Reality TV long ago obliterated F. Scott Fitzgerald’s adage that no second acts exist in American life. After all, in the wake of Three 6 Mafia’s Oscar win, it seemed like they had a halfway chance of crossing over to the mainstream. Instead, Juicy J started getting rejected by girls from The Hills, Adventures in Hollyhood was an abject failure, and Ashton Kutcher even stopped returning Project Pat’s phone calls.
But never underestimate the power of the marijuana demographic. Should you be able to crack the college stoner crowd, you will get Cypress Hill money until you’re buried. Enter Wiz Khalifa, the current pied piper of potheads, a guy who was able to somehow make Mac Miller — the rap game Subway Sandwich — into one of the biggest stars in America. But I was still suspect when Amber Rose’s flower jumped Juicy J into the “gang” that he named after a line of Converse. But career-wise, it might have been the smartest business move Jordan Houston has ever made.
The results are on par with Seinfeld’s “Roommate Swap.” Largely uninterested are the old school Triple Six fans who have moved onto Don Trip, Yo Gotti, 2Chainz, or whatever nationally obscure rapper that 18-year olds in Memphis check for. But on the college bong circuit, Juicy J has become Big Bro. At SXSW, Juicy J performed at some Mountain Dew sponsored clusterfuck where they were giving out water bottles with Lil Mac Miller’s face on them. The latter reason alone was reason enough to pass. But thanks to persistence from Boris “The Homie” from Metal Lungies , I passed on seeing Alice Russell in favor of one of the greatest talents in Southern rap history.
Trippy, Mayne
J’s set was easily one of the most memorable performances of the festival. Out of the 700-plus people packed into Club DeVille, few were above the age of 25 and the audience ran about 95 percent white. And they knew every word to the tracks from Blue Dream & Lean and the Rubber Band Business tapes. Sorority Becky’s hoisted on the shoulders of guys named Brad mouthing the most profane lyrics possible. It was sort of like seeing a chickenhead convention clad only in J Crew. Totally surreal but sort of awesome.
With guys like Spaceghost, ASAP Rocky, Wiz, and KRIT riding a wave of Memphis revivalism, J’s completely re-branded himself to kids who see “Poppin’ My Collar” as a jam that they remember from middle-school. Say what you want about the dude’s single-minded lyrics, but his hooks and ad-libs are still better than your favorite underground rapper. In the meantime, I will be wearing out his new mixtapes that I had previously written off. Kristen Cavallari may have said no to Juicy J, but you should not.
Download:
MP3: Juicy J – “Juicy J Can’t”
ZIP: Juicy J – Blue Dream & Lean (NO DJ) (Left-Click)
ZIP: Juicy J & Lex Luger- Rubba Band Business Vol. 2 NO DJ (Left-Click)
