Farmington Hills , Michigan ( CNN ) -- Insane Clown Posse knows you hate them . They know you do n't get their makeup , that you 've never heard their songs on the radio , that their fans do n't look or act like anybody else 's . They 're OK with that . Actually , they kind of love it . `` We may never be understood till we 're dead and gone , '' Joseph Bruce , known as Violent J , said last month , sitting among stacks of vinyl in the band 's warehouse outside Detroit . `` Once we 're gone , people will take a look at the whole picture and say , 'What the f*** was that ? ' '' For now , though , they 're not OK with anybody taunting or discriminating against their fans , known as Juggalos . ICP founders Bruce and Joseph Utsler , or Shaggy 2 Dope , announced last weekend they plan to file a lawsuit against the FBI for labeling their fans a gang . They made the announcement during the Gathering of the Juggalos , an annual music festival that draws thousands of ICP fans to rural Cave-In-Rock , Illinois . Watch : Insane Clown Posse to sue FBI . `` This is the government 's way of telling us what you can listen to , what you can wear , '' Violent J told a crowd in a video posted online . `` They 're telling you that 'if you listen to this music and you support this music , you are going to be committing a crime in our eyes . ' '' An Insane Clown Posse spokeswoman said the band 's lawyers are deciding how to proceed , but they are asking Juggalos to visit juggalosfightback.com to report `` any negative consequence with an employer or governmental representative , including law enforcement , border patrol , airline security , or other local , state or federal governmental agency or employee as a result of their status as a Juggalo . '' The FBI called Juggalos a `` hybrid gang '' in its 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment , a designation ICP 's members call `` insanely ridiculous . '' The report mentions a January 2011 case in which a `` suspected Juggalo member '' shot a couple in King County , Washington , and a January 2010 case in which two `` suspected Juggalo associates '' beat and robbed an elderly man . `` Most crimes committed by Juggalos are sporadic , disorganized , individualistic , and often involve simple assault , personal drug use and possession , petty theft , and vandalism , '' the FBI report said . `` However , open source reporting suggests that a small number of Juggalos are forming more organized subsets and engaging in more gang-like criminal activity , such as felony assaults , thefts , robberies , and drug sales . '' That 's not how Violent Jay and Shaggy 2 Dope see it : `` At any of our shows , it 's all love , total strangers high-fiving , '' Violent J said . `` It 's the camaraderie that ca n't be defined or explained . '' The ICP founders have seen their fans act out . At the 2010 Gathering , Juggalos lobbed rocks and bottles at singer and former Playboy model Tila Tequila , leaving her bloodied and bruised . Shaggy and Violent J take some of the blame ; they say they should n't have invited her to the Gathering , and when they realized how negative the reaction would be , they asked her not to take the stage . Tequila was injured , they said , because she insulted the Juggalos , then would n't leave the stage . Even after the onslaught of press coverage that followed , they do not blame their fans . From the archives : Tila Tequila wants to end juggalos gathering . `` Juggalos come from all walks of life , man , '' Violent J said . `` This is an acquired taste , what we do . We 're not on the radio . It 's not something where you 're going to pull up at a red light and the dude next to you is going to be bumping our s*** , too ... Our fans like a little background , a little story . They do n't want to see us wearing what they 're wearing . They want to see us jump out with fire and f****** strobe lights and confetti . `` They bought a ticket , they want to see the circus . '' Starting in the 1990s , the self-dubbed `` scrubs '' quietly amassed a devoted following of fans that spans ages and backgrounds . If there 's a common theme among them , it 's this : The fans were outsiders who finally found a community in the hip-hop , wrestling , Faygo pop-loving pack of 'los and 'lettes . They rely on their label , Psychopathic Records , and the devotion of their fans , to advertise and distribute their music . News of the possible lawsuit came days before the release of the band 's new album , `` The Mighty Death Pop , '' a multiyear effort with editions that include cover tunes that originated with Michael Jackson , Christina Aguilera and `` Yo Gabba Gabba ! '' `` We 're really high on things right now , not substance-ly high . We 're high on ourselves right now , '' Violent J said . `` I know we 're a joke to the mainstream world , but the love we get from our fans is solid and real . '' They say the new album is their best work , an album of songs that took years to write and record . With so many fans , it 's not the same as it was in the early years when they boasted and lied about who they were and what they were about . They ca n't even remember why , only that they saw themselves more as actors than artists . They still love wrestling and rap , but they started getting real about a message after Violent J 's 2003 autobiography , `` Behind the Paint , '' a book he said exposed the dark truths about divorce , abuse , poverty and drugs in his life . `` We came from broken homes , but it almost feels stupid to sit here and talk about that because we had a great childhood , '' Violent J said . `` My childhood was incredibly awesome , filled with imagination , fun , adventure ... '' `` Backyard wrestling , '' Shaggy added . From the archives : Charlie Sheen heckled by Juggalos . `` The poorer I was , '' Violent J continued , `` that made me who I am today . Nowadays , it does n't take a lot to impress me because I never had s*** , you know what I mean ? '' `` We got to be broke as you can possibly be together , and we got to appreciate everything that happened since then together ... Not a day goes by we do n't sit there and analyze this , and say , 'Man , you know , we 're living our dream . ' `` We still get to hang out with the same people we hung out with when we were 15 and 16 . They work in this building . We get to travel the world with them . And most people you know , they have their high school years , their college people , and after that , they become family people . That 's all gravy , but they ca n't say they do n't dream about what it was like when they were running around with all their friends . '' After 20 years , they said they 're just hitting their stride . They 're sober , and never got into hard drugs , they said , but both talked about medication to stabilize their moods , to keep the pressure from overwhelming them , to keep them away from bad habits from the past . `` I love coming up here and doing what we do , then I love going home , '' Shaggy said , holding an electronic cigarette . `` It 's such a blessed life . '' They say they 'll keep going `` till the wheels fall off . '' `` Some people listening actually give a f*** about what we have to say and that feels good . I ca n't front about that . It feels good to have people care what 's on your mind , '' Violent J said . `` We get to rock stages . I 've f***** some beautiful women in my life . Straight up , two or three chicks at once . Who gets to do that s*** , man ? Especially scrubs ? '' Want to see the real ICP ? You must watch the video .
Insane Clown Posse 's new album , ` ` Mighty ' Pop '' was released August 6 . Juggalos attended The Gathering , a music festival in rural Illinois last weekend . ICP 's founders said it plans to sue FBI for calling its fans a gang . ' '' This is the government 's way of telling us what you should listen to , '' Violent J said .