New Twiztid article / interview from TheDailyTimes.com

Forget the Juggalo crown: Twiztid set out to do their own thing @ TheDailyTimes.com

Or, if you're lazy like me, check out the text from the article here:

Forget the Juggalo crown: Twiztid rappers set out to do their own thing

Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope — the controversial horrorcore rappers known as Insane Clown Posse — may have originated the Juggalo concept, but their protégés in Twiztid helped make it a way of life. These days, Jamie Spaniolo and Paul Methric — who go by the stage names Jamie Madrox and Monoxide Child, respectively — have left the Psycopathic Records fold to strike out on their own. But being a Juggalo isn’t a brand name exclusive to ICP, Methric told The Daily Times during a recent interview.

“The biggest misconception with Twiztid is that we’re just like ICP,” Methric said. “That’s the biggest misconception by every kid, every media outlet, every faction. We’re absolutely 100 percent different. Juggalo is just a word they came up with; we made it a movement.

“It’s like a mother and a father had 50 million kids, and the mother and the father amicably divorced. Sometimes some of the kids are going to be like, ‘(Forget) mom.’ Some of them are going to say, ‘(Forget) dad. You’re gonna have that, and we understand 100 percent.”

The same urban squalor of Detroit that spawned Insane Clown Posse was also the birthplace of Twiztid. Methric and Spaniolo were members of the rap trio House of Krazees before that group disbanded; a demo tape caught the attention of ICP, which signed the guys to Psychopathic Records. When ICP made the jump to Island Records, they took Spaniolo and Methric along for the ride; over the course of the next decade, the duo released more than a dozen albums that earned respect from the legion of fans who call themselves Juggalos.

The subject matter isn’t all that cerebral — mayhem, insanity, graphic violence and misogynistic sex are the calling cards of those artists who dwell in the Juggalo stable, and Spaniolo and Methric have proven themselves adept at delivering what fans want.

“The first thing we learned is that you’ve got 15 minutes to win people over,” Methric said. “We learned how to become performers, as opposed to just being some rappers on stage with 30 guys with towels. We learned how to portray the music in a way that’s absolutely believable, and we don’t rehearse to do that. The setlist puts itself together, and we go out and we do it.”

Like every rapper, the guys in Twiztid aren’t reticent to brag. Braggadocio is a cornerstone of hip-hop, but Methric pointed out that the difference between Twiztid and other rap groups is that he and Spaniolo have to go harder than their peers. After all, he added, it takes a certain type of individual to paint himself up like a sadistic clown and spit rhymes detailing graphic fantasies of dismemberment and madness.

“We don’t hide behind the makeup; that’s not what we’re doing,” he said. “It just makes us that much more awesomer to look at. Nobody wants to look at a couple of old white dudes on stage, and we look absolutely kick ass when we wear it. It just adds to it.”

Almost two years ago, the duo announced its departure from Psychopathic Records; since then, the pair have formed their own label — Majic Ninja Entertainment — and earlier this week, they released the first album from their own small-but-growing stable of artists: Blaze Ya Dead Homie’s “Gang Rags: Reborn.” The departure of Twiztid — which performs Saturday at The International in Knoxville — isn’t meant to be taken as a “falling out” with Insane Clown Posse, Methric added, but as the next chapter in the Twiztid saga.

“We have a brand we wanted to expand, and there was a feeling there that it seemed to be getting smaller and smaller,” he said. “Before it was just us stuck in a room by ourselves, it was best for everybody that we do our own thing. And those guys, they want to see Twiztid succeed too, regardless of where we go. It was like, ‘I love you; we love you; we all love each other. It sucks we can’t do this together, but it’s nothing personal.’ It has nothing to do with ICP and everything to do with Twiztid.”

In addition to running their own label, the guys are focusing on the next Twiztid release: “The Darkness,” scheduled to drop Jan. 27.

“This record will solidify that we are the kings of the wicked (stuff), that there’s nobody darker and nobody more demented,” Methric said. “We’re going to give you the wicked (stuff) the way it should be.”

And while Twiztid – like every act associated with Insane Clown Posse and the Juggalo lifestyle, which have become whipping boys (and girls) for critics of popular culture and music in recent years – has its fair share of detractors, Methric is confident that anyone who sees his band live will come away with a certain level of respect, if not outright allegiance.

“We don’t have a million dollar stage with all kinds of Faygo and blood; all we have is microphones and a partner,” he said. “If you take those bands and reduce them to what we do, they couldn’t hold a candle to what we do.

“I’ll challenge anybody who wants to bring it: Take away all your bells and whistles. We don’t bring a bunch of dumb (stuff); we bring a bunch of energy, and that’s what we want. At the end of the day, I want your soul.”