Slipknot vs. Insane Clown Posse – The Shortest Feud in Music History
Slipknot and Insane Clown Posse have had their share of feuds, many of them escalating time and time again over a period of years. The two acts even feuded with each other in 1999, but with less than 80 seconds of tension between the sideshow groups, it goes down as the shortest feud in music history.
In 1999, Slipknot were just starting to blow up. Their self-titled album was getting them a ferocious underground buzz and they were performing on the second stage of Ozzfest. ICP, on the other hand, were 10 years into a wildly successful career, while their 1997 album, The Great Milenko, was on its way to going platinum.
Needing some extra press, the Slipknot team concocted some phony drama between the Nine and ICP, which brought the masked group all the way to The Howard Stern Show. The idea was for Slipknot to confront ICP during their interview with Stern, but Joey Jordison stamped out any fire that could’ve blazed between the two in less than two minutes.
The entirety of Slipknot were kept waiting for ages before being invited into the live show. Clown was the first Knot member to speak, immediately violating FCC rules by saying, “First of all, thanks for making us wait for fucking ever.”
ICP had never heard of Slipknot at that point, and when Stern asked the Iowa natives why they were mad at the rap duo, Jordison replied, “We have nothing but respect for Insane Clown Posse. When you said we were mad at them, I think you heard wrong.”
With the supposed feud officially squashed, Violent J spoke up to praise Slipknot’s aesthetic. “I’ll tell you one thing, though; this band looks fresh as hell. Now that’s what I’m talking about. That’s entertainment!”
“Nobody wants to see some guy sit on a stool with a flannel tied around his waist playing an acoustic guitar,” Shaggy 2 Dope added.
Stern was obviously annoyed by the set-up, saying, “This is a regular love-fest, isn’t it?” before denying Clown’s request to bring in gifts the Nine had brought for Howard.
Stern Show producer KC Armstrong jumped in, “This is a totally different thing that I’m hearing now. I heard that [Slipknot] hated [ICP] and they wanted to come yell at them. They were all upset and everything like that. This is totally new to me.”
“I don’t know who would have started that one,” Jordison replied. “I think it’s probably a ploy to get us, basically, on this show. That’s what I think it was.”
Stern immediately, and non-verbally, dismissed Slipknot, leaving the nut cases in prison jumpsuits to walk out of Stern’s studio and into the history books. Twenty years later, Slipknot are one of the biggest bands of all time. Slipknot are touring North American this summer, so click here for tickets.
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