Robert Bruce (rapper)
Robert Bruce | |
---|---|
Birth name | Robert Bruce |
Also known as |
Jumpsteady Golden Gram |
Born | 1970 (age 45–46) |
Origin | Novi, Michigan |
Genres | Hip hop |
Occupation(s) |
Paramedic Producer Psychopathic Records Don Rapper Wrestler |
Years active |
1992–2006 2012–present |
Labels | Psychopathic |
Associated acts |
Insane Clown Posse Psychopathic Records |
Robert Bruce is an American rapper, Psychopathic Records don, and professional wrestler, signed to Psychopathic Records.
Bruce is most commonly known by his stage name Jumpsteady. He is the older brother of Violent J of the Insane Clown Posse, and has been featured on many of their releases, both directly and indirectly, since his debut on their 1992 album Carnival of Carnage. Jumpsteady released the EP The Chaos Theory, and the LP Master of the Flying Guillotine before retiring from rapping in 2006. Bruce came out of retirement in 2012 and is making new music.
Early life
Robert Bruce was the second born of three children. His father, Richard Bruce, stole all the family's money and left when Bruce was young.[1] Rob's mother, Linda, was forced to care for him and his siblings, Joe and Theresa, off the income she made as a janitor. One day as a kid, Rob and his brother caught a butterfly, and both were fascinated by the vibrant colors and overall peacefulness of the creature.[1] They kept the butterfly in a jar overnight, and intended to free it the following morning. When they awoke, the brothers found the butterfly had died, and felt as if they had committed a murder. The brothers made a vow that "one day, [they] will make it to heaven, so that [they] can [...] apologize to that Butterfly face-to-face."[1] On every Insane Clown Posse album and EP it reads "Dedicated to the Butterfly" because of this vow. Bruce received all of his clothes from rummage sales, and his food from canned food drives held at his very own school.[2]
When he became of age, Bruce signed up to join the U.S. Army and was stationed at Fort Bragg.Rob was in The U.S. Army from 1988 to 1992. At home, Rob's brother Joe had started a gang known as Inner City Posse. Rob sent him Army-issued tear gas for the gang to use. After a rival gang attacked his mother's house, Joe fled to Bonnie Doone, North Carolina, a trailer park town just outside Fort Bragg. It was there that both Rob and his brother witnessed the open racism which would later emerge as the hate for bigots referenced in their lyrics.[3] Rob went on to fight in the Gulf War as part of the 1st Corps Support Command, better known as COSCOM.[4][5] Upon returning home, Rob became very vocal against the actions which the government had taken in Desert Storm.
Psychopathic Records
Psychopathic Records Don
Rob's brother formed a rap group, then known as Inner City Posse (later to be known as Insane Clown Posse), in 1990. As the group began recording music, they sent their tracks to Rob, who was stationed in Saudi Arabia at the time. Upon hearing the music, Rob recommended that the group hire his friend and record store owner Alex Abbiss as their manager. Following a meeting with the group, Abbiss established the Psychopathic Records record label with them in 1991.[6]
After returning home, Rob began working behind the scenes at Psychopathic Records. In 2000, he was largely responsible for planning and putting together the first annual Gathering of the Juggalos. He continued to help organize the event every year until he left the label.[7]
On September 11, 2000, Rob, N-Cubed, and Tall Jess formed the organization Dark Carnival Games, L.L.C.[8] Under the organization, the three created and released the game "Morton's List: The End to Boredom" on July 13, 2001. Through the game, players are sent on "360 unique, real-life Quests that can be taken as far the player's are morally comfortable. At its simplest, it is an hour of totally random entertainment."[8] Examples of quests include playing old childhood games, finding an old friend, trespassing, petty theft, and stealing a roommate’s clothing while they are in the shower.[9]
In 2004, Rob wrote and created the Pendulum's Promise Roleplaying Game, which uses the D20 system.[10] It is based on an earlier version played at the first two Gathering of the Juggalos events. The storyline revolves around Insane Clown Posse's comic book series The Pendulum, as well as ideas from the Dark Carnival.[10]
Rob also helped to create the board game "The Quest for Shangri-La", based on Insane Clown Posse's album The Wraith: Shangri-La. Released on February 16, 2007, the game pits 2-6 players against each other as they journey "through Detroit, the Nethervoid, and the Dark Carnival ... on an epic Quest to cross The Bridge to Shangri-La."[11][12] The game features 36 playable characters, all based on Psychopathic Records artists and album, and ends in one of ten different scenarios.[12] Shortly after the release, Rob quietly walked away from Psychopathic Records.
On September 24, 2012, it was announced that Rob Bruce returned to Psychopathic Records and rightfully reclaimed his position as a Don and co-owner of the label.
Musical career
Solo (1992-2006; 2012-Present)
Bruce was included in Insane Clown Posse's debut album Carnival of Carnage in 1992. Taking the name Jumpsteady, he performed on the final track "Taste". He rapped about political and economical problems he had experienced first hand, such as the government's lack of consideration of the problems facing the ghetto, and their actions taken during Desert Storm. Soon after his appearance on the duo's next studio album Ringmaster, Jumpsteady took a leave from rapping.
In 1996 an ad for his debut EP The Chaos Theory was featured in Insane Clown Posse's EP Tunnel of Love. After another long absence, Jumpsteady released the EP on July 23, 2002 at that year's Gathering of the Juggalos. He went on to do several dates in 2002 with Insane Clown Posse on their "Diamonds Raining Pre Tour," with original interchangeable hype-men Tom Dub and PsychoPatrick. In 2003, Jumpsteady called on long-time friend and Gathering of the Juggalos co-worker Delusional to become his hype-man and their first shows took place on Esham's "Acid Rain" tour. That same year, Jumpsteady and Delusional took the stage and performed Jumpsteady's first full set at the Gathering of the Juggalos 2003. Jumpsteady and Delusional performed many spot dates and every Gathering of the Juggalos from 2003 to 2006.
He released his debut full-length album Master of the Flying Guillotine on February 22, 2005 which featured his brother Violent J, brother-in-law Myzery, and hype-man Delusional. That spring, Jumpsteady took part in the "Psychopathic All-Stars Tour" with Lavel and Delusional as his hype-men. His last performance occurred at the 2006 Gathering of the Juggalos. He later announced that he would be retiring from rapping and resigned as vice president of Psychopathic Records to pursue a lifelong personal dream of becoming a paramedic.[13]
It was announced on September 14, 2012 that Jumpsteady had returned to Psychopathic Records for his business ethics and skill among other things, thus reaffirming him as a Don and co-owner of Psychopathic Records. He is even due to begin working on new music. However, there have been no promotions, leaks, posts, blogs, release dates, or even collaborations of any kind to hype the highly anticipated third release from Jumpsteady. Die-hard juggalos have expressed during his absence from Psychopathic that they are very interested and extremely excited to hear what's in store for Jumpsteady's music career. He is one of the three members in Psychopathic's new group, Legz Diamond & The Purple Gang (the other two being Legz Diamond and Sugar Slam), and released the debut album, '9 Pistolas' on March 19, 2013. At the GOTJ 2013, Jumpsteady said that he will try to have a new album by the 2014 GOTJ. On October 11, 2013 Jumpsteady released a spoken album (meaning there was no music), "The Road And Other True Stories".
Golden Goldies (1995)
Golden Goldies was a comical group whose lyrics focused solely on gold.[14] The group consisted of Psychopathic Record's employees and friends; Joseph Bruce (Golden Jelly), Shaggy 2 Dope (Gold D), Robert Bruce (Golden Gram), Billy Bill (Gold Double B), Alex Abbiss (Gold Rocks), Mike E. Clark (Gold Digger), Rich Murrell (Golden Warrior), Frank G (Golden Frank), Keith (Gold Teeth), Josh (Rold Gold), Kelly Eubanks (Gold Spud), Fink the East Side G (Golden Toby), and Matt Mackalantie (Gold Spakalantie).[14] Their only LP, Gimme Them Fuckin' Nuggets Bitch, Or I'll Punch Your Fuckin' Face, was recorded in 1995 in a span of one week, and was not publicly released.[14] Golden Goldies was a project put together by Insane Clown Posse for entertainment purposes only. To add more humor to the album, each artist was given only five minutes to write their verses, and had only one take to record them, which resulted in some artists messing up their lines, and lyrics containing "some very strange things."[14] The group held only one live performance, which occurred at the gold record certification party for Insane Clown Posse's Riddle Box.[14]
Professional wrestling career
Evil Dead | |
---|---|
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) |
Evil Dead The Masked Negotiator |
Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
Billed weight | Unknown[15] |
Billed from | Napp Cemetery |
Debut | December 19, 1999 |
Retired | 2005 |
Origin
Evil Dead's gimmick originally appeared as an on-stage extra to Insane Clown Posse concerts.[16] Dressed as a decaying zombie, he would stumble around in the background while Insane Clown Posse performed. Several times during the show he would fall down dead on the stage, including off speaker stacks, off stage props, and off the stage itself.[16] The gimmick eventually became popular enough that he was asked to wrestle in JCW. While wrestling, Evil Dead makes minimal movements, but, because he is dead, he also doesn't feel pain.[15]
Juggalo Championshit Wrestling (1999-2005)
Evil Dead made his professional wrestling debut at Juggalo Championshit Wrestling's first show on December 19, 1999.[15] He was managed by Insane Clown Posse, and fought his first match against Red Neck Devil Without a Cause. Later that night Evil Dead won a Battle Royal to become the first JCW Heavyweight Championship.[15] Both matches were released on Juggalo Championshxt Wrestling Volume 1 in 2000. He was later featured on Juggalo Championshxt Wrestling Volume 2, released in 2001, for his match with Insane Clown Posse against the Rainbow Coalition.[17]
In 2003, Bruce made a one-time appearance as The Masked Negotiator, managing Kamala in his match against Tom Dubb.[18] The match was featured on Juggalo Championshxt Wrestling Volume 3. Bruce continued to wrestle as Evil Dead, competing every year for JCW at the Gathering of the Juggalos, until he retired in 2005.
Retirement
Since his retirement as a rapper, Bruce has also retired the Evil Dead character. But he had never said that a return would be impossible. As stated by JCW: "Evil Dead's last JCW appearance was at the Gathering 2005 during the JCW vs TNA 3 Day War [...] He hasn't been seen or heard from since, but never count Evil Dead out, just respect that he's dead. So it's only natural that he spends a lot of time just chillin' at his home in the Napp Cemetery." [19]
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Managers
- As Evil Dead
- Wrestlers managed
- Theme Music
- "The Dead One" by Insane Clown Posse (JCW)[15]
Championships and accomplishments
Personal life
Rob has a daughter named Samantha.[22] She has made two songs: "Sammy Song" (from Chaos Theory) and "Battlefield" ( from Master of the Flying Guillotine), and has also been featured on the hidden track on Insane Clown Posse's Forgotten Freshness Vol. 3 album.[22] At the 2003 Gathering of the Juggalos, Bruce brought his daughter onstage to perform "Sammy Song" with him. His wife Nancy is the sister of former Psychopathic Records rapper Myzery,[23] whom made a guest appearance on his 2nd album. Bruce is also a playable character in Eidos Interactive's video game Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home as Evil Dead.
Discography
Solo
- The Chaos Theory (EP, 2002)
- Master of the Flying Guillotine (LP, 2005)
- The Road And Other True Stories (Spoken Word, 2013)
With Golden Goldies
- Gimme Them Fuckin' Nuggets Bitch, Or I'll Punch Your Fuckin' Face (1995)
With Legz Diamond & The Purple Gang
- 9 Pistolas (2013)
Appearances on albums by other artists
- Insane Clown Posse: Carnival of Carnage (1992)
- Insane Clown Posse: Ringmaster (1994)
- Violent J: Wizard of the Hood (2003)
- Insane Clown Posse: The Wraith: Shangri-La (2002)
- Delusional: The Preparation (2006)
- Durty White Boyz: Unoriginal & Lyrically Offensive: The Mixtape - Hosted by Delusional & Monoxide of Twiztid (2008)
- Insane Clown Posse: Bang! Pow! Boom! (2009)
- Insane Clown Posse: Smothered, Covered, & Chunked (2012)
Appearances on albums by multiple artists
- Forgotten Freshness Volume 3 (2001)
- Hatchet History: Ten Years of Terror (2002)
- Psychopathics from Outer Space 2 (2003)
Writing career
- Morton's List: The End to Boredom (2001) with Nathan Andren and R. Jesse Deneaux
- Pendulum's Promise: A Roleplaying Game for Juggalos (2003)
- The Quest For Shangri-La" A Boardgame (2007)
Filmography
- Big Money Hustlas (2000) - Hack Benjamin/Preacherman/Multiple Background Characters
- Big Money Rustlas (2010) - Hack Benjamin
References
- 1 2 3 Bruce, Joseph; Hobey Echlin (2003). "The Butterfly". In Nathan Fostey. ICP: Behind the Paint (2nd ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. pp. 2–16. ISBN 0-9741846-0-8.
- ↑ Bruce, Joseph; Hobey Echlin (2003). "Life With Satan". In Nathan Fostey. ICP: Behind the Paint (2nd ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. pp. 20–33. ISBN 0-9741846-0-8.
- ↑ Bruce, Joseph; Hobey Echlin (2003). "Rude Boy and the Magical Land of Toxic Waste". In Nathan Fostey. ICP: Behind the Paint (2nd ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. pp. 106–119. ISBN 0-9741846-0-8.
- ↑ Bruce, Joseph; Hobey Echlin (2003). "Monsters & Adventures". In Nathan Fostey. ICP: Behind the Paint (2nd ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. p. 99. OCLC 53312411.
- ↑ Bruce, Joseph; Hobey Echlin (2003). "Intelligence and Violence". In Nathan Fostey. ICP: Behind the Paint (2nd ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. p. 139. OCLC 53312411.
- ↑ Bruce, Joseph; Hobey Echlin (2003). "Intelligence and Violence". In Nathan Fostey. ICP: Behind the Paint (2nd ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. pp. 139–143. ISBN 0-9741846-0-8.
- ↑ Bruce, Joseph; Hobey Echlin (2003). "Hatchet Rising". In Nathan Fostey. ICP: Behind the Paint (second ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. pp. 470–496. ISBN 0-9741846-0-8.
- 1 2 "Questions". The SuperiCore Group LLC. Archived from the original on December 12, 2008. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
- ↑ Ginns, James (2008-08-21). "The End to Boredom: Morton's List Game Review". The Monitor. Retrieved June 18, 2009.
- 1 2 "Pendulum's Promise". Psychopathic Records. 2004-12-25. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
- ↑ "ICP presents: The Quest for Shangri-La". Psychopathic Records. 2007-02-16. Archived from the original on February 23, 2007. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
- 1 2 "The Quest for Shangri-La!". Psychopathic Records. 2007-02-16. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
- ↑ Insane Clown Posse (Presenters). Gathering 2008 - ICP Seminar (Videotape). Event occurs at 25:58. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Bruce, Joseph; Hobey Echlin (2003). "Complete Discography". In Nathan Fostey. ICP: Behind the Paint (2nd ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. pp. 549–550. ISBN 0-9741846-0-8.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Insane Clown Posse (Wrestlers) (2000). Juggalo Championshxt Wrestling Volume 1 (DVD). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Video. UPC 756504220092.
- 1 2 Bruce, Joseph; Hobey Echlin (2003). "Life on the Road". In Nathan Fostey. ICP: Behind the Paint (2nd ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. p. 358. OCLC 53312411.
- ↑ Insane Clown Posse (Wrestlers) (2001). Juggalo Championshxt Wrestling Volume 2 (DVD). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Video.
- ↑ Insane Clown Posse (Wrestlers) (2003). Juggalo Championshxt Wrestling Volume 3 (DVD). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Video.
- ↑ "News". juggalowrestling.com. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
- ↑ Insane Clown Posse (Wrestlers) (2003). Juggalo Championshxt Wrestling Volume 3 (DVD). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Video.
- ↑ "News". juggalowrestling.com. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
- 1 2 Bruce, Joseph; Hobey Echlin (2003). "Angles and Devils". In Nathan Fostey. ICP: Behind the Paint (2nd ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. p. 373. OCLC 53312411.
- ↑ "Faygo Luvers Interview". Faygo Luvers. 2012-04-17. Retrieved 2012-08-21.