How Juvenile Turned a Club Chant Into One of Rap’s Biggest Anthems
Juvenile. (Credit: Yaniv Yoshia)
“You want me to be honest or do you want me to make up a lie?” Juvenile is trying to remember what was going on at the time “Back That Azz Up” dominated airwaves and became rap’s unofficial “twerk” anthem before the word “twerk” was even in the public’s vernacular.
He was in his early 20s, signed to Cash Money Records, part of the Hot Boys alongside Lil Wayne, B.G. and Turk, and had found some regional success with his sophomore effort and first for the label, Solja Rags. But “Back That Azz Up,” which arrived in 1998 as part of Juvenile’s third album, 400 Degreez, took some time to heat up.
“My album came out and ‘Back That Azz Up’ didn’t take off until the next year, so the album was out a whole year before people really started going crazy to the record stores for it,” he explains. “The album had a good first weekend and that was probably it.”
Once “Back That Azz Up” was flipped into a single and had a video, it was off to the races for the New Orleans native.
“We made a video and they started putting money behind it to radio and stuff like that,” he says. “People heard it and started calling the radio stations and requesting it. It was a chain reaction.”
“Back That Azz Up”—produced by Mannie Fresh and featuring Lil Wayne—peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It played a pivotal role in introducing bounce music to the rest of the world, which up until then was primarily contained to the New Orleans area.
The album itself, which also produced another big single, “Ha,” was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2000, while “Back That Azz Up” hit triple platinum status in 2024. Both songs were actually recorded on the same day, proving Juvenile’s ear is fine-tuned for making hits.
Juvie released his first album in more than a decade, Boiling Point, on March 27. He recently shared a remix of “B.B.B.” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, which lives on the album. Swizz Beatz, Lenny Kravitz, Mannie Fresh, Birdman, B.G., Trombone Shorty, Jacquees, and Dee-1 are among the additional guests. Initially it looked like Lil Wayne wasn’t going to be on the project, but one of the bonus tracks scratches that itch for fans looking for a Hot Boys reunion. Beginning April 2, he’ll take the album on the road as part of Boiling Point Tour, with more than 60 confirmed dates across the U.S. and Canada. In the meantime, Juvenile looks back on making “Back That Azz Up”—to the best of his ability.
Origins
Before I got into rapping, I used to be an emcee at clubs and stuff. I used to be the cat that grabbed the mic and got the crowd going. And “Back That Azz Up” was just a chant I had that I took from some shit I came up with while I was in the club. I said, “Damn, they like this shit.” So I took it and made a song out of it. The easiest way to make a song very fast is to ask questions and use one word like “ha.” If you notice, “Back That Azz Up” and “Ha” both have a similarity because they both have one word. In “Back That Ass Up,” it’s “yeah.” And on “Ha,” it’s “ha.” You never pay attention to that part. You can see where I recorded both of those songs in the same day because of that similarity.
The P Word
The twerk term came later. There was a girl named Cheeky Black, who did it. We didn’t call it twerking. That’s what the new people calling it. Back then, they called it pussy popping.
Ballin’ On A (Big) Budget
Back in them days, we did have big budgets. That video in particular, $30,000 probably wouldn’t be considered small back then, but I think we paid like $30,000, maybe even $60,000. It took three days to shoot. They covered every piece and detail of my neighborhood. They got my family, my friends, and everybody in the video, so they covered a lot of ground.
I would say the funniest thing about that video is E -40. Daz Dillinger, Kurupt…it was a whole lot of people that was at that video shoot that wasn’t in the video. I know why E -40 wasn’t in the video, because they had a drink-off contest the day before, and they had this drink called Gorilla Milk. We was looking for E-40, but he was at his hotel passed out.
Forever, ever
I’m at a loss for words sometimes when I think of the song because it’s unreal. I feel like I was chosen for this. I was blessed to have this, to have a song like that. Hopefully I can create something else better so I can go on and sing some other songs. But as of now, sounds like I’m gonna be singing “Back That Azz Up” for the rest of my life, and I’m cool with it. I’ll be the old dude. I’ll sing the old version of it though. I’ll change it to like, a lounge song or something.
No Regrets
If I could go back in time when I was writing that song, I probably wouldn’t tell that kid nothing. I like the way my script was written. I like where I’m at in life. If I didn’t go through those things that I went through in life and learned it the way I learned it, I probably wouldn’t be where I’m at, so yeah, I probably wouldn’t tell him nothing. Just keep doing what you’re doing, kid. Maybe I’d tell him Kansas City was going to win back-to-back Super Bowls or that Bitcoin was gonna blow up. Or tell him about the internet.
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