It was 1992 and DJ Jimi was on the rise with regional distribution for his debut album It’s Jimi on the strength of his wildly popular single “Where They At (The Original)”. But one of the best songs on that album (and certainly the most lyrically interesting) was by a teenaged upstart from the Magnolia Projects named Terius Gray who performed under the name Juvenile.

“Magnolia Project keep slingin’ iron / A bunch of Uptown villains who don’t mind dyin’…”

“Bounce for the Juvenile” is powered by the drum track from “Ashley’s Roachclip” by The Soul Searchers; the same track famously sampled in Eric B. & Rakim’s “Paid in Full”, P.M. Dawn’s “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss”, and Milli Vanilli’s “Girl You Know It’s True”. But it is more so powered by the youthful charisma and energetic voice of this lively “Uptown villain” who invoked irresistibly catchy chants and a humorous faux patois to get us to, well, bounce for him. (Notice his borrowing Shabba Ranks’ “Mr. Loverman” cadence when he says, “You’re messin’ with Mr. Juvenile, you’re messin’ with Mr. Juvey.”)

In this song, Mr. Juvey also sets the mold for what would prove to be a key ingredient in the bounce formula: The Outfit Wishlist.

“Triiiiiiick, stop talkin’ that it /
And buy Juvenile his outfit /
I want a shob* Girbaud shirt, some Polo socks /
Girbaud shorts and a pair of Reeboks…”

*Early 90’s NOLA Vocabulary Lesson: “Shob” was a complimentary adjective basically mispronouncing “sharp”. It roughly equates to slang terms from other regions such as “dope”, “phat”, “fresh”, “tight”, or “like that”.

Basically, as with most Bounce music, “Bounce for the Juvenile” was all about sex, drugs and partying, with a little materialism and violence sprinkled in for good measure. But something about Juvenile’s youthful, upbeat energy and comic flavor made it all seem so innocent. To this day, it’s hard to stay in a sour mood when I hear this song. I mean, look at these lyrics:

“Where the virgins at? Where the virgins at?
Alla y’all putcha hands in the air /
Triiiiiick, stop tellin’ that lie /
We done hitcha from the back for some Popeye’s /
You got a three-piece white, a small cold drink /
Some red beans, a biscuit and small fries…”

Besides their serving as effective advertising (because I found myself having to stop at Popeye’s yesterday after listening to this), even if those lyrics offend you, when you hear them from his voice, it’s hard to trip. It just sounds…fun. Like a sing-songy nursery rhyme. In fact, I think I just figured it out: Juvey was Nelly before Nelly was Nelly!

Interestingly enough, Juvenile was about 17 when he recorded this song, so it may be the only song he put out while he was technically still a “juvenile”. In adulthood, his voice would grow more gravelly (almost like Ja Rule’s, but again, before Ja Rule) and his expressions would become decidedly less “innocent”. (The opening lines of “On Fire” come to mind.) He would go on to sign with Cash Money Records, form the historic Hot Boy$ quartet with Turksta, Weezy and B.Gizzle, and sell, oh I don’t know, a few million copies of this little album you might have heard about called 400 Degreez. He would grace us with smash hits like “Ha”, “’Nolia Clap”, “Slow Motion” and of course the dance floor mating call to end them all, “Back That Ass Up”. But I will always have a soft spot for this fresh-faced debut which name-checked my beloved 13th Ward as well as the Rochambeau Hotel. (More on that later.) And I’ll always remember that before the Cash Money Millionaires (and later Billionaires) taught us to “stunt” and “bling” with stretch P.T. Cruisers on dubs with “frog eyes”, it all started out with this ‘Nolia Boy who let the girl know up front he ain’t have no ride.

“Who need a ride home? /
I gotcha ride home /
The Juvenile’s gonna take ya home… /
Bitch, getcha mind right! /
Hoe, getcha mind right! /
Bitch, getcha mind right! /
Hoe, I’m WALKIN’!”
- Juvenile from a Club 49 freestyle

Ahh, kids say the darnedest things.