Ringmaster carries over the sampledelia-oriented sound from Beverly Kills 50187, with the band Gong in particular being sampled across several tracks. The album also sees ICP Growing the Beard, as their sound, lyrical themes and production style are now more in keeping with the style ICP are known for, compared to the Minimal Synth-driven Hip Hop sound of their debut. The recurring theme in the lyrics of Ringmaster is retribution, discussed through the metaphor of gang symbols — forks up representing one gang, forks down representing another gang, and both gang signs being flashed at the same time representing peace between gangs. "Murder Go Round" continues this thought through the story of a gang member who rises to power by murdering his rivals, including members of his own gang, only for his karma to come back to haunt him when he is taken out in the same way he'd taken out others, the ultimate moral being that no bad deed ever goes unpunished and what you dish out will come back to you in full force, a theme that runs throughout the album's lyrics, with songs about racists being murdered as punishment for their racism ("Chicken Huntin'", "Mr. Johnson's Head") and gang violence ("Southwest Song", "The Dead One"), as well as more supernatural narratives about the Dark Carnival trapping victims to punish them for their evil deeds ("My Fun House").
The album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on June 7, 2004 for selling 500,000 units in the United States.
"Chicken Huntin'" was subsequently remixed with a prominent Rap Rock sound for Riddle Box, their next studio album and only release on Jive Records. The "Slaughter House Remix" of "Chicken Huntin'" would wind up surpassing the Ringmaster version in popularity.
Track listing
- "Wax Museum" 5:12
- "Murder Go-Round" 5:38
- "Chicken Huntin'" 4:08
- "Mr. Johnson's Head" 6:10
- "Southwest Song" 5:45
- "Get Off Me, Dog!" 1:47
- "Who Asked You" 3:00
- "The Dead One" 4:34
- "My Fun House" (featuring Jumpsteady) 4:58
- "For the Maggots" 1:46
- "Wagon Wagon" 3:55
- "The Loons" 5:28
- "Love Song" 4:18
- "Bugz on My Nugz" 4:29
- "House of Mirrors" (featuring Capitol E) 6:06
- "Ringmaster's Word" 2:51
Tropes up, tropes down:
- Asshole Victim: Mr. Johnson was apparently a bigot, and apparently not a very nice man even before that characteristic was revealed.
- Call-Back: On "My Fun House", Violent J raps, "That's where you get beat by 17 wicked clowns / For the 17 dead bodies never found", a reference to ICP's earlier song "17 Dead".
- Circus of Fear: The intro skit features a man visiting a fortune teller machine that warns him that he will be visited by the Dark Carnival, which will trap his soul in the carnival to be displayed at future stops, as punishment for his evil deeds.
- The Conspiracy: The other teachers concoct a story about how Mr. Johnson is out sick with a virus so as not to upset the students. The kid mocks them for trying too hard.
- Creepy Souvenir / Battle Trophy: The kid keeps Mr. Johnson's severed head in his backpack, presumably for this reason.
- Dead Man's Chest: Inverted. The kid deliberately leaves Mr. Johnson's body in a place where it would be immediately discovered the next day.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Big time. The kid that murdered Mr. Johnson wasn't too stable to begin with, and it's implied that the guilt of the act is haunting him.
- Miniscule Rocking: "Get Off Me Dog!" and "For the Maggots" clock in at just under 2 minutes.
- Never Found the Body: Subverted. The kid deliberately left Mr. Johnson's carcass lying in the middle of the hallway for the other teachers to find.
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Nightmare Fuel: "The Dead One" is about a gangbanger who survives being shot by a rival gang...or does he? No, he doesn't.- "The Loons" is from the perspective of a serial killer who stalks his victim, taunting her by calling her each step he is closer to her house.
- Off with His Head!: An entire song is dedicated to the aftermath of this happening to Mr. Johnson, from his killer's point of view.
- Politically Correct Villain: The "chickens" ICP hunt are racists. ICP hate racists, and are prepared to dole out extreme punishment for the racists' prejudice.
- Sampling: The Psychedelic/Prog/Fusion/Space Rock band Gong was a recurring source of sampling throughout the album, with "Who Asked You", flipping a flute sample from Gong's "Oily Way", "The Dead One" sampling Gong's "Selene" and "For The Maggots" sampling tracks from two different periods in Gong's history that are effectively considered two separate bands — "You Can't Kill Me", from Gong's Psychedelic period led by Australian musician Daevid Allen, and the opening flute part of "Bambooji" from Gong's Jazz Fusion period led by French band leader Pierre Moerlen.
- "My Fun House" samples the bass line of the song "Bullet in the Head" by Rage Against the Machine.
