"Poll question: Is 400 Degreez a classic album to you?"
Juvie had come through with something catchy and new with "Ha" in 98'. I can still remember "Back That Azz Up" getting non stop spins on the radio like it was yesterday. Him and Mannie Fresh were a great team as far as emcee and producer go:
Juvie was that nigga in 98' and the face of Cash Money. Bruh was that next up and coming nigga for one minute. Damn shame he didn't get to really shine like DMX or Nelly.
3. "This is THE landmark album from the era when Louisiana ran rap music" In response to Reply # 0
though it was a brief time overall. But Juvie had two very impactful moments in that overall history. First in the early days (the bounce era for lack of a better term), Bounce for the Juvenile was epic if you grew up along the I-10 corridor. Cats tried to hate, notably U.N.L.V., but where they at now???
Second was 400 Degreez, this album IMO, legitimized Louisiana rap music to an extent that neither P nor anyone else on No Limit ever could. Juvie was the fuckin barometer, not Wayne, not Mystikal, and certainly not P.
I said all that to say YES. Shit's a classic, a universal one, not just Louisiana.
5. "RE: Is 400 Degreez a classic album to you?" In response to Reply # 0
Not even close but I did enjoy it fr what it was back then. None of that type of bounce influenced shit is classic. It was an enjoyable sideshow....kinda iike Bone Thugs.
6. "yes that shit changed shit...Black rob came out with Whoa " In response to Reply # 0
right after that..straight biting.
Then it kicked down the doors for Cash money and they still running shit today with the 3 of biggest stars in the game none of that happens without Juvenile kicking the door down.
They really gave you that real N.O. sound..NO limit was great but alot of that was bay shit and it started it in the bay. Cash MOney was straight N.O. all the way through.
22. "Puffy stay biting the south" In response to Reply # 13
he used Outkast Playa infulence on Biggie..they even say there "throw ya hands in the air if you a real playa" was some shit they said in there concerts...You know he directed their first video and was around them.
27. "Puffy stay biting everyone, let's be real. " In response to Reply # 22
>he used Outkast Playa infulence on Biggie..they even say >there "throw ya hands in the air if you a real playa" was some >shit they said in there concerts...You know he directed their >first video and was around them.
11. "Riiiiiiiight, meanwhile cats up North was feeling it too" In response to Reply # 7
Here's a recent interview on Sway In The Morning with Juvenile and they talk about how Redman put Heather B onto Juvenile and speak on Jay-Z getting on the "Ha" remix:
14. "please, Southern bias is all that could keep anyone from saying it ain't" In response to Reply # 7
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.
18. "No Limit was officially dead once 400 Degreez dropped." In response to Reply # 0
Or at least that's how I remember it.
Juve is hit-or-miss with the flows on here but Mannie Fresh killed it. I understand why people are still calling it a Southern classic, but "Back That Azz Up" was damn near worldwide and it's gotta be one of the most recognizable rap songs of all time.
23. "fuck yeah man, most definitely. " In response to Reply # 0
back in middle school, kids that weren't even checking for southern rap were up on 400 degreez. that mid-late 90's/early 2000's cash money struck us much more than no limit.
but damn dude, the singles, the album tracks...even the "ha!" remix (hot boys version, not jay) was fireness. all beats were expert craft, all rhymes/flows/collaborations on point. oh, and people sleep on turk, but tell me he didn't good-night "welcome 2 tha nolia", I DARE YOU!! (c) joe hooker.
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