With over 30 years in the rap game, most of which have been spent with the Cash Money Records army, Juvenile is a seasoned veteran. The 50-year-old rapper is still in the field. Having reinvigorated his career with a viral Tiny Desk performance last year, the New Orleans legend is back on on the road with his Cash Money brethren on a reunion tour, pushing his new single “Hot Boy Summer” featuring B.G., Jacquees and Trombone Shorty, and prepping the new album Boiling Hot. Juvie links up with XXL to discuss the new project, his legacy, touring, his various side hustles and more.
As an integral part of Cash Money’s rise to national prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Juivie has plenty of pins on his lapel, including a Billboard-topping single, three platinum albums—1998’s 400 Degreez, 1999’s The G Code and 2001’s Juvie The Great—and one of the most infectious club anthems of all time. Juvie is bringing the fun back with his new single, “Hot Boy Summer.” The rhymer’s track recalls the golden days of the “hot boy” and “hot girl” movement that Cash Money started in the 1990s.
“The whole hot boy thing, we started that years ago,” Juvie says. “Shout-out to [Megan Thee Stallion] for showing it love, but she got to always show love to the originators.”
As an MC who has been through several waves of hip-hop, a genre which is now seeing more older rappers reign as the best-selling artists, Juvie is settling into his role as an elder statesmen. “There’s no age on it,” Juvie says. “Music is ageless. It don’t matter how old you are. I think with the age, it more of a look thing than a talent thing.”
Amid touring and running multiple business ventures, Juvie is prepping his first solo album in 11 years, Boiling Point. “I go so many songs,” Juvie says. “So much music. So much material. It’s to that point where it’s about to boil over. My last big album was 400 Degrees. I wanted this album to compliment 400 Degreez.”
Check out Juvenile’s exclusive interview with XXL where he opens up further about his new album, reuniting with the Hot Boys on tour, side hustles, his music’s enduring legacy and more below.
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