Aging Underground Rappers – Who’s Still Got It?

It’s generally agreed upon that hip hop was born in the mid 1970s. That means, under the presumption that most groundbreaking MCs in those days were in there 20s and 30s, that the oldest underground rappers that were part of the hip hop revolution are still around. But underground rappers didn’t necessarily isolate themselves from “mainstream” rappers until later in the century, so for this article let’s believe that separation to begin sometime during the mid to late ’80s.

Where were Insane Clown Posse founding icons Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler during the time period that “underground” rappers begin to make a name for themselves? Right in the thick of it.

Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler were unique however, in many ways. For one they did not associate with any of the territorial pissings the rest of the country’s underground rappers did. East coast underground rappers like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest, west coast underground rappers like Jurassic 5 and Del Tha Funky Homosapien, and southern underground rappers like still-prevalent Outkast all took pride in their neck of the woods and voiced it.

That’s not to say that Midwestern underground rappers Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler didn’t have pride in Detroit, but it was not central to their music at all.

Of the underground rappers mentioned above, are any still going as strong as Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler of ICP? The answer is no. While many of these groups have spawned underground rappers strong enough in their own right to make a name for themselves individually, none of them are still active as a group. This proves just how special the phenomenon designed by Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler is.

Q-Tip from Tribe still surfaces here and there, and has a pretty large role curating the talent for the five day, annual Brooklyn Hip Hop festival. However, Tribe hasn’t put out an full length original since the 90s. In that same time period, Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler have released 10 full lengths.

The same can be said for Jurassic 5. Although these underground rappers were active as recently as 2006, they only have four studio albums to their name. Again, Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler have 10.

This brings us to Outkast, the one group on this list that has rivaled Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler’s production output and rise since the late 80s. Though Outkast only has 5 records to their name from 1992 to 2003 when they decided to put things on hold, they have gone platinum, gold, and diamond several times. Additionally, they have one many GRAMMYS, including Album of the Year in 2003 for Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.

However, even with all of that accomplishment to OutKast’s name, Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler have created something they haven’t: a Die hard fan base that is more loyal and rabid for new music than any other fan base in the world. It is this fan base that will continually sustain Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler as ICP continues to evolve, not the sale of albums.

By: Jack Burden

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Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler of Insane Clown Posse are some of the longest running active underground rappers in the country. To learn more about Joseph Utsler and Joseph Bruce, please visit insaneclownposse.com.