Songoftheday 12/4/21 - Girl you workin' with some ass, make a n**** spend his cash his last...
"Back That Azz Up" - Juvenile featuring Mannie Fresh and Lil Wayne
from the album 400 Degreez (1998)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #19 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 22
Today's song comes from rapper Juvenile, who grew up as Terius Gray in New Orleans, where he had some local success in releasing his indie debut album Being Myself in 1995, before being signed to the Cash Money Records label. His next record Solja Rags nicked the R&B Albums chart in Billboard magazine at #55 in 1997, the same year he joined the Hot Boyz rap collective that included future SOTD artist B.G. and Lil' Wayne. They also put out an album, Get It How U Live!, which did a bit better at #22 on the R&B Albums list.
In the autumn of 1998, Juvenile returned with his second disc with Cash Money, and third overall, 400 Degreez. The lead single from the record, "Ha", was his first hit, climbing to #16 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart, #11 on the Rap Songs list, and #68 on the all-genre "pop" Hot 100. Another track from the album, the Latin-flavored "Follow Me Now", got enough urban radio spins to spend nine weeks on the R&B Singles list, cresting at #63.
The second single from the record would be the hip-hop dance track "Back That Azz Up", which featured Lil Wayne (in his first big feature) and producer Mannie Fresh. Written by the trio, the some (changed to "Back That Thang Up" for the radio) draws on the New Orleans "bounce" music tradition that celebrates the posterior, Juvenile spits out brag rhymes fast and mostly indecipherable until you get to the chorus, which basically becomes a club call to action. Mannie Fresh gets a prime cameo spot, while newbie Lil Wayne tags on at the end. It's the usual sex & violence track in the verses, but it was the groove that got this through with the pop radio crowd...
"Back That Azz Up" became the first top-40 crossover hit on the Hot 100 for Juvenile, as well as Mannie Fresh and Lil Wayne. The song rose to #2 on Billboard's Rap Singles chart, and #5 on the R&B Singles list. The 400 Degreez album, released in November of 1998, peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, spending a cool hundred weeks on the list as well as making it to #2 on the R&B Albums list, going on to sell over four million copies. Juvenile, Mannie Fresh (as a featured artist) and Lil Wayne will all be back to the series.
(6/10)
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Here's the uncensored version from the single and the album...
and lastly, Juvenile, Mannie Fresh, and No Limit singer/rapper Mia X updated the song for the COVID-19 age with "Vax That Thang Up"...
Up tomorrow: The craziest concept a major music artist has ever done, which spectacularly imploded but gave the superstar his ONLY top-40 hit.
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