Dog Beats is a 1991 EP by Inner City Posse, later to be known as Insane Clown Posse. Having previously created and released three homemade "basement tapes" (distributed locally and highly sought after by collectors today) that were recorded on cassette via karaoke machine ("Enter the Ghetto Zone", "Intelligence and Violence", and "Bass-ment Cuts"), Dog Beats was both the Inner City Posse's first release to be recorded professionally and was also the first record ever released by Psychopathic Records.
Production
In the early 1990s, Joseph Bruce, Joseph Utsler and Utsler's brother, John, performed at local night clubs, using the stage names Violent J, 2 Dope, and John Kickjazz, under the name of their gang, Inner City Posse. Seeing a need for a manager, Bruce's brother Robert recommended his friend and record store owner Alex Abbiss, who established the Psychopathic Records record label with the group in 1991. Later that year the group released the self-produced EP entitled Dog Beats. Growing popularity in the local music scene turned negative for the group's gang, which became the target of growing violence. After receiving jail sentences, the group members abandoned gang life.
Music and lyricism
Dog Beats began recording at Miller Midi Productions in Detroit, Michigan with Chuck Miller producing and mastering the album.
Joseph Bruce samples several clips from the film The Wizard of Oz in "Wizard of the Hood". The song was originally written by Bruce sometime in the late 1980s. The first recorded version of the song appeared on the Intelligence and Violence EP under the name "Wizard of Delray". The group members took turns going out with unattractive women who worked at Kinkos in exchange for having their fliers promoting the album printed for free. A snowstorm delayed the group's performance, and because there were no microphones, the performance consisted of Bruce and Utsler "yelling over [their] own cassette".
The album was reissued on CD at the Gathering of the Juggalos 2000.
Tracks
- "Ghetto Zone" – 5:58
- "Wizard of the Hood" – 5:18
- "Life at Risk" – 4:04
- "Dog Beats" – 4:51
- "Ask You Somethin'" (2021 re-release bonus track) – 2:45