Community hub
Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
The Wraith: Shangri-La
The Wraith: Shangri-La is the eighth studio album by American hip hop group Insane Clown Posse, released on November 5, 2002, by Psychopathic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in 2002 at multiple recording studios throughout the United States. The album is the first of two albums representing the sixth Joker's Card in the group's Dark Carnival mythology. The album's lyrics describe the titular Wraith's exhibition of heaven.
The album was the first Insane Clown Posse album that producer Mike E. Clark did not contribute to. It features guest appearances by Jumpsteady, Anybody Killa, Zug Izland, Blaze Ya Dead Homie, Twiztid and Esham. The Wraith: Shangri-La was released in two different versions as well as in DVD-Audio format. It debuted at number 15 on the Billboard charts. It is the 6th Joker Card in the first deck, and the group's 18th overall release.
Following a dream by group member Joseph Bruce in which "spirits in a traveling carnival appeared to him," Insane Clown Posse created the mythology of the Dark Carnival in 1992. The Carnival, a metaphoric limbo in which the lives of the dead await to be judged, was planned to be elaborated through a series of stories called Joker's Cards, each of which offers a specific lesson designed to change the "evil ways" of listeners before "the end consumes us all." The group originally planned six Joker's Cards to be released, with the final, "The Wraith", being two separate albums.
At the time of the release of the fifth Joker’s Card, Insane Clown Posse was signed to Island Records. The group did not want to release the sixth Joker’s Card on the label, but were contractually obligated for two more albums. As a result, they released the double album Bizaar and Bizzar (which were not designated Joker's Cards), then left the label. Upon returning to their own label, Psychopathic Records, the duo embarked on the Hatchet Rising Tour in 2001. They returned that November and attempted to begin work on the sixth Joker’s Card. Unable to create the character, members Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler went into seclusion to free their minds. The two agreed that their next appearance would be in the following July at the 2002 Gathering of the Juggalos, where they would reveal the Card.
With his free time, Bruce began jogging daily. The exercise helped clear his mind and allow him to focus on the sixth Joker’s Card. He and Utsler brainstormed on the telephone regularly, and the two created the character of the Wraith. In the end, Bruce says, the group knew what the sixth Joker’s Card would be because they've "said it all along. DEATH, and what's after that? Heaven and Hell. One for the true, Shangri-La, and one for the rest, Hell's Pit." The name of the Card, The Wraith, was another name for death itself.
From the very first day we started the six-card countdown, we always imagined the 6th being the elite album. We knew that we needed to make that vision become real. We needed to record this at the finest studios we could find in the country, with top-of-the-line mix and sound boards only. […] We had a name, a theme, and a message to tell.
In 2001, Insane Clown Posse built its own studio called "The Lotus Pod" in Detroit, Michigan. After brainstorming in seclusion about the album, the group traveled to recording studios across the United States to produce The Wraith: Shangri-La. They began writing and recording in Dallas, Texas along with Zug Izland and producer Mike Puwal, who offered Insane Clown Posse a sound Bruce described as being more pop-oriented. One night in Dallas, Joseph Bruce was approached by a fan. The fan informed him that a woman that Bruce had slept with had died, but that she had always cherished the night the two spent together. Bruce wrote the song "Welcome to the Show" shortly afterward and made reference to the woman in the lyrics.
After recording several songs in Dallas, Insane Clown Posse and Puwal left and headed to a studio in Las Vegas, Nevada. The song "Hell’s Forecast" was written and inspired by Las Vegas’ hot desert sun. Next, the group traveled to a studio located outside of Nashville, Tennessee. They recorded alongside Anybody Killa and studio band member Rich "Legz Diamond" Murrell. Finally, the group headed home to Detroit. They finished recording at The Lotus Pod, and Puwal finalized the album shortly after. A surround sound mix of the album was prepared by Nathaniel Kunkel and Mike Puwal.
Hub AI
The Wraith: Shangri-La AI simulator
(@The Wraith: Shangri-La_simulator)
The Wraith: Shangri-La
The Wraith: Shangri-La is the eighth studio album by American hip hop group Insane Clown Posse, released on November 5, 2002, by Psychopathic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in 2002 at multiple recording studios throughout the United States. The album is the first of two albums representing the sixth Joker's Card in the group's Dark Carnival mythology. The album's lyrics describe the titular Wraith's exhibition of heaven.
The album was the first Insane Clown Posse album that producer Mike E. Clark did not contribute to. It features guest appearances by Jumpsteady, Anybody Killa, Zug Izland, Blaze Ya Dead Homie, Twiztid and Esham. The Wraith: Shangri-La was released in two different versions as well as in DVD-Audio format. It debuted at number 15 on the Billboard charts. It is the 6th Joker Card in the first deck, and the group's 18th overall release.
Following a dream by group member Joseph Bruce in which "spirits in a traveling carnival appeared to him," Insane Clown Posse created the mythology of the Dark Carnival in 1992. The Carnival, a metaphoric limbo in which the lives of the dead await to be judged, was planned to be elaborated through a series of stories called Joker's Cards, each of which offers a specific lesson designed to change the "evil ways" of listeners before "the end consumes us all." The group originally planned six Joker's Cards to be released, with the final, "The Wraith", being two separate albums.
At the time of the release of the fifth Joker’s Card, Insane Clown Posse was signed to Island Records. The group did not want to release the sixth Joker’s Card on the label, but were contractually obligated for two more albums. As a result, they released the double album Bizaar and Bizzar (which were not designated Joker's Cards), then left the label. Upon returning to their own label, Psychopathic Records, the duo embarked on the Hatchet Rising Tour in 2001. They returned that November and attempted to begin work on the sixth Joker’s Card. Unable to create the character, members Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler went into seclusion to free their minds. The two agreed that their next appearance would be in the following July at the 2002 Gathering of the Juggalos, where they would reveal the Card.
With his free time, Bruce began jogging daily. The exercise helped clear his mind and allow him to focus on the sixth Joker’s Card. He and Utsler brainstormed on the telephone regularly, and the two created the character of the Wraith. In the end, Bruce says, the group knew what the sixth Joker’s Card would be because they've "said it all along. DEATH, and what's after that? Heaven and Hell. One for the true, Shangri-La, and one for the rest, Hell's Pit." The name of the Card, The Wraith, was another name for death itself.
From the very first day we started the six-card countdown, we always imagined the 6th being the elite album. We knew that we needed to make that vision become real. We needed to record this at the finest studios we could find in the country, with top-of-the-line mix and sound boards only. […] We had a name, a theme, and a message to tell.
In 2001, Insane Clown Posse built its own studio called "The Lotus Pod" in Detroit, Michigan. After brainstorming in seclusion about the album, the group traveled to recording studios across the United States to produce The Wraith: Shangri-La. They began writing and recording in Dallas, Texas along with Zug Izland and producer Mike Puwal, who offered Insane Clown Posse a sound Bruce described as being more pop-oriented. One night in Dallas, Joseph Bruce was approached by a fan. The fan informed him that a woman that Bruce had slept with had died, but that she had always cherished the night the two spent together. Bruce wrote the song "Welcome to the Show" shortly afterward and made reference to the woman in the lyrics.
After recording several songs in Dallas, Insane Clown Posse and Puwal left and headed to a studio in Las Vegas, Nevada. The song "Hell’s Forecast" was written and inspired by Las Vegas’ hot desert sun. Next, the group traveled to a studio located outside of Nashville, Tennessee. They recorded alongside Anybody Killa and studio band member Rich "Legz Diamond" Murrell. Finally, the group headed home to Detroit. They finished recording at The Lotus Pod, and Puwal finalized the album shortly after. A surround sound mix of the album was prepared by Nathaniel Kunkel and Mike Puwal.