that shit coulda been a classic just off Mannie Fresh's instrumentals let alone with Juvenile bringing to the genre brand new rhyme styles, effortless hooks & vocal dexterity that could only have been birthed from a city as deep/rich as in American musical heritage as New Orleans.

If he ain't a Hot Boy, den whadya call dat?!?

Just because some folks couldn't understand dude initially didn't mean he wasn't spitting on this.

Juvie had 'Ha' & 'Back Dat Azz Up' in his back pocket on his own before he was legal to vote while out rocking bars/clubs live before he even joined Cash Money/Hot Boys.

It's not an accident that this album & specifically those two singles were what the camp led with to introduce themselves to the world after the historic Universal deal.

It'd be ridiculous to pretend an album that introduced Cash Money and all its major players to the globe is somehow not a 'classic' but then say Dah Shinin, Stunts Blunts & Hip-Hop, Capital Punishment, Dare Iz A Darkside or Youngest In Charge are (and I love/grew up with each one of those records).

That'd be the height of Northeast arrogance to try to sell that lie that *this* was a regional classic & those aren't.

This album dropped the same season as Aquemini & was just as ubiquitous, you didn't have to be in the South (tho technically I was in Maryland but that shit don't really count) to hear this album.

Still holds up too.

400 Degreez is a monster on an impact & quality level, to me better but indisputably more 'important' than anything Cash Money (a label that's now over 20 years running while Bad Boy, Death Row or any other label of its kind has fallen by the wayside) has put out to this day.

Guerilla Warfare is a classic as well & probably Chopper City too (tho B.G. gets the 'root for the underdog' & 'we can understand his drawl & non-commercial approach' style points from others who fronted on Juvenile while he was leading the way).

They could have put singles off this for another full year if Baby didn't want to start rolling out other stuff to piggyback off 400 Degreez' momentum.

The album tracks (Gone Ride With Me, Run For It & especially the title-track which still destroys in a vehicle with good sound to this day) are even better than the songs that got that heavy-rotation MTV run back then.