New Orleans rapper Juvenile built his reputation as a Southern hip-hop mainstay after launching his career alongside Lil Wayne in the Hot Boys. The 2004 single “Slow Motion” carried him to the summit of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Born Terius Gray, he ranked among the earliest architects of the city’s early-’90s bounce movement, an accelerated fusion of gangsta rap and party anthems. In addition to his ties to the bounce outfit U.N.L.V., he appeared on two DJ Jimi recordings—“It’s Jimi” in 1991 and “Bounce (For the Juvenile)” in 1993. Warlock issued his first album, Being Myself, in 1994, yet the regional style never traveled far beyond New Orleans, leaving national recognition still out of reach.
Cash Money principals Ronald “Suga Slim” Williams and Brian “Baby” Williams signed the post-bounce artist in 1997 and issued the harder-edged Solja Rags that same year. Juvenile then aligned with label mates Lil Wayne, B.G., and Turk to form the Hot Boys, whose own debut, Get It How U Live!, arrived in 1997. Mannie Fresh handled production for both projects and returned for the 1998 solo set 400 Degreez, whose platinum status was cemented by the hits “Ha” and “Back That Azz Up.” Two further platinum plaques followed in 1999 for the solo album Tha G-Code and the Hot Boys’ second effort, Guerrilla Warfare. That year Warlock also capitalized on the momentum with a remixed edition of Being Myself.
Project English earned gold certification in 2001, after which Juvenile exited Cash Money, citing financial disputes, and established his own imprint and management company, UTP. Although UTP announced an album titled 600 Degreez, the project never materialized. Negotiations instead produced a joint Cash Money/UTP release; Juve the Great appeared under both banners in 2003. Its lead single, “Slow Motion” featuring Soulja Slim, topped the Billboard Hot 100 and secured Juvenile’s third platinum album. A decisive split from Cash Money occurred in 2004 when he and his new UTP collective dropped “Nolia Clap” on Rap-A-Lot. The following year he inked a solo deal with Asylum, only to see his Slidell, Louisiana, residence destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
Those events shaped much of the chart-topping 2006 album Reality Check, which carried production from Scott Storch, Cool & Dre, and Lil Jon along with a solitary Mannie Fresh contribution. Fresh sat out the 2009 Atlantic project Cocky & Confident, on which Juvenile earned his first co-production credit. Beast Mode surfaced in 2010 after UTP migrated to the E1 roster, though the arrangement proved brief. Fontana became the label’s next home in 2012 with Rejuvenation, a partial Cash Money reunion highlighted by numerous tracks from Mannie Fresh.
