Juvenile - 400 Degreez

Climbing on the burly shoulders of the No Limit record label, New Orleans's Cash Money Records leads the Dirty South's second assault on the ears of the rest of the country. But it wasn't until Juvenile's conversational "Ha," a furiously paced monologue dwelling on the details of everyday life, broke that the label was able to establish itself with a single that would snap northern necks. 400 Degreez, the album from which "Ha" is drawn, marks a high point in the South's musical output. Producer Manny Fresh--who's responsible for all the Cash Money production--rarely strays far from the region's bass roots, blending it with strings, keys, and other layers to make it more palatable to the masses. And it's Juvenile, with his hurried slurs, who dances the shimmy best, from the anthemic "Run for It" to the New York-ready braggadocio of "Juvenile on Fire," on which Fresh shakes it up like maracas on Cinco de Mayo. --Jon Caramanica Amazon.com

Instant Classic!

Remember that slim dude on BET walkin' thru the hood in the NOLA? Talkin' bout "Ha"? I never understood the ruckus behind this dude. Until I overheard 400 Degreez playin' on someones stereo. I had a copy burned for me, listened to it, then went out and purchased it. It was that good, and I've played it damn near everyday since then. It's a classic. This album put Cash Money on the map. Juvenile put an arm and a leg into this album. He can't top it, and he NEVER will. December 19, 2007

An Album With Significant Importance

In the early-mid 90's everyone was talking about the East Vs West coast Hip Hop styles. Gangsta Rap vs Golden Age, Tupac vs Biggie but in the late 90's the South made an entrance to the Hip Hop world aswell and would make an huge impact in the upcoming decade. Although Southern Hip Hop had been around since the 80's it had been vastly ignored by the mainsteam and overlooked by major record companies. The Southern rappers would be releasing material from smaller labels or on mixtapes and when they succeeded it was mostly with local hits that hardly ever made it out of South. This resulted in the Southern sound being completely diffrent then everything else. Basic rhythmic Bounce beats, uptempo and very club friendly sing-a-long music that concentrated more on sound then lyrics and singles then albums. In the mid 90's we saw glimpses of this when groups like Tag Team, 69 Boyz and 2 Live Crew scored some hits. All of these bands often categorized as Miami Bass, had one thing in common apart from the sound, they all made explicit club friendly songs about women. But their success were shortlived and the South had to wait until the late 90's to gain a winning formula. Master P founded No Limit and Bryan Williams AKA Baby/Birdman founded Cash Money. Both of these founders were great bussiness men and their labels were smart in marketing their rosters. Cash Money archived massive local success with alot of artists without alot of resources nor much promotion, their biggest stars became the Hot Boys where B.G, Juvenile, Turk and Lil Wayne were the members. In 1998 a lucrative deal was signed with Universal Music Group (the biggest bussiness group of record labels in the world) and suddenly they had all the resources in the world for promoting their stars.

Cash Money was mostly interested in being a hit factory and earning as much as possible from their label, so instead of artistic development they relied on singles, and singles that worked for the charts with the typical aformentioned southern sound. Although, mostly categorized as "Dirty South" which derived from a song from Goodie Mob, that band together with Outkast were bands that combined creativity with commercial appeal in a way that few other Southeners did. However, Baby got together with Rapper/Producer Mannie Fresh in 1998 and formed the collective Big Tymers and Fresh would be producing anything associated with Cash Money for a few years and also founding the subgenre Bounce. Juvenile was first out with his third solo album "400 Degreez". The album's first single and actually his debut single "Back That A*s Up" that featured Mannie Fresh and Lil Wayne became a smash hit in 1999 reaching the top 20. Lil Wayne populized the phrase "Drop It Like It's Hot" on his verse and I suppose you'll know what it is about. Juvenile who's trademark is his heavy southern drawl had another big hit with "Ha" that dealt with ghetto life and appeared on B.G song "Bling Bling" together with Mannie Fresh & Lil Wayne that also populized that phrase (not on this album). The rest of Juvenile's "300 Degreez" is divided into decent non singles like "Gone Ride With Me", "Flossin Season", "Ghetto Children" and "Rich Ni*gaz" with it's unique beat and then unfortunately plenty of filler and 3 diffrent versions of the song "Ha".. Many of the lyrics here deal with women, money, cars, clothing and many of those things that later would make Nas declare "Hip Hop is Dead".

The sound of this album is pretty good and Mannie's production style made him one of the most in-demand record producers at the time. Neither the lyrics nor the themes are very good even if Juvenile got a very recognizable kind of flow. But what makes this album more interesting is the impact it had, not only for Cash Money but for Southern Rap in general. It's sound became mainsteam and still is, it's lyrics, themes and lifestyle became associated with mainstream Hip Hop for good and bad and for the first time ever Rappers scored big hit singles, got air time on public radio an became as popular as Pop or Rock stars. Nas wouldn't have reached the mainstream popularity if it wasn't for this and I'm sure he's aware of that. Ludacris, Nelly, 50 Cent, the list can be long of all the Rap artists that are scoring big hits on the charts cause of the development of Southern Hip Hop in the late 90's. As for Juvenile, he scored his biggest hit "Slow Motion" in 2004 reaching #1 but left Cash Money the following year and he never released another album that sold as much as "300 Degreez". It may not be perfect but it had great impact and it's characteristic sound is one not to miss.


December 8, 2007

Juve!!!!!

Juve is one of my fave rappers. He has a unique voice; Southern and a bit deep. Back that a** up, Follow me now, and Ha are classic rap songs! His lyrics can become a bit violent, but I still like this album. This is the album that really launched him so get it! August 1, 2007

DIS IS DA BEST RECORD I EVA HERD

IT AINT NO SHAQ DIESEL BUT WOOOOOOOOOOO DIS RECORD IS SUPRA FLY IT AKES ME BOUNCE MA BOOTY AND WIGGLE WHY IMA BUST A GUT OUT MA BUT PEACE YALL November 30, 2006

anthem king indeed!

Read the below review Street-Hop-1977 wrote titled "Street Anthem King."

That pretty much sums up all there is to say about Juvenile and 400 Degreez.

Yeah, Juvey's good for a few hit party singles from time to time. Yes, he a Southern rap legend and yes, 400 Degreez is considered his classic.

Juve got skills, but Wayne is better now! June 14, 2006

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