470. Juvenile, "400 Degreez"

 


My first exposure to Juvenile was back on MTV when - oh god help us, here it comes - MTV still played music videos, I know, can you imagine anything more old man to say.  Anyway, this album sold 6 million copies, holy shit.

I have to admit I have never listened to it all the way through until yesterday.  It's easy to see why a song like "Ha" became a big hit, since it has the things that big hits have, a hummable chorus and some great lines.  Also almost every line ends in "ha," making it a descendent of the ghazal form of Urdic poetry, It's hypnotic and incantatory.  

I wish I knew more about hip hop history because I'm not sure how to properly situate this album, but I could see it being hugely influential.  

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