boy in this song. I don’t know if you realize this, but J happens to be SUPER proud to be a father. Years ago, he was told by a doctor that he had little chance of reproducing, mostly due to his health and the side effects of numerous prescription drugs. Now guess what? He has had two children with a lady that is still there for him.
There’s a reason that the phrase “Miracle of Childbirth” is a cliche. A lot of people feel that children are blessings and that they should be viewed as such. I would argue that anyone who has a problem with the lyrics “pure magic is the birth of my kids, I’ve seen shit that shock your eyelids,” and “shaggys little boys look just like shaggy and my little boy looks just like daddy” has never had any children, and simply doesn’t understand.
In a nutshell, the fact that J went on to have children was a miracle to him. He’s not saying that it’s a miracle that his son looks like him or questioning genetics. He’s simply proud to be a parent. Is this really even worth explaining further???
Is “Miracles” A New Direction?
Lastly, some people have commented that this song seems to be a new creative direction for ICP. Once again, this is said in total ignorance of the truth. In reality, ICP has been making songs like this for a LONG time. The first example was in 1993 with the song “Joke Ya Mind“.
It is true that “Miracles” happens to be the first time that they’d shown this side of themselves to the public in the form of a music video. This is mostly because they’ve usually shyed away from engaging the public with thought provoking material, and instead chose to speak to their fans on such a level. If the explosion of criticism for “Miracles” is any indicator, it’s easy to see why they’ve done this in the past. People simply refuse to believe that ICP is capable of saying anything profound or intelligent. That is, in a word, prejudice.
So, after 12 years of dealing with this prejudice, I grow weary of it. So here’s my summary: If you want to hate Insane Clown Posse, fine. Go ahead and hate them. If you want to dismiss their music and/or opinions simply because they wear face paint or their lack of formal education, then whatever. You’re the one who’s chosing to have a closed mind, and who’s choosing to make fun of two HIGHLY successful, self made, responsible parents, who are keeping their children fed and sheltered, who have bought their parents’ houses, and who have positively changed the lives of numerous juggalos that have come from broken homes. If there’s something ridiculous about that to you, then YOU’RE the one who’s stupid or ignorant, and you’re not worth MY time to debate with.
No doubt man fuck all the hate much mother fucking love ninjas/ninjettes
it’s sad man…people in this will will always hate what they do not understand. ignorance is bliss.
Now link this bitch to every hater ass site there is so they can get a taste
Truly a “Miracle” that they have career’s.
also
FUCKING MAGNETS
HOW DO THEY WORK??
Thanks twiztidjuggla, Spadizzle and Greengo. I appreciate the kind words.
As for Jeff Pine, it is no “Miracle” that ICP have careers. It’s called hard work. They’re too busy killing it in the real world to be participating in mindless internet memes like you are.
It’s also obvious that you didn’t even read the article. Ironic how you’re making fun of ICP for being ignorant, when you can’t even follow basic internet etiquette.
It’s a miracle people are still defending ICP.
I’m sorry, but were you hit on the head? You seem to be confusing creationism with science. No scientist claims to know everything or to have any sort of easy answer or solution, unless he is a creationist.
Science, true science, happily acknowledges that there are things that are not yet known in the universe, and has just as happily gone to work on trying to figure out what those particular things are, even if the research goes beyond their lifetime. They are not sloppy and do not look for the easy way out. Anyone who has done so is thrown out and his work is retracted. Just ask Dr. Andrew Wakefield.
I FED A FISH TO A PELICAN AT FRISCO BAY, HE TRIED TO EAT MY CELLPHONE. HE RAN AWAY.
Hey Trey,
That’s interesting. I had barely heard of ICP before the magnets meme, and I had a hard time understanding all the apparent contempt towards the song and the group. I’m glad to find some people to agree with
There is quite a lot of profanity in these lyrics, but it seems to me that some popular “songs” I can hear on the radio contain just as much profanity, and a lot less of wisdom. Sure, it’s not worded in a very subtle way, but it conveys its core ideas very clearly. And at least they don’t seem to take themselves too seriously.
Also, most of the critics focus on how dumb you have to be to believe “magnets are powered by magic”. The best explanation I know of describes magnetism as a consequence of plain electrostatic forces when applied to particles moving at relativistic speed. Magnetic fields would be nothing but an illusion, a mathematical tool that let us understand this behavior without having to wander into the strange land of relativity. Yes, I’m sure every 3rd grader can understand that, magnets are so simple, duh.
Now, if our ICP friends did drop out of high school, I may understand their mistrust of “scientists”; most of the science teachers I had during school lacked a deep understanding of anything beyond what was written in the book, the books often oversimplified things beyond the reasonable, and any embarassing questions would be met with disdain and dismissal.
The real scientists, however, are probably the first aware that our whole universe is a fucking amazing miracle, so to speak. Seeing the beauty in nature, in mathematics, in science, is a requirement to keep a sane mind.
Lastly, The religious debate is pointless, as science and religion deal with completely orthogonal questions. I do know a couple of (renewed) scientists who believe in a god (of course, it’s not your typical obscurantist, nonsensical mass religion).
I agree with the rest of your article but your entire “scientists are lying” paragraph is completely ignorant… nobody in the scientific community claims to have all the answers. But suggesting that we are clueless as to how the universe works… or that scientists have “glossed over the finer details of life in a frantic attempt to get their theories in textbooks”- pick any topic you think this applies to (even magnets!) and take a stroll through the scientific journals where these theories are published- see the exhaustive amount of research that goes into the most mundane of topics, and if you don’t agree with an assertion the scientist makes, they probably have a citation you can check and you can see the amount of research that has gone into that particular detail. If you spent some time trying to understand how something like magnets work in the way a physicist understands how magnets work, you’d begin to appreciate the world on a whole new level. It really adds to the profundity of these miracles in my opinion.
What a great resource!
The causes and effects of magnetism are easily understood.
The ICP should have watched this video before writing the lyrics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzqoxfkCozk
Also, I’ve never heard a single scientist claim that they understand everything. That kind of attitude simply does not exist among respectable scientists.
This post was literally music to me eyes, ya know why? i couldnt even hold it.,
i love ICP juggalette for life
I stumbled upon this post Googling the search terms ‘ICP’ and ‘unintelligent’ because I am writing a short article about people’s opinion of this for a school news. I apologise if I am a bit late to this thread.
Anyway, a little background, I am not a juggalo, but I do not hate ICP or Jjuggalos either. I am simply trying to so a brief journalistic study on why people are so polarised on this issue. Also, I am a member of Mensa, though I find this to be quite irrelevant to life. My high IQ still does not afford me the ability to do things like fix my own plumbing. IQ in the big scheme of things is not as weighty as people make it to be.
After a few days of research, I have come to form a few opinions about this that can be best described as neutral. Also, I should mention that I do not agree entirely with your post, but have come to make some concessions in my opinion of ICP.
1. They are not intelligent, but they are wise – Intelligence is not just the propensity for knowledge, but the actual possession of a wide range of knowledge (i.e. book smarts). In that respect, both the members of ICP would fail that requirement to be ‘intelligent’. However, wisdom is a completely different thing to intellect. Wisdom is the ability to rationalise your experiences into survival skills (street smarts), and ICP certainly have that considerable amounts. They definately have a good level of EQ is what I’m saying, just not IQ. Unfortunately for them, IQ is very directly related to math and science, whether theoretical or practical. It may be true that they have a considerable potential intellect, or not, who knows.
2. We know a great deal about magnets. Magnets, like gravity, can be explained to an atomic level by modern science. The effects can be visualised either through experimentation with small particles like iron shavings or noble gasses. The Aurora borealis for instance is a large scale visualisation, and the earth being a large electromagnet due to our molten iron core. That being said, I don’t think that was the point of the song ‘Miracles’. Many elitists enjoy picking on ICP and use that verse as an excuse. I don’t think that was the point of the verse at all. ICP were simply trying to make people aware of the ‘everyday miracles’. The wonders of things we just take for granted, but that keep us alive. E.g. not everyone knows how the internet works, but we expect it to be there everyday.
3. Science, like religion, is flawed because humans are flawed. Flaws are important, for without them, humans would never die and evolution cannot happen. As such, many scientists do have very closed opinions of things and will lie to protect their work. But any good scientist will tell you that the unknown should not be feared, but recognised and theorised. For this reason, I cannot support this particular verse about scientist lying. Humans lie, and scientists are humans. But to perpetuate a myth that science is bunk because some scientists have been known to lie or be wrong is simply knowledge phobia. Science actually allows for a lot of room to be wrong, disproven or superceeded, much more so than religion.
Ok ok, I’ll stop. I apologise but I’ve gotten quite passionate about this topic. My concluding opinion is that the band may not be intelligent, but they are definitely charismatic and self-aware. To what end their intelligence may or may not blossom, time will tell, but it certainly has not hindered them in becoming successful musicians. Magnets, scientists and other topics discussed in their song ‘miracles’ are completely irrelevant to the message they were trying to say. Ironically anyone who harps on and on about it is clearly missing the point of the song, thus proving ICP right in saying that people are too caught up with things to recognise the simple wonders of human progress. However, I do feel that their belittling science in the song not conducive to society in general, who will depend on science for a lot of our future medicines, technology and survival. This could more more poor word choice on their part (getting things to rhyme may mean taking some concessions on intent).
Nick
Thanks to everyone who left kind words.