Violent J
Joseph Frank Bruce, known by his stage name Violent J, is an American rapper, record producer, professional wrestler, actor, and part of the hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse. He is a co-founder of the record label Psychopathic Records, with fellow ICP rapper Shaggy 2 Dope and their former manager, Alex Abbiss. Also along with Utsler, Bruce is the co-founder of the professional wrestling promotion Juggalo Championship Wrestling.
Early life
Bruce was born in Berkley, Michigan, as the last born of three children. His father, Richard Bruce, stole all of the family's money and left when Bruce was two years old. Joe's mother, Linda, was forced to care for him and his siblings, older brother Robert and younger sister Theresa, off the income she made as a janitor. At age seven, the brothers caught a butterfly, and both were fascinated by the vibrant colors and overall peacefulness of the creature. They kept the butterfly in a jar overnight, and intended to free it the following morning. When they awoke, the brothers found the butterfly had died, and felt as if they had committed a murder. The brothers made a vow that "one day, will make it to heaven, so that can apologize to that butterfly face-to-face." On every Insane Clown Posse album and EP it reads "Dedicated to the Butterfly".Bruce received all of his clothes from rummage sales, and his food from canned food drives held at his own school. After moving to Oak Park, Bruce met John Utsler, and his little brother Joey. He began his gang life by reluctantly getting involved in criminal activity in Royal Oak Township. Along with John and Joey, Bruce got heavily into rap music. In 1989, Bruce, as Jagged Joe, Joseph Utsler, as Kangol Joe, and John Utsler, as Master J, released the single titled "Party at the Top of the Hill" under the name of JJ Boys, but they did not pursue a serious career in music.
Bruce dropped out of school in ninth grade, and moved in with his friend, Rudy, in River Rouge. There he formed his own gang called Inner City Posse, which would terrorize people with Army-issued tear gas and steal car radios for money. One night, Joe's mother, who had just moved to Ferndale, had her house attacked by rival gang, Hazel Park Posse, from Hazel Park. Fearing for his mother's life, Joe fled to Bonnie Doone, North Carolina, a trailer park town just outside Fort Bragg, where his brother was staying with the U.S. Army. It was there that Bruce witnessed the open racism which would later emerge as the hate for bigots referenced in Insane Clown Posse's lyrics.
At seventeen, Joe returned to Ferndale. He was soon jailed, and the experience convinced him to get away from gang life. In 1989, after a short career in professional wrestling, Bruce and his friend Dale Miettinen Jr. recorded Intelligence and Violence on a karaoke machine, which marked the debut of Bruce's stage name Violent J. Joe bought his own karaoke machine and, along with Joey and John Utsler, formed the music group Inner City Posse, named after their gang. After the release of the album Bass-Ment Cuts, the group hired record store owner Alex Abbiss as their manager, and established the Psychopathic Records record label with him in 1991.
Musical career
Solo career (1989–present)
In 1989, Bruce recorded his first solo release, Enter the Ghetto Zone, using two cassette players. One played the beat, while the other recorded, and Bruce stuck his head between the two and rapped. In 2003, Bruce released his second solo release Wizard of the Hood, which was an extended reference to the "Wizard of the Hood" songs which he recorded on Inner City Posse's Intelligence and Violence and Dog Beats, and Insane Clown Posse's Carnival of Carnage. In 2009, Bruce released the LP The Shining, which was initially given away for free at the 2008 Gathering of the Juggalos before being nationally released. During ICP's GOTJ 2013 seminar J and Shaggy stated that they were wanting to do solo albums. On December 10, 2015, with the release of Phantom: X-tra Spooky EP two flyers were released. One for Shaggy 2 Dope's new solo album titled F.T.F.O.M.F. said to be released in 2016. The other flyer was for Violent J's new solo album titled Karma Forest said to be released in 2016.In 2023, Bruce collaborated on two tracks for the Saddle Up and Ride EP from alternative rock band The Lucid, composed of Sponge vocalist Vinnie Dombroski, guitarist Drew Fortier, former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, and Raven drummer Mike Heller. Bruce appears on the title track as well as a cover of Faith No More's "Epic" retitled as "Sweet Toof" featuring new lyrics written by Bruce and Dombroski.
Insane Clown Posse (1989–present)
In late 1991, Inner City Posse changed their style, look, and name. Bruce recalled a dream of a clown running around in Delray, which became the inspiration for the group's new name: Insane Clown Posse. Upon returning home that night, Bruce had a dream in which spirits in a traveling carnival appeared to him—an image that would become the basis for the Dark Carnival mythology detailed in the group's Joker's Cards series. These stories each offer a specific lesson designed to change the "evil ways" of listeners before "the end consumes us all." Insane Clown Posse has a dedicated following, often referred to by the group as Juggalos and Juggalettes.John Utsler left the group about a month before the release of Carnival of Carnage and Insane Clown Posse has since been composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the murderous, wicked clowns Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. The duo performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore, and is known for its dark, violent lyrics and elaborate live performances. Insane Clown Posse has earned two platinum and five gold albums. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the entire catalog of the group has sold 6.5 million units in the United States and Canada as of April 2007.
Golden Goldies (1995)
Golden Goldies was a comical group whose lyrics focused solely on gold. The group consisted of Psychopathic Record's employees and friends; Joseph Bruce, Joseph Utsler, Robert Bruce, Billy Bill, Alex Abbiss, Mike E. Clark, Rich Murrell, Frank Giammanco, Keith Jex, Josh Silverstein, Kelly Eubanks, Dave Fink the East Side G, and Matt Mackalantie. Their only LP, Gimme Them Fuckin' Nuggets Bitch, Or I'll Punch Your Fuckin' Face, was recorded in 1995 in a span of one week, and was not publicly released. Golden Goldies was a project put together by Insane Clown Posse for entertainment purposes only. To add more humor to the album, each artist was given only five minutes to write their verses, and had only one take to record them, which resulted in some artists messing up their lines, and lyrics containing "some very strange things." The group held only one live performance, which occurred at the record release party for Insane Clown Posse's Riddle Box.Dark Lotus (1998–2017)
Formed in 1998, Dark Lotus consisted of Bruce and Utsler of Insane Clown Posse, Jamie Spaniolo and Paul Methric of Twiztid, and Chris Rouleau. Each member was said to "act as a 'petal' of the lotus," and it was announced that there would be six members. After switching between two different "sixth members", Marz, and Anybody Killa, Dark Lotus decided to keep the group to only five. On January 19, 2017, via an interview with Faygoluvers, Insane Clown Posse announced that the group disbanded.Psychopathic Rydas (1999–2015)
Psychopathic Rydas formed in 1999, and consists of Psychopathic Records-associated rappers performing under alternate stage names in the style of mainstream gangsta rap. The group's current lineup consists of Bruce, Utsler, Methric, Spaniolo, Rouleau, Lowery and Hutto.Psychopathic Rydas reuses the beats of popular rappers within the genre without paying to license the original songs or requesting permission from copyright owners to use the music, effectively making their albums bootlegs and resulting in the releases becoming difficult to find in some markets.
Soopa Villainz (2002–2005)
Formed in 2002, Soopa Villainz consisted of Detroit rappers L.A.V.E.L., Bruce, Esham and Utsler. The group made appearances on Insane Clown Posse's The Wraith: Shangri-La and Esham's Acid Rain and Repentance before releasing their debut album, Furious, in 2005. Following Esham and Lavel's departure from Psychopathic Records in October 2005, the group disbanded.Style and influences
Bruce has cited the artists Esham, N.W.A, Ice Cube, Awesome Dre, Geto Boys, Gong, Pearl Jam, and Michael Jackson as influences on his music. Allmusic reviewer James Monger has referred to Bruce's style as an "onslaught of Midwest Dirty Rap."Professional wrestling career
Early career (1983–1986)
Bruce began wrestling alongside his friends Joseph and John Utsler. The three got involved in backyard wrestling, and created two backyard wrestling rings for their made up promotion Tag Team Wrestling, later renamed National All-Star Wrestling. The trio staged National All-Star Wrestling's first show, NAW Wrestling Extravaganza, in front of friends and family. Among others, the show featured Bruce wrestling under the moniker Darryl "Dropkick" Daniels, and Joey Utsler wrestling as both Rhino, and the masked NAW World Champion White Tiger. Bruce stopped wrestling after becoming involved in gang life and forming Inner City Posse.Independent circuit (1990, 1994–2004)
After being released from jail in 1990, Bruce decided to get away from gang life and start a career in professional wrestling. Bruce's friend, Rudy Hill, got him booked in a local wrestling promotion. Rudy had lied to the promoter by telling him that Bruce had been trained at the Chris Adams Wrestling School in Texas. At the event, Bruce met Rob Van Dam and Sabu, two other first-timers with whom he became very good friends. Bruce wrestled as Corporal Darryl Daniels, wearing a U.S. Army uniform that his brother had sent him while in the Gulf War, and had his first match against "Irish" Mickey Doyle at Azteca Hall in Southwest Detroit. Training alongside Rob Van Dam, Bruce went on to wrestle for Al Snow, including the event which featured the debut of Van Dam. After a short run in the business, Joe realized his dislike for the backstage politics, and decided to take up a career in music, taking the name Violent J.Bruce returned to wrestling in the independent circuit in 1994, under the name Hector Hatchet. He competed for Midwest Championship Wrestling throughout the next year, wrestling in between recording sessions and touring. From 1996 to 1998, Bruce was involved in a rivalry with Sewer Dwella in Insane Championship Wrestling. He continued to compete in several independent promotions for the next three years, including IWA Mid-South and NWA Mid American Wrestling.
In 2001, Bruce appeared in Xtreme Pro Wrestling at XPW Rapture to aid Utsler. After Bruce suffered a real-life injury from a sloppy clothesline, the duo left the company. On October 5, 2002, he and Utsler wrestled in Ring of Honor and defeated Oman Tortuga and Diablo Santiago. Bruce was later made a playable character in both Eidos Interactive's video games Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home and Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood as Violent J. To help promote the games, he competed in a series of matches for Backyard Wrestling in 2003 and 2004.