Some of our favorite made-in-Michigan products

Courtesy photo

Hatchetman Keychain
Psychopathic Merchandise, Farmington Hills; icp.psychopathicmerch.com
The Insane Clown Posse is more than a band, it's a Midwestern marketing empire. And how does an offbeat horrorcore rap duo become a Great Lakes State cottage business? Simple. First, the gruesome twosome held onto their publishing rights as best they could, which means they're not at the mercy of even-more-gruesome coastal corporates. Second, the imaginative line of products they have marshaled means they own the site where you search for merch. And no merch is more iconic than the ICP "hatchetman," a figure seen running in profile carrying a hand ax held high. It's the symbol for Psychopathic Records and its artists, back when the label was going to be called Mad Paperboy Records, and ICP's Shaggy 2 Dope sketched the runner on a napkin. As a Juggalo once told us, "It's a great symbol for ICP, the record label, and Juggalos in general, because he's always running, with his hatchet held high almost as a salute, and moving forward toward the future, never running backwards, cutting things down that get in the way, always making epic things happen."