February 15, 2011

Juvenile: The UTP Years (Part 1; 2004 to Present)



In 2004, Juvenile and his UTP crew went on to create the hit song "Nolia Clap" produced by Donald XL Robertson, and Juvenile was able to use this as leverage in getting a new deal for himself and UTP at Atlantic Records. In June of that year, he performed his song "Booty Language" from the soundtrack to the film Hustle and Flow at a party in West Hollywood, California. This song was produced by Sinista Traxx. However, Juvenile's Slidell, Louisiana home was damaged but not destroyed in Hurricane Katrina near the end of the summer in August 2005. In the aftermath of the hurricane, he worked with fellow New Orleans rapper Master P and other hip hop artists to raise funds and supplies for the victims of the hurricane.

Thus, he moved to Atlanta to live until the spring of 2006, when he moved back to New Orleans.

In 2006, the gold album Reality Check which brought back Juvenile to the acclaim he once had. At that time, his label consisted of Skip, Wacko, Partners-N-Crime, D-Boyz, Redd Eyezz & Big Zuse. Reality Check debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, being his first number-one album. Production began in May 2005, most of it being done at a Holiday Inn hotel room in New Orleans. Its first single was "Animal", followed by "Rodeo", "Get Ya Hustle On" produced by Donald XL Robertson, produced by Sinista Freeman, and "What's Happenin'" "Way I Be Leanin" featuring Mike Jones, Paul Wall, Skip and Wacko. A portion of the album was recorded with engineer, Stewart Cararas at his studio Paradigm Park Studios in New Orleans. Within one month, the studio suffered the wrath off Hurricane Katrina. Stewart now lives and operates in Los Angeles. In this album, Sinista produced 7 songs + 1 bonus track. On signing to Atlantic, Juvenile criticized his former label Cash Money for not giving him enough creative freedoms as well as Federal Emergency Management Agency over his perceptions over their handling of Hurricane Katrina. Shaheem Reid noted "Get Ya Hustle On" as a criticism of the George W. Bush administration.


Later, there were a number of years plagued by rumors and mixtapes where Juvenile disappeared from the world of hip-hop. At the time, Skip & Wacko had left the label UTP and they were planning to release his second album 'Back Like We Left Something'. This great album, was produced the 90 percent by Sinista. All the rumors pointed to the release of the album 'Diary of a Soulja' that just stayed in a internet-leak. On this album, Juvenile had a more subdued sound, with production of Mannie Fresh and collaborations with Akon, T-Pain, Mannie Fresh & Kourtney Heart.

A year & a half passed until Juvenile hit the studio heavy in 2009. In a 2009 interview, Juvenile stated that his album Cocky & Confident would take a totally different direction from his last project, which was made when he was still "mourning Katrina." He also revealed that he decided to work only with fresh, young producers on the album and discussed his respect for younger artists like Dorrough & Soulja Boy.

Cocky & Confident was released in December 2009. It peaked at #49 on the Billboard 200. It was Juvenile's lowest charting album since 1997. It featured one charting single, "Gotta Get It", which peaked at #53 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart. This album left us big surprises like the perfect combination of Juvenile and B.G. in 'Feelin Right' or 'Listen' with Q Corvette.

Months later, Juvenile, announced a new album called 'Beast Mode' dedicated especially to women and the dance which the album be composed of 11 songs. All personnel for the project was produced by his new in-house producers S-8ighty and C. Smith, who produced the first single called "Drop That Thang." A very different album that had not seen lot of sales. There are only a few guest features on the album: Verse Simmons, Juvy Jr. (Juvenile's son), and Cape. We're still waiting the final version of La La La video. There was a rumor that Juvenile's Beast Mode album cover was a rip off of Drake's Thank Me Later cover. That rumor was later debunked, and most importantly false.

It is now known that his return to Cash Money Records is false, but his return to Universal it's true. Juvenile is more of an affiliate of CMR for the time being with him only currently signed to a Group Deal for the Hot Boys album under Cash Money.

He plans on releasing a new album. According to Sinista, no title as of right now. There is no currently set release date, but the album's first leaked track is "Like Uhh Hann" produced by Sinista. This album is being produced mainly by Sinista Traxx with a few tracks from C. Smith and maybe a song by S80, Steve Below and Drumma Boy. There is plenty of energy left in Juvenile & UTP Records.. SKY IS THE LIMIT!!!!

by Money Mack & Kruze

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Juve was my top 5 artists but now i don't know what i have to think about him...he's maybe done,too old for this game...still enjoy 400 degreez tho