Juvenile – Slow Motion ft. Soulja Slim

Hip-hop veteran Juvenile from New Orleans, who grew up in the Hot Boys group with legendary rapper Lil Wayne, is also a chart-topper from the South, having ascended the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with his 2004 hit “Slow Motion.” Juvenile, real name Terius Gray, was among the pioneers of the early 1990s “bounce” movement in New Orleans, an upbeat hip-hop genre that fused party music and gangster rap. In addition to being a member of the bounce group U.N.L.V., Juvenile appeared on two singles by DJ Jimi, a bounce artist: “It’s Jimi” from 1991 and “Bounce (For the Juvenile)” from 1993. His debut album, Being Myself, was released by the Warlock record company in 1994, but the rapper’s hopes of becoming a national celebrity were dashed when the bounce craze failed to take off beyond New Orleans. In 1997, Ronald “Suga Slim” and Brian “Baby” Williams, the founders of the Cash Money label, welcomed the post-bounce Juvenile on board with the release of his notably more gangster album Solja Rags. Juvenile joined the Hot Boys, a Cash Money group that also released their debut album, Get It How U Live!, in 1997. The Hot Boys included rappers Lil Wayne, B.G., and Turk. Mannie Fresh produced the entirety of Juvenile’s 1998 solo debut, 400 Degreez, which sold platinum and served as his breakout album in part because of the hit songs “Ha” and “Back That Azz Up.” With the release of the Hot Boys’ sophomore album, Guerrilla Warfare, and the hit solo album Tha G-Code in 1999, Juvenile received two more platinum awards. That year, Warlock also joined the trend with a remix of their song Being Myself.

The English Project
The rapper left the Cash Money label shortly after the release of his gold-certified album Project English in 2001, citing financial mismanagement, and founded his own label and management group, UTP. After UTP’s record 600 Degreez, which they had promised, never materialized, Juvenile’s management quickly arranged for a Cash Money/UTP co-release for his next album. When Juve the Great debuted in 2003, it bore both of these fingerprints. Juvenile also won his third platinum album award when his single “Slow Motion,” featuring Soulja Slim, went to the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. When he and his new group UTP released the song “Nolia Clap” on the Rap-A-Lot label in 2004, Cash Money and he parted ways amicably. A year later, Hurricane Katrina wrecked Juvenile’s Slidell, Louisiana, house as he was about to sign a new solo career contract with Asylum. His chart-topping 2006 album Reality Check, which included production from Scott Storch, Cool & Dre, and Lil Jon plus a single track by Mannie Fresh, explored the disaster and its depressing aftermath. Cocky & Confident, his 2009 Atlantic record, would feature no Fresh, but Juvenile would receive his first-ever co-production credit. He moved UTP to the E1 family of labels with Beast Mode (2010), although the partnership was brief. When UTP released Rejuvenation in 2012—a Cash Money comeback of sorts, with Mannie Fresh handling a lot of the beats—Fontana became the label’s new home.