Juvenile Finds Maturity

The New Orleans rap legend on his new album, the Cash Money reunion tour, his relationships with Lil Wayne and Birdman, and more

Anytime you can be a benchmark for celebrity fitness is probably pretty cool. Or, at least I thought. Standing on the sidewalk about 70 feet away from SiriusXM's Manhattan offices, Juvenile's just told me he needs to get his ass back in the gym, motioning to his stomach before pointing to my own gut to make his point. "I'm getting a 'you.'" Of course, l'm really handsome and amazing, so I laugh it off and don't silently commit to walking two miles home today. It's no big deal. Talking to a rap legend kinda is.

Adorned in a camo Balenciaga tee, gold Diamante glasses and a dark gray durag, Juvie tells me about the first time he traveled to New York City 30-something years ago, remembering the abrupt transition from Southern hospitality to the figurative cold of the Big Apple. "It was kind of overwhelming," he tells me. If folks were ignoring him before, they aren't today; he has to tell at least one fan he's in the middle of an interview while we talk. "It's like home to me now."

That much is clear. His team's around, but he doesn't appear to be too concerned about his surroundings. He's debating what to eat, but seeing a recent food truck vendor switch between plates and surfaces without washing their hands makes him hesitant to hit up the nearby halal cart, even if it all smells pretty bomb to me. Maybe I'm just used to it. On his end of things, Juve's getting used to being around some of his Cash Money Records compatriots again. After collectively conquering hip-hop in the late '90s and early 2000s as a label, a series of incarcerations and some label disputes halted much of the original Cash Money, even as Lil Wayne became the biggest musical force in the world.

Now, Birdman, Mannie Fresh, Juvenile, and B.G. are on the road, and the vibes are good. "Being able to go from dressing room to dressing room, talk to my dogs and have private conversations with them, I think that's the most important part about being on tour with my guys," he tells me. He says the plan is to put out a new Hot Boys album at some point, but one step at a time. His own album, Boiling Point, is set to drop Nov. 15.

Below, read my conversation with Juve about his new album, the reunion tour, Lil Wayne, Birdman, business ventures, and more.

The phrase, "the boiling point" usually means that something really good or really bad is about to happen. What do you mean when you use it for your album title?

JUVENILE: Something real dope is about to happen. It's the buildup of over the years of all the music I've been making; all the songs that I wanted to do, people I wanted to work with. It's that, and it's my boiling point because I feel like it's been too long for me. I have two or three songs on the album with Birdman. Of course he's doing my intro and also my album got to keep it like that because he's fam! I feel like I've been recording this album since we did the first JAG album. Me and London [On Da Track] have a song that we made five years ago. It's been since 2019 or 2020. All of Cash Money's on there. Of course Mannie Fresh in his greatest element. Turk is on there. B.G. is on there. Wayne is on. I got my guy Akeem Ali on there. LaRussell is on there. My son Young Juve's on there. The list is long. I got Lenny Kravitz playing guitar on one of the songs that Mannie Fresh produced, which is one of my favorites.

How did the track with you and Lenny come together?

JUVENILE: Man, I've been knowing Lenny for a long time. Just never had the opportunity to sit down and talk about getting together doing a song. He's real tight with Trombone Shorty. I don't think it sounds like none other; what makes it so special is we all doing our thing. We not trying to be somebody we not. My whole album is like that. It's just me being myself, doing my kind of music, just being a parent, all that shit wrapped up into one.

You say your new album is mature. How so?

JUVENILE: I mean musically, I got my guy Trombone Shorty playing all over the album. I got my guy Jacquees singing on the first single just to set the mood and just to show you what kind of album that I have. But I have a well put-together album. That's what I get from it. It's made for older folks, not made for youngsters. The consumer may think different, people who listen to it may think different. But for me, I think it's just more like I'm being my age on it.

How do you stay true to your sound without sounding washed?

JUVENILE: You gotta be who you are. You can't try to keep up with the Joneses and shit like that, which a lot of people say that that's what they're doing. You can do that in your own special way by being creative and doing your own kind of music. Lenny Kravitz is on a Mannie Fresh beat. It's my kind of music, but he didn't have to go out of his element to be because Mannie Fresh made sure he made a type of track that would cater to somebody playing on the guitar.

What has been your favorite part about the Cash Money reunion tour?

JUVENILE: I have a few favorite parts. Being able to go from dressing room to dressing room, talk to my dogs and have private conversations with them, I think that's the most important part about being on tour with my guys. The stage part, too. The best part about being on stage with him is the crowd reaction to the songs, to our group songs that we ain't sing in 25 or 30 years.

You've known Mannie Fresh for almost 30 years now. Has your relationship with him changed since you first met?

JUVENILE: It changed a lot because back in the day we used to be kinda getting in each other's way on the creative side. I used to want him to do things a certain way, and he was like, "Nah man, you got to do it this way. This is the worst." And most of the time he would be right. Now it's more like I'm more inclined to just step back and let him do his thing and let him tell me how he thinks this song should be versus me coming off, "Nah man." The old cocky young dude would've been that way, but nah. It's so relaxed. He can go to his studio, record a beat and send it to me. I can go to the studio, sit by myself, record myself without nobody else in the building. So it's just a relaxed feeling.

What was a time where you guys argued and it turned out he had a point?

JUVENILE: "Back That Azz Up." He kept changing the fucking beat though. That's the truth. He kept changing the beat, and I was getting in my feelings about that. I was like, "Look bro, every time you change the beat, I gotta change my lyrics. You changing the tone of the music. I got to change my lyrics." He was like, "Nah bro, if you just let me do what I'm doing and leave the verse how it is and it'll be okay." So that was him talking to me. "'Just let me do it one more time and then I'll leave it alone." He was right.

On "Back That Azz Up," Lil Wayne had an iconic moment when he said, "What, what, what, drop it like it's hot." Did any part of you wish you rapped that instead?

JUVENILE: No, I didn't. What's crazy about that, Wayne was there through the whole process of us putting "Back That Azz Up," and he was determined to be on the song. And he said, "Nah, I got this." I said, "You know what, let him put it on there," because Wayne deserved to be on the song. I kind of regret not letting him have a verse on the song because he was at the studios participating in every song that I did on 400 Degreez. Whether he rapped on it, or said a word on it or not, he was there. He played a big role in putting my album together. It was definitely some little brother shit [laughs]. He had came at me like five different times. He was like, "Man, I gotta be on it. I gotta be somewhere on it."

Weezy is someone who seems like he can be off in his own world at times, but you two did have that kind of sibling connection. How often do you speak with him these days?

JUVENILE: Man, I'm going to be honest, I haven't seen him since the last concert. He always shows a lot of love to me, but it's always at either rehearsal or on stage. We don't get no time together. So [when] that day comes when we both slow down … right now, he's my little bro, man, he's busy. He's raising his kids, I'm raising my kids. I'll see him in a couple weeks. 'Cause we have a couple shows together. Maybe we'll sit down and have some conversations.

What about you and Birdman? How have things changed since you first began working together?

JUVENILE: Truthfully, just being honest, we back to where we was years ago. Our friendship ain't about the music or nothing. In the past, we was always friends. The music kind of separated our friendship because the money gets involved, right?

How did you fix things?

JUVENILE: Just being around each other, just kicking and hanging around each other, spending time together talking about our old shit. We got a lot of stories bro. I knew Birdman liked Toni Braxton long before he met her. He used to talk about her.

Wow. He really manifested that.

JUVENILE: He spoke that shit into existence.

In the past you said that there was a new Hot Boys album in the works. Have you guys started that?

JUVENILE: I've been telling everybody, "Hey, bro, one step at a time." Shit, I worked my ass off to get everybody together to be able to do this [tour]. So one step at a time.

A little while ago, Metro Boomin said that rap had lost its regionalism. Do you agree?

JUVENILE: Honestly, I don't pay attention to those things. I look at this with rap: I want to see these young guys make as much money as they could make to take care of their family. I want the music to be great, but I always think about the other part of it. How would you want to see these young men? You want to see him with a gun in his hand, putting his life on the line handcuffed? Or with a microphone in his hand, his family giving the same opportunity to the minorities around him and cats that come after him and setting examples. That's how I want to see them. So I don't look at it like that. Right now, it's a different way for these cats to make money in the music industry and the cats that come after them have to learn new ways. Things are changing, the music business is evolving. We have to learn new ways and evolve with it.

You started your own furniture business during the pandemic, but you stopped. Why is that? And do you have plans to start back up?

JUVENILE: I got too busy because I was actually making the stuff. I'm buying these machines that's going to do it for me so I don't have to be so hands on. They're CNC machines. So it's going to be a lot of me programming, but once I program them, they're good to go. I'm a CNC operator. I took a CNC class years ago. It was something to do during COVID.

What are some other companies you own?

JUVENILE: I've got Juvie Juice, we've got three flavors, I got [rolling] papers, I got boxers, I got my cognac, I got my 400 Degreez chips. I'm a busybody. I've got so many businesses. I keep shit on my plate. I wake up to an itinerary of things that I have to do. I get up at 6 o clock, I watch Get Up on ESPN, then I watch First Take, then I'm ready to go.

How long have you been waking up that early?

JUVENILE: I'm going to say for the last 15 or 20 years consistently. I feel good, my life is going great.

Your NPR Tiny Desk concert went viral. Do you think that seeing you in a live band context made people appreciate you more as an artist?

JUVENILE: I showed my artistry and it showed a lot of other artists that I think we've been cheating the fans for enough for the last few years rapping over these beats and we should give them what they really want. I feel like if a rapper can rap his song, he should rap his song.

What was it like getting to perform your music on that kind of stage?

JUVENILE: It's a great feeling, man. The fact that my daughter was the one that pushed me to do that. She's the one that said, 'Hey you need to really do Tiny Desk and to go in there and do it and not just do it. Bring along my man, Trombone Shorty, Mannie Fresh, and my band, and really sit there with the mic in front of me and drink my Juvie Juice. Life don't get no better than that.

Boiling Point is out 11/14 via DNA Music.