Deciding which five tracks are the best of the second deck is an incredibly daunting task. Having listened to each album which forms the second deck so far dozens of times, of course with the earlier entries having the benefit of additional time on their side, choosing my ultimate five has been a task I’ve been wrestling with for a year.
I ranked all current Joker’s Cards prior to the release of Yum Yum Bedlam in October 2021, and find myself questioning some of the decisions I made in that article. Before the release of the sixth Card of deck two I will be posting an updated ranking, but that’s a story for a later time. I am confident I will look back on this article in the future and question the decisions you are about to read, but for the sake of recording my opinion as of August 2023, after the conclusion of the Bedlam era and ahead of the unveiling of the sixth, this feels like an appropriate time.
For clarity, while all the tracks listed are from the main Joker’s Card album themselves, all songs from projects related to the Card, such as the seedlings, were eligible for this ranking.
5) The Drunk & The Addict – Yum Yum Bedlam
Yes I still hate the producer tags (a lot) but the song itself here is a masterpiece. Both through the instrumental production and lyrics, The Drunk & The Addict is a clear standout of recent songs by the clowns, with ‘I be that Joker high on coka’ being one of my favourite lines from any ICP song in the last decade.
Appearing right after the two worst songs on the album, The Drunk & The Addict instantly hooks your attention and drags you back into Yum Yum Bedlam, setting the stage for the remaining half dozen tracks after it to carry you to a satisfying finale.
4) Night of Red Rum – Fearless Fred Fury
For me, the impact and quality brought by Night of Red Rum stand miles above all other songs off the Fearless Fred Fury and Flip the Rat albums. I’ve nothing against those projects, but suddenly out of nowhere the bumping bass and Violent J’s rapid lyrics crank the album into overdrive, delivering one of the very best Insane Clown Posse tracks. Night of Red Rum is a worthy entry to the ‘Night of’ saga ICP have been dipping into over the decades of their careers, and I sincerely hope we’ll get another ‘Night of’ track before the second deck concludes.
3) The Blasta – The Mighty Death Pop
Everyone has experienced some form of unfair adversity in their lives. From a bully to a bad boss, the theme of revenge against someone who has wronged you or your loved ones is a potent and engaging concept which this track embodies so well. The ‘can’t fuck with the Blasta’ hook for this song instantly became one of my all time favourites back in August 2012 when this album dropped, and every single time this song comes on I knock the volume up a couple notches.
2) Zombie Slide – Bang! Pow! Boom!
This is the most old school Mike E. Clarke sounding beat on Bang! Pow! Boom!, and while I’m aware he produced the entire album, this track feels like it could have slotted in on The Amazing Jeckel Brothers. I absolutely love this song, and remember when it first dropped in 2009 that it was my favourite song on the album. Similarly to The Blasta I will always turn the volume up every time this track comes on.
This is one of the songs I most wanted ICP to perform live when I saw them in 2017 (they didn’t) because the reliable Dark Carnival magic behind the track would be enough to bring the roof down.
1) To Catch a Predator – Bang! Pow! Boom!
You’re damn right the top two tracks are from Bang! Pow! Boom! This album is a front to back fucking masterpiece. Not only that, To Catch a Predator is the song which follows Zombie Slide, meaning that for a solid 8 minutes and 48 seconds, listeners are in a state of pure wicked shit euphoria. On some level, everyone in the world wants molesters to get savagely killed (except maybe the molesters themselves) and the raw fury condensely packed into To Catch a Predator makes dealing with such a dark and disturbing topic completely captivating.
The spike in aggression in Violent J’s voice following ‘And then I strolled in’ leaves you in no doubt that J would eradicate any molester given the slightest chance.
Through the powerful and descriptive lyrics, ridiculously good beat production and unquestionably wicked delivery, no matter how many times I try to rank the second deck tracks, To Catch a Predator is always my undisputed number one.
There are so many other songs I wanted to show love to in this ranking, and may compile a ranking of 10th to 6th place in the future. The songs getting gradually older through this list was unintentional, and I enjoy a lot of the most recent tracks as much as I do the older ones. Let me know your top second deck Joker’s Card tracks in the comments, and I’ll be back with another Insane Clown Posse ranking in the future. Thanks for reading, two whoops and I will catch you then.
Written and edited by Alexx.