Juvenile could easily retire right now and still be remembered as a rap legend. Instead, he's preparing to release the "modern day 400 Degreez," according to the SoundCloud description of his new track "Red Sox." For those who may be too young to remember, 400 Degreez is the 1998 album from Juvie that housed the massive single "Back That Azz Up' and "Ha," and was certified 4x platinum a year after its release.
Setting a goal to replicate that kind of influence is ambitious, but Juvie has teamed with the right person to get the album rollout started, tapping Young Thug for the new record. Juvie starts things off with his signature bounce flows, before handing things off to Thug who pays tribute to the H-O-T Boys, Juvenile's former group, and takes the track in some unexpected directions .
Juvenile Shares His Thoughts On Birdman/Lil Wayne Situation
Juvenile gives his perspective on the rift between Young Money and Cash Money.
This past October, Juvenile returned to the label he was raised on by inking a deal with Cash Money. A few months later, the turmoil began between Lil Wayne and Birdman, and by extension, Young Money and Cash Money. Weezy has since sued Birdman for a hefty sum, and it doesn't seem like a resolution between the former partners will happen any time soon. Unfortunately, that means that quite a few artists on their roster are stuck in the middle.
We sat down with Juvenile recently while he was promoting his upcoming Mardi Gras II tape, and he shared his vantage point on the situation.
"From my standpoint, business is great with Cash Money, cause you know we did some good business in order for me to be signed back [on the label]. I got a good deal," he told us. "Is the relationship hurting me with what's going on between Wayne and Baby? A little bit in the sense of I wish it wasn't happening, I wish this wasn't going on, that's what really hurts me."
He continued, "But yeah, me being back with Cash Money one of the things was to work with Drake, Nicki Minaj and people like that, who wouldn't wanna be able to do that? And there's really no bad blood me with no side. I really feel like when it's family you stay outta it. I think it's something they gotta resolve. As far as the business, as far as me, with Cash Money, I feel it's great though."
We also asked about the situation between Juvie and Mannie Fresh, once a hit-making duo. The two are working together again, and expect one such collaboration to appear on the Mardi Gras II tape. "I just recorded a song with Mannie, I don't wanna say everything that I got going on, but I'ma leak this out the bag, Mannie Fresh is on Mardi Gras 2. Me and Mannie and I never had issues. He stayed at Cash Money when I left-- that's probably the only issue we ever had, cause I was tryna get answers to my questions and Mannie was one of the people that couldn't answer them. But it was never a friction where I had a problem with him."
Mardi Gras II drops March 26th. Watch the full Juvie interview below, where he also reflects on 400 Degreez.
