Lousiana rapper Juvenile was one of the first MCs out of his state to cross into the mainstream. Before the likes of Lil Wayne and Boosie Badazz made their impact in the 2000s, Juvenile’s 1998 debut album 400 Degreez had already brought the sound of The Pelican State to the nation.
With ‘Back That Azz’ up being the biggest hit on the project, it propelled the album to number nine on the Billboard 200, a rare debut in the top ten. Juvenile (real name Terius Gray) was Cash Money’s first export, and Lil Wayne was the next act from the camp to make waves.
Recorded at Cash Money Studios in New Orleans by the end of 1999, the record had sold approximately 4.8million units. From there, Gray went into the stratosphere with his third album, Project English managing to reach number two on the Billboard 200.
‘Back That Azz Up’ was a classic example of a New Orleans, and it was the ultimate Southern collaboration as Juvenile had his Cash Money counterpart Lil Wayne feature on the song.
His labelmate Mannie Fresh produced the track, and Gray’s projects often included verses from Southern artists such as Turk, Big Moe and Magnolia Shorty. MCs who are unknown to many.
That said, Juvenile, who has been on a bit of a high ever since recently got interviewed on the red carpet of the 2023 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards in Miami. While there, he was asked who he thought was the greatest rapper of all time, and his answer was unsurprising.
Juvenile selected Lil Wayne as Hip-Hop’s GOAT over Jay-Z and admitted that although the two former labelmates had had disagreements over the years, he believes he is the best emcee ever.
Expressing these sentiments, Gray told the interviewer, “We’ve argued over the years. He says JAY-Z is the GOAT, I say he’s the GOAT! My lil’ bro is the greatest rapper of all time. He knows how I feel about that.”
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Wayne once revealed that Jay’s influence on him early in his career meant he started sounding like him. However, he ended up perfecting his flow. Explaining this, he told the publication, It took Birdman and them to pull my a** aside and be like, ‘Bro, I’m tired of every song [you are] doing sounding like damn Jay-Z,'” he recalled. “‘You’re not Jay-Z.’ But I was glad it was working.”
You can hear Juvenile’s red-carpet interview below.