It’s the end of an era! Insane Clown Posse’s Second Deck of Joker’s Cards concluded in August with the release of its sixth: The Naught. Releasing to very little fanfare and without any of the delays ICP have been notorious for through the last decade, The Naught is their first album to receive no promotional music videos or singles before release, or after. Shaggy 2 Dope even confirmed during an episode of The Shaggy Show in the spring that there was zero chance the album would be ready by 2025’s Gathering of the Juggalos, despite Violent J’s insistence that it would.
All of that is in the past now, as for the first time since The Missing Link: Lost, there was no delay in the release of The Naught. As usual, I have some strong opinions.
First off I want to say that, despite continuous assurances from the clowns that ‘the next album will capture the spirit of the First Deck’, I firmly believe that this was finally the record which achieved it. The magic of early ICP albums is definitely here, thanks in part to the return of peerless producer Mike E. Clarke. When ICP released the previous Card, Yum Yum Bedlam, I criticised its production with particular venom towards the producer tags used by Shaggytheairhead. Where The Naught improves on the quality from its predecessor, I completely agree with the view shared by DCFaygoGuy in his Naught review that Shaggytheairhead is clearly emulating the Mike E. Clarke sound with his instrumentals, which works tremendously well.
The tracks on The Naught are booming straight out of the gate, with 2 Dope’s ‘Fuck what you’re telling me’ in the opening seconds of the title track. This song does a great job in delivering the concept of the album: Nothing, directed at those who believe there is no life after death. The following track, Watch Me, is easily my top choice on the album as it channels the ruthless energy from one of my favourite albums of all time: Bang! Pow! Boom!
Where I felt the last few ICP albums have been woefully lacking in Shaggy 2 Dope tracks and verses, The Naught delivers in abundance. I am confident this album features the most appearances from him in over a decade (aside from his solo projects), with his track Here We Go, joining Watch Me as my favourites from the album.
My third and final pick for best song on the album is Softy Pillow Man; a track I expected to dislike based off its name when I read the track list pre-release. Not only is it a Mike E. Clarke produced offering, it remains deeply comedic and enjoyable even after dozens of listens. I also want to give a special mention to Only Wicked Shit, as while it’s not among my personal top spots on the record, it’s absolutely a quintessential ICP song. Only Wicked Shit is the first I’d recommend off this album to someone who doesn’t typically listen to the clowns, but was interested in listening to one of their more recent songs.
The Naught definitely stumbles for me in its midpoint, with tracks 10 (Cinnamon Pigtails) to 13 (Flashback 2) almost always being skipped. I don’t hate these, although I did find myself getting very bored of Cinnamon Pigtails even on release day, but I enjoy the album as a package a lot more when I don’t bother with them.
I loved how Hell’s Pit ended the First Deck with Real Underground Baby, a mix of highlights of songs from across all seven albums. That idea is repeated here but across three tracks: the intro and both ‘Flashbacks’. While they don’t quite contain the same magic as their First Deck counterpart, I like the attempt even if I do skip them more often than not.
I have felt for years that the designs for each Joker were getting way too busy, with Fearless Fred Fury just about getting away with wielding a crowbar and emerging from an industrial stack. Yum Yum Bedlam was a step too far in my eyes, though I was happy to finally see the hatchetman represented in cover art. The Naught keeps things refreshingly simple, with just an eerie open hanging mouth lined with vicious teeth and two hollow yet penetrating eyes.
I have yet to address the elephant in the room so here we go, the final track on The Naught: While It Lasts. The instrumental is a cover of Africa by Toto, which upon reading on Reddit ahead of listening to the album, I was absolutely convinced was a troll post. When I heard the song for the first time it made me laugh (loudly); at the song, not with it. It isn’t entirely bad but its certainly a bold choice, especially for a track to end an entire Deck with. That said, While It Lasts has grown on me over time, to the point it’s now one of my go-to scream along to in the car songs, which I admit with no shame whatsoever. While the message at the end of the First Deck was ‘we’re not sorry if we tricked you’, here the message is a clear ‘don’t forget we’re still fucking clowns’, which is a point I am a huge fan of.
To summarise my feeling towards The Naught, it’s a welcome return to form for Insane Clown Posse after I really wasn’t a fan of Yum Yum Bedlam and most of the music on its Seedlings. The great tracks here are superb, and even those I’m not overly fond of deserve their spots on this album. Overall I am happy to offer a strong recommendation to all current and even lapsed ICP fans. Give it a try, you won’t regret it!
Where will The Naught place on my favourite albums of the year ranking? All will be revealed in my next ranking article coming early December. In the meantime thank you for reading, and I will be back with even more Juggalo music content in 2026!
Written and edited by Alexx.
There’s No Safety in Silence