The Jokerr

Well, let me say this up front- it's not easy to write or talk about any horrorcore rap artists without using ICP as a baseline. Those guys from my hometown are the ones who really put the genre on the map, love them or hate them, they're the main reason people know the genre exists. So, with that in mind I bring you... The Jokerr.

The Jokerr is an underground horrorcore musician from Arizona who raps in the persona of a court jester, using an angry driving voice in his music. His beats are fun and very reminiscent of that time I went to the techno-renaissance fair. (That didn't happen, that was just a comparison, people. Come to think of it, I would go to an event called the techno-renaissance fair.)

His lyrics are inventive, not inventive like some rappers where you're just going "THAT DOESN'T EVEN RHYME! HE JUST PRONOUNCED IT WRONG!" just inventive where you're listening and listening, and a rhyme completes and it's just like "HA! Okay..."

I've been listening to his album Welcome To The Show, which has spoken track introductions by a woman with an English accent, in keeping with the idea that he's the maniacal jester of some nobleman. He is, according to the intro on "My Omniverse" "a patron of lyricism in all it's forms" which he proves in that track by... you know what, just listen to it.

Now, because of the market that this sort of thing goes to Jokerr has to appeal to the Juggalo community- a bunch of white kids (for the most part) that are very disenchanted with society, and feel like no one really has the same concerns or fights the same battles that they do. So we have a song called "I Don't Fit In" with this chorus-

"Hey, I don't fit in, and it’s okay
I'm with you now, I feel your pain
I know it’s wrong, I know it hurts
Believe me though, it could be worse

I tried and tried, to no avail
I did it all, I only failed
So here I bring a simple song
If you feel the same, come along"

So, we just have what I suppose is pretty common these days- a struggling rapper with a small audience looking for a bigger one. I think the best way to put it would be this- if you dig ICP or any of the related artists and want a fun listen to kick back with some night you would do well to pick up some music from The Jokerr, I think you'd dig it. And just so you really know what's up with The Jokerr, not just a non-typical song for him here's "Give Me Your Eyes!"