Juvenile reflects on 25 years of party music, hip-hop superstardom

Cash Money Records doesn't need to take over in 2023.

But that doesn't stop New Orleans-born rapper Juvenile from still gleefully performing his quarter-century-old rap classic "Back Dat Thang Up" (which famously proclaims that the label Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Birdman" Williams launched in 1991 was taking over) in front of a capacity crowd surrounding the outdoor pool at Soho House Nashville on a balmy recent Thursday evening.

Twenty-five years and ten million albums sold later, the emcee best known for a trio of debut album singles "Follow Me Now," "Ha" and the previously-mentioned single -- which was dubbed by Rolling Stone one of the "500 Best Songs of All Time" was back in Nashville. He was in town to promote the release of Juvie Juice, a new hard iced tea and lemonade concoction made by Louisiana's Urban South Brewery.

In an interview with The Tennessean, he touted his his melodic cadence and double-time, scattershot rhyming flow as paving the way for recent mainstream stars including Drake, Da Baby and Lil Baby, as well as young underground stars like Jacksonville's Nardo Wick and Detroit's 42 Dugg.

However, when he discussed from whence his rhyming style was borne, another legendary set of artists -- called "the most melodic hip-hop group of all time" by MTV -- were added to the conversation: Bone Thugs N Harmony.

The group, known for singles including the 1996-released double-platinum-selling single "Tha Crossroads," had significant fandom in New Orleans, inspiring artists like Juvenile to mimic their style.

The Cleveland-to-New Orleans pipeline of platinum-selling singles finally hit New York City when Juvenile's "400 Degreez" single "Ha" was remixed by Jay-Z.

In a 2011 feature for the Red Bull Music Academy, the track's producer, Mannie Fresh, stated, "When Jay-Z called -- "I wanna get on the remix to 'Ha'" -- I knew I'd arrived. That was unheard of at the time. So that catapulted Cash Money even further, when that song hit the airwaves, people were like, damn, Jay-Z is on that song and he's doing the 'Ha' thing."

"It was kinda unbelievable. DJs in New York like Envy and Funkmaster Flex started playing ["Ha"] in their mixes and the clubs a lot," recalled Juvenile. "Then Universal Records told [us, at Cash Money] that Jay had beaten them to the punch in reaching out for more New York support and recorded a remix anyway. Once it came to fruition, it was a magical moment that allowed him, artistically, to become [legitimate] in the South and for me to gain the same respect in the North."

Then 14-year-old DJ Rob Nice recalled the "Ha" remix's live debut in front of 30,000 fans at the Louisiana Superdome on Sept. 25, 1999, at a Black Entertainment Television-sponsored "Teen Summit" showcase.

"The crowd went absolutely crazy," he says.

"That was a big moment for me," Juvenile added.

"I made music I hoped would connect with the culture, the kids and the ladies and that worked. From how we dressed to our attitudes, it all lasted forever."

When asked to summarize the advice from his career that makes his contributions to hip-hop, pop and mainstream culture timeless, he laughed.

"Make party songs for the women and the men will follow," he said.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Juvenile reflects on 25 years of party music, hip-hop superstardom