“Juggalos are good,” Steve Albini says

Fans of Insane Clown Posse, aka Juggalos, have gotten a bad rap. They've been accused of being a "loosely organized hybrid gang" by the FBI (a designation they fought, marching on Washington, DC to protest, but were ultimately ruled against on), in addition to being mocked for years by others in the music world. One music icon who does have their back, however, is Steve Albini.

Responding to screencaps from Stereogum's 2020 interview with Violent J where they tackle homophobic statements the duo once made, Albini wrote, "This is absolutely model owning-your-shit behavior, and if a goddamn fucking Juggalo can manage it, a nine-figure podcaster can step the fuck up without whining."

"Yes, I'm saying the Juggalos are good," Albini continued. "A non-judgmental, inclusive community for people on the fringe, built on a beautiful communion they call "family." They remind me of punk/queer chosen families and I love them. I haven't heard much of the music, it's atrocious. Who cares."

"Less annoying than Deadheads by an order of magnitude," he went on. "Very few lawyers and CEOs for a start."

"A lot about the Juggalos is dumb/laughable. So what, your life isn't? Get over yourself. The part that matters to them, that they are there for each other in material ways other communities fail at, that's the whole thing."

Albini also recently took to Twitter to discuss his own "role in inspiring 'edgelord shit.'"

In the past, ICP have reissued merch showing a burning Confederate flag (referencing "Fuck Your Rebel Flag" from their 1992 album Carnival of Carnage), railed against accused rapist and predator Dahvie Vanity of Blood on the Dance Floor with To Catch a Predator's Chris Hansen, and argued against being compared to Trump and his ilk.

See (NSFW) pictures from the 2021 Gathering of the Juggalos below.

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