Three 6 Mafia’s tireless frontman has done it all as an artist and collaborator, which is why it’s disappointing to see him combat his ageless production with uninspired guest features on his new deluxe album.
Juicy J has been everywhere. From selling mixtapes with his Three 6 Mafia groupmates on the streets of Memphis to making pop songs with Katy Perry and Fall Out Boy on his way to the Billboard Hot 100 top 10; from rapping about demonic occultism to winning an Oscar for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. Three 6 Mafia stampeded into the rap game with sinister horrorcore lyrics in the mid-’90s, not mimicking extraterrestrial life like OutKast or the gritty, low-riding Houston music of UGK but rather, showing us that a Southern group could create raps that make us squeamish. Their deliveries were cold, their pianos brooding, as if they were narrating a horror film, and the new generation has respectfully copied their style. Denzel Curry riffed Three 6 Mafia cover art, and Isaiah Rashad’s “Lay Wit Ya” samples “Ridin N Da Chevy.”
But ever since Three 6 Mafia disbanded, Juicy J has abandoned the pursuit of cohesive solo albums and instead opted for blockbuster collaborations that can get him chart placement. There is no doubt that the dynamic keyboards that Juicy made famous as a producer have become a staple in the rap game. That’s why, on his deluxe album, The Hustle Still Continues, it’s disappointing to see him combat such ageless production with uninspired guest features.
Rico Nasty and the late former Three 6 member Lord Infamous appear on “Take It,” where Nasty—an artist who raps like she’s having a shouting match with her therapist—is solid with her frenetic delivery. But the repetitive, unimaginative chorus makes the song sound like a worse version of “Juicy J Can’t,” from the Blue Dream & Lean tape. Logic, who somehow is featured on two songs (as well as an adlib that becomes a nuisance), remains an underwhelming rapper with lines that inspire a fake laugh and a head shake like in a Seinfeld scene (“Was never one for the academics/But knew the everyday struggle,” he raps). “She Gon Pop It” meanwhile pairs Ty Dolla $ign and Megan Thee Stallion—an interesting matchup on paper. But Ty’s melodic alchemy doesn’t gel with what a vocally-pounding rapper like Megan can do. It’s a missed opportunity on an album that has a few of them.
Juicy J remains naturally charismatic. He can tell a silly story and keep you engaged like an uncle at the cookout. He is never trying too hard, and it works. On “Kicked In’,” he recalls a time he took too many mushrooms, rapping, “I done ate too many grams, it got me out here geekin’/Hit the weed to calm me down, but that shit got me tweakin’”—a tale that might have been on a Three 6 album or two. (He then adds that he needs to head back home because he got a text from his “old lady.”) It’s a lighthearted narrative that’s effective from a rap legend who’s blossomed into a legitimate hitmaker. Juicy J is 46 years old. And contrary to belief, rap isn’t just a young person’s genre. The older generations can still drop quality work. But going from a 15-track album to a 25-track project doesn’t do Juicy J any favors here. Instead of building upon a decent record, he turns it into a cash grab.
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