Juicy J - Staying Trippy

2011’s Blue Dream & Lean reminded partygoers worldwide that a full Ziploc bag and a large cup of mixed Sprite were the sole ingredients for a wholesome time. These essentials, and other rap world phenomenon, were curated by none other than Taylor Gang’s Juicy J, whose recent resurgence has seen him go from Southern hip-hop king to international success. Lest we forget, the rapper earned an Oscar in 2006 for his work with Three 6 Mafia. As such, Juicy’s hit-making experience is unparalleled, and perhaps understated in today’s rap arena-best evidenced by last year’s “Bandz A Make Her Dance.” HYPETRAK sat down with Juicy to discuss the making of the hit (it’s easier than you think), the best places to eat in Memphis, Tennessee and much more. Excerpts are included below, but for the full interview, head on over to HYPETRAK.

Let’s talk about one of your latest hits, “Bandz A Make Her Dance.” Did you expect that song to become such a hit?
Nah man not at all! It was real random. I just had this hundred dollar microphone laying around, I picked it up, did my part on it, then just decided to post it on Twitter one day, and they fans just went nuts. Not expected whatsoever.

That’s pretty amazing, there has to be a story behind it. Can you explain how this all came about from the beginning thoughts to the actual recording?
It was just one of those days in the studio hanging out. Some friends came over just chilling; we were just sitting there drinking a couple beers, smoking some good. Then I get an email, the producer Mike Will emailed me 10 beats over and I was going through the beats and I heard this particular beat that just made me say “wow.” From there it was just like “wow, I have this idea for a song called ‘Bandz A Make Her Dance’ and I think it’d go perfect with this beat.” It took me about an hour and a half to put the song together structurally – I had a the hundred dollar microphone and that was it. I’m still shocked right now. It’s crazy.

Which microphone was it? Do you remember?
(Laughs) Nah I can’t remember the name of the mic. Some hundred dollar microphone man, you know what I’m saying? Something I bought from Guitar Center.