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The first incarnation of the group was 1988 as The JJ Boys, a trio that Violent J, Shaggy, and John Utsler (a.k.a. John Kickjazz) had formed while still in their early teens. This later became "Inner City Posse", and consisted of three members: J, Shaggy, and John Kickjazz (Shaggy's brother) (who performed on Inner City Posse albums ''Bassment Cuts'' and ''Dog Beats''). Kickjazz left the group before ''Carnival of Carnage'' was released. J and Shaggy still wanted ICP to be a trio, and so brought in a local rapper called Greez-E, who appeared on ''Beverly Kills 50187''. He subsequently left as well, and ICP have been a duo ever since, forming Psychopathic Records with manager Alex Abbiss in 1991.

The six Joker's Cards

In 1992, ICP released ''Carnival of Carnage'', which they designated as "The First Joker's Card". The group hinted at the next five major-release albums being numbered in this fashion. They also stated that "the end of time will consume us all" once the Sixth Joker's Card was revealed, and that their fans would know all there is to know about The Dark Carnival (alternatively referred-to as "The Dead Carnival" on ''The Riddlebox'')— something the band refers to on every album as a powerful force which has spoken to them and is directly opposed to the Devil. In ICP's songs, the Dark Carnival often took the shape of a travelling carnival road-show, where instead of harmless entertainment, the clowns and rides serve up death and pain as punishment for the wicked.
Cover of The Riddle Box]]The title and theme for each Joker's Card revealed a different "persona" of the Dark Carnival, directing the listener to confront both the sins and mortality of theirself and the world, in the form of fables about the Jokers' purpose within the Carnival. For example, The Great Milenko, a magician, represents the illusions which people may present themselves in order to justify their actions. The Amazing Jeckel Brothers appear upon one's death and juggle fireballs, one for every sin committed in one's life. Jack represents one's evil spirit while Jake represents one's good spirit. If Jake drops any one ball thrown to him by Jack, then the newly-departed is banished to Hell. This concept of inner-duality is expanded-upon in the Sixth Joker's Card.

The Sixth Joker's Card

As explained by Violent J: "There is one Sixth Joker's Card, but there are two versions." While the face of the Sixth Joker's Card was "The Wraith" (or simply Death), The Wraith had two "exhibits" to present to all who will listen, ''The Wraith: Shangri-La'' (Heaven) and ''The Wraith: Hell's Pit''. Each of The Wraith's exhibits was given its own album. It was up to each listener, ICP claimed, to decide which version of "The Wraith" is the correct one.In November 2002, ten years after the first Joker's Card was released, in the final track of The Wraith: Shangri-La, ICP revealed their big secret — that nearly all the songs they wrote were masked with subliminal messages that have been pointing to one thing: "Truth is, we follow God, we've always been behind Him. The Carnival is God, and may all Juggalos find Him! We're not sorry if we tricked you. We don't care what happens now."ICP's ultimate message to the world was that we all have a choice as to where we will spend our afterlife, and that choice is made with every right and wrong deed one does in one's life. The choice of preference between ''The Wraith: Shangri-La'' and ''The Wraith: Hell's Pit'' appears to be a metaphor for that decision.

Fan base and criticism

Fans of ICP are called Juggalos (although Juggalo is not a gender based word, female fans are sometimes called Juggalettes to avoid some confusion, i.e. Two juggalos got married). This derived from one of Violent J's habits, which is constantly inventing strange names and personas for himself in their songs. One of these personalities is "The Juggla", a psychotic carnival juggler, and somehow the fans came to be known as "Juggalos" in homage. Even more common is the sight of Juggalos painting their faces in clownface, the unofficial Juggalo badge.ICP have been voted the worst band of any genre of music in various magazine polls including Spin and Rolling Stone. This has not discouraged the group, and they repeatedly state they do not care what music critics think of their work. In return, Spin, Rolling Stone, and Vibe have been singled out for mockery in several ICP raps.ICP were also criticised for breaking from their niche fan base and seeking a wider, more mainstream audience. In an interview in PBS's Frontline documentary series, Cool,Violent J stated:
:"Everybody that likes our music feels a super connection. ... they feel so connected to it because it's — it's exclusively theirs. See, when something's on the radio, it's for everybody, you know what I mean? It's everybody's song. 'Oh, this is my song.' That ain't your song. It's on the radio. It's everybody's song. But to listen to ICP, you feel like you're the only one that knows about it."

Professional wrestling

ICP have long been involved in professional wrestling. In 1998 they were brought in by the then World Wrestling Federation, now known as the WWE, in a musical role for the stable The Oddities, a group of freak wrestlers led by Golga, a masked John Tenta, formerly known as Earthquake. ICP entered WCW around 2000 and teamed with wrestler Vampiro, forming the group the Dark Carnival. It was the first time fans saw ICP in a nationwide wrestling role, making their debut with a run-in on Rey Mysterio and Konnan. One of their more infamous moments in WCW was a handicap hardcore match against Mike Awesome (using the That 70s Guy moniker) where in a spot gone wrong Shaggy 2 Dope was powerbombed on top of the "70's Bus" and slid off the side falling to the ground below. They also run their own independent promotion, JCW or Juggalo Championshit Wrestling. JCW was modeled after the backyard wrestling of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope's youth, as well as the Japanese hardcore wrestling matches featured in bootleg-style videos released by ICP. They are also main characters in the video game series ''Backyard Wrestling'' by Eidos for the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2. ICP was also in Extreme Championship Wrestling, Xtreme Pro Wrestling, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Signature moves