An Underground Rap Group Ventures Beyond Music, Into Movies

The Detroit rap duo Insane Clown Posse boasts some 11 full-length studio albums to its credit. But from the beginning, the group has always seen its scope of entertainment as going just beyond recorded music, perhaps due to founding member Violent J's background in wrestling.

So starting a little over a decade ago, he and partner Shaggy 2 Dope began undertaking the ambitious project of producing and releasing their own Insane Clown Posse movies. These include feature-length comedies like Big Money Hustlas and Big Money Rustlas, as well as documentaries. Here is a quick guide to the four major Insane Clown Posse movies:

Big Money Hustlas: Released in 2000, Big Money Hustlas was the first of the Insane Clown Posse movies, and would later be connected in plot to Big Money Rustlas. Big Money Hustlas was a feature-length comedy directed by fellow musician John Cafiero, and styled after hard-boiled '70s exploitation movies.

The plot of Big Money Hustlas centers around a San Francisco detective, played by Shaggy 2 Dope, trying to take down a New York crime ring. Big Money Hustlas was the first of the Insane Clown Posse movies to follow the direct-to-video model.

Other stars of Big Money Hustlas included Violent J, of course, as well as comedians Harland Williams, Jamie Madrox and Monoxide Child of Twiztid, and wrestler Mick Foley.

Death Racers: It was eight years after Big Money Hustlas that the next ICP movie, Death Racers, finally came out. Similar to Big Money Hustlas and Big Money Rustlas, this is another addition to the fictional exploitation-style Insane Clown Posse movies. This one, however, is set in the future, and centers around a number of warring gangs battling in a televised car race to the death.

A Family Underground: This 2009 DVD is the first documentary of the Insane Clown Posse movies, this time mostly focused on the band's fans and its subculture. Most of the footage comes from past editions of the Gathering of the Juggalos.

Big Money Rustlas: Released direct to video in 2010, Big Money Rustlas was written to serve as a prequel to Big Money Hustlas. Unlike that film, though, Big Money Rustlas is set in the wild west. In it, Shaggy 2 Dope plays a sherriff who returns to his hometown, only to find it run by a gambling tycoon played by Violent J.

The rest of Big Money Rustlas features another ensemble cast including fellow musicians and friends. Big Money Rustlas was directed by Paul Andresen, who had previously worked with ICP on the short film Bowling Balls.

By: Harmony Singer

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Missing one or all of these? You can get all of the Insane Clown Posse movies, from Big Money Hustlas to Big Money Rustlas, through the official Insane Clown Posse web site at www.insaneclownposse.com.