{"id":9851,"date":"2026-03-31T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/how-juvenile-turned-a-club-chant-into-one-of-raps-biggest-anthems\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T12:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T12:30:00","slug":"how-juvenile-turned-a-club-chant-into-one-of-raps-biggest-anthems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/how-juvenile-turned-a-club-chant-into-one-of-raps-biggest-anthems\/","title":{"rendered":"How Juvenile Turned a Club Chant Into One of Rap\u2019s Biggest Anthems"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/Juvenile-Picture-e1774882548382.jpg\" width=\"1200\" height=\"765\" alt=\"Juvenile. (Credit: Yaniv Yoshia)\"><figcaption>Juvenile. (Credit: Yaniv Yoshia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cYou want me to be honest or do you want me to make up a lie?\u201d Juvenile is trying to remember what was going on at the time \u201cBack That Azz Up\u201d dominated airwaves and became rap\u2019s unofficial \u201ctwerk\u201d anthem before the word \u201ctwerk\u201d was even in the public\u2019s vernacular.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>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, <em>Solja Rags<\/em>. But \u201cBack That Azz Up,\u201d which arrived in 1998 as part of Juvenile\u2019s third album, <em>400 Degreez<\/em>, took some time to heat up.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spinmagazine.com\/2026\/03\/bumbershoot-festival-lineup\/\">Death Cab, Turnstile Booked For Bumbershoot Fest<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spinmagazine.com\/2026\/03\/morrissey-smashing-pumpkins-darker-waves\/\">Morrissey, Smashing Pumpkins Surf To Darker Waves<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spinmagazine.com\/2026\/03\/rush-juno-awards-reunion\/\">Rush Kickstarts Reunion At Surprise Juno Performance<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cMy album came out and \u2018Back That Azz Up\u2019 didn\u2019t 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,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe album had a good first weekend and that was probably it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Once \u201cBack That Azz Up\u201d was flipped into a single and had a video, it was off to the races for the New Orleans native.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe made a video and they started putting money behind it to radio and stuff like that,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople heard it and started calling the radio stations and requesting it. It was a chain reaction.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBack That Azz Up\u201d\u2014produced by Mannie Fresh and featuring Lil Wayne\u2014peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 5 on the Hot R&amp;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.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The album itself, which also produced another big single, \u201cHa,\u201d was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2000, while \u201cBack That Azz Up\u201d hit triple platinum status in 2024. Both songs were actually recorded on the same day, proving Juvenile\u2019s ear is fine-tuned for making hits.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1800\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/Juvie-Pic-6-Credit-Yaniv-Yoshia.jpeg\" alt=\"(Credit: Yaniv Yoshia)\" class=\"wp-image-657367\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/Juvie-Pic-6-Credit-Yaniv-Yoshia.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/Juvie-Pic-6-Credit-Yaniv-Yoshia-340x510.jpeg 340w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/Juvie-Pic-6-Credit-Yaniv-Yoshia-768x1152.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/Juvie-Pic-6-Credit-Yaniv-Yoshia-1024x1536.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/03\/Juvie-Pic-6-Credit-Yaniv-Yoshia-498x747.jpeg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Credit: Yaniv Yoshia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Juvie\u00a0 released his first album in more than a decade, <em>Boiling Point<\/em>, on March 27. He recently shared a remix of \u201cB.B.B.\u201d 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\u2019t 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\u2019ll take the album on the road as part of\u00a0<em>Boiling Point Tour<\/em>, with more than 60 confirmed dates across the U.S. and Canada.\u00a0In the meantime, Juvenile looks back on making \u201cBack That Azz Up\u201d\u2014to the best of his ability.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-origins\"><strong>Origins<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>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 \u201cBack That Azz Up\u201d was just a chant I had that I took from some shit I came up with while I was in the club. I said, \u201cDamn, they like this shit.\u201d 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 \u201cha.\u201d If you notice, \u201cBack That Azz Up\u201d and \u201cHa\u201d both have a similarity because they both have one word. In \u201cBack That Ass Up,\u201d it\u2019s \u201cyeah.\u201d And on \u201cHa,\u201d it\u2019s \u201cha.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-p-word-nbsp\"><strong>The P Word\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The twerk term came later. There was a girl named Cheeky Black, who did it. We didn\u2019t call it twerking. That\u2019s what the new people calling it. Back then, they called it pussy popping.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-ballin-on-a-big-budget-nbsp\"><strong>Ballin\u2019 On A (Big) Budget\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Back in them days, we did have big budgets. That video in particular, $30,000 probably wouldn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<lite-youtube videoid=\"FYqmQPklI_0\" style=\"bottom: 0; height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; width: 100%; max-width:100%;\"><\/lite-youtube>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-choices-nbsp\"><strong>Choices\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>I would say the funniest thing about that video is E -40. Daz Dillinger, Kurupt\u2026it was a whole lot of people that was at that video shoot that wasn\u2019t in the video. I know why E -40 wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-forever-ever\"><strong>Forever, ever<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019m at a loss for words sometimes when I think of the song because it\u2019s 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\u2019m gonna be singing \u201cBack That Azz Up\u201d for the rest of my life, and I\u2019m cool with it. I\u2019ll be the old dude. I\u2019ll sing the old version of it though. I\u2019ll change it to like, a lounge song or something.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-no-regrets\"><strong>No Regrets<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>If I could go back in time when I was writing that song, I probably wouldn\u2019t tell that kid nothing. I like the way my script was written. I like where I\u2019m at in life. If I didn\u2019t go through those things that I went through in life and learned it the way I learned it, I probably wouldn\u2019t be where I\u2019m at, so yeah, I probably wouldn\u2019t tell him nothing. Just keep doing what you\u2019re doing, kid. Maybe I\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Juvenile. (Credit: Yaniv Yoshia) \u201cYou want me to be honest or do you want me to make up a lie?\u201d Juvenile is trying to remember what was going on at&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3151,24,934],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-juvenile","category-pushly","category-the-why-the-how"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}