Juvenile (rapper)

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Juvenile
Juvenile performing at the House of Blues in New Orleans, LA on March 21, 2008
Juvenile performing at the House of Blues in New Orleans, LA on March 21, 2008
Background information
Birth name Terius Gray
Born March 25, 1975 (1975-03-25) (age 33)
Origin New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Genre(s) Hip hop, Bounce, New Orleans Rap
Occupation(s) Rapper
Years active 1994 - present
Label(s) Cash Money; UTP; Atlantic
Associated acts UTP, B.G., Soulja Slim, Young Buck, Mannie Fresh, Skip, Wacko, Lil' Wayne
Website Official Website

Terius Gray (born March 25, 1975 in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States), known by his stage name Juvenile, is an American rapper. At the age of 19, he began recording raps, releasing his debut album Being Myself in 1994.[1] The album gave name to the southern rap style known as "bounce".[2] The album was followed by Solja Rags in 1997; its underground popularity led to the major-label release of 400 Degreez in 1998.[1] After releasing Tha G-Code in 1999 and Project English in 2001, Juvenile left Cash Money Records.

In 2003, he returned to Cash Money to record Juve the Great, spawning the number-one hit "Slow Motion". In 2006, he was signed to Atlantic Records, releasing his latest album Reality Check under that label.[1]

Contents

[edit] Music career

After beginning his rap performing career in his teenage years, Juvenile released his first album Being Myself in 1994, giving way to the southern "bounce" rap style, similar in nature to the sound that Master P and No Limit Records were performing at the time.[2] In 1997, Solja Rags, Juvenile's debut with Cash Money Records, became popular among underground rap audiences.[1] Thus, Juvenile's next album 400 Degreez was released in 1998 with joint distribution by Universal Records, spawning his first single "Ha" and later "Back that Ass up", both of which topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.[3] However, there came a dispute over who owned the rights to the title of the song, as another New Orleans performer DJ Jubilee claimed that Juvenile's song sounded very similar to a song of his. In January 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans denied the case.[4]

In 1999, capitalizing off Juvenile's popularity off 400 Degreez, a remixed version of Being Myself and reissue of Solja Rags were released.[1] Two more albums under Cash Money were released, Tha G-Code in 1999 and Project English in 2001. Juvenile left Cash Money Records in 2002 to join a new label UTP Records.[1] In the summer of that year, he was arrested for assaulting his barber over charges that the barber was bootlegging his music.[5]

He was arrested January 2003 in New Orleans on drug charges.[6] The next month, he was sentenced to 75 hours of community service for a fight outside a nightclub in Miami, Florida from 2001.[7] Juvenile returned to Cash Money in 2003 to release Juve the Great. It contained the number-one hit "Slow Motion" featuring Soulja Slim, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week of August 7, 2004[8], being the first number-one hit for both Juvenile and Slim[3], who died in November 2003.[9]

In 2005, Juvenile and his UTP crew went on to create the hit song "Nolia Clap", and Juvenile was able to use this as leverage in getting a new deal for himself and UTP at Atlantic Records.[1] In June of that year, he performed his song "Booty Language" from the soundtrack to the film Hustle and Flow at a party in West Hollywood, California.[10] However, Juvenile's Slidell, Louisiana home was damaged but not destroyed in Hurricane Katrina near the end of the summer.[1] In the aftermath of the hurricane, he worked with fellow New Orleans rapper Master P and other hip hop artists to raise funds and supplies for the victims of the hurricane.[11] Thus, he moved to Atlanta to live until the spring of 2006, when he moved back to New Orleans.[12]

Reality Check, Juvenile's 2006 album, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, being his first number-one album.[13] Production began in May 2005, most of it being done at a Holiday Inn hotel room in New Orleans.[14] Its first single was "Animal", followed by "Rodeo", "Get Ya Hustle On", "What's Happenin'", and "Way I Be Leanin'" featuring Mike Jones, Paul Wall, Skip, and Wacko.[3] On signing to Atlantic, Juvenile criticized his former label Cash Money for not giving him enough creative freedoms as well as FEMA over his perceptions over their handling of Hurricane Katrina. Shaheem Reid noted "Get Ya Hustle On" as a criticism of the George W. Bush administration.[15]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Discography

Main article: Juvenile discography

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Ankeny, Jason (2006). "Juvenile - Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  2. ^ a b Farley, Keith. ""Being Myself" - Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  3. ^ a b c "Juvenile - Billboard Singles". Allmusic (2006). Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  4. ^ "For The Record: Quick News On Nickelback, Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Beyonce, Further Seems Forever, Juvenile & .he also has a 9th album coming out in stores on november according to his myspace page in november More", MTV News (2005-01-27). Retrieved on 2008-02-14. 
  5. ^ "Rapper Juvenile Booked in Bootleg Dispute", WSB-TV (2002-09-17). Retrieved on 2008-02-06. 
  6. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (2003-01-30). "Juvenile Arrested for Cocaine, Marijuana Possession", MTV News. Retrieved on 2008-02-14. 
  7. ^ "For The Record: Quick News On Juvenile, System Of A Down, Diplomats, Common And Erykah Badu, Bob Dylan & More", MTV News (2003-02-24). Retrieved on 2008-02-14. 
  8. ^ Bozell, L. Brent III (2004-08-09). "Summer's Pop Music Meltdown". MediaResearch.org. Creators Syndicate. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  9. ^ Ankeny, Jason (2003). "Soulja Slim - Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  10. ^ Scorca, Shari (2005-06-28). "Lil Jon, T.I., Paul Wall Bring the Dirty South to the Sunset Strip", MTV News. Retrieved on 2008-02-14. 
  11. ^ Moss, Corey (2005-09-07). "Juvenile, 3 Doors Down Among Those Affected By Disaster", MTV News. Retrieved on 2008-02-06. 
  12. ^ Takahashi, Corey (2006-05-06). "Rapper Juvenile Returns to New Orleans". National Public Radio. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  13. ^ Harris, Chris (2006-03-15). "Juvenile's New 'Reality' Scores 'Billboard' #1", MTV News. Retrieved on 2008-02-06. 
  14. ^ Crosley, Hillary (2005-05-17). "Juvenile Gets Busy at a Holiday Inn - Making an Album", MTV News. Retrieved on 2008-02-14. 
  15. ^ Reid, Shaheem (2006-03-08). "Juvenile Tears Into Cash Money, Lil Wayne — And FEMA", MTV News. Retrieved on 2008-02-14. 

[edit] External Links

Persondata
NAME Juvenile
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gray, Terius
SHORT DESCRIPTION Rapper,
DATE OF BIRTH 1975-3-25
PLACE OF BIRTH Reserve, Louisiana, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
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