Juicy J Tells Us How to Stay Trippy in Quarantine
Juicy J is blown away that Bella Thorne made $1 million on OnlyFans in her first 24 hours on the platform. The trippiest rapper in the game for the last three decades is discussing why OnlyFans is the perfect platform for celebrities like himself. “You can bake a cake, make spaghetti, and whatever the hell you’re doing, and as long as you have an audience, people will tune in,” he says over Zoom. “Somebody wants to see Juicy J making spaghetti.”
Since the formation of the Grammy-award winning group Three 6 Mafia in 1991, Juicy J has been a prominent figure in rap music, first introducing the world to the group’s horror-themed aesthetic through the group’s 1995 debut album Mystic Styles (they’d go on to release nine albums in total) and then kicking off a solo career in 2002 with the release of Chronicles of Juice Man. His solo and group careers overlapped up until the release of Hustle Till I Die in 2009, when he began to fully focus on being rap’s coolest solo veteran.
Juicy J started to collaborate with Wiz Khalifa, and then revealed in 2011 that he was a member of Wiz Khalifa’s Taylor Gang label imprint. After he released the massive hit “Bandz a Make Her Dance” in 2012, Juicy J’s new “trippy” era was born. He dropped Rubba Band Business in 2017, and now he’s fresh off the release of his fifth studio album, The Hustle Continues.
Ahead of the album launch, Juicy J spoke to Highsnobiety about a wide-range of topics, from his aforementioned thoughts on OnlyFans to “WAP” to partying during the pandemic.
On Being “Trippy” in 2020
I’ve always said that being trippy is just being comfortable and being in a happy place. If you want to party, do it. If you’d rather smoke some weed, do that. If drinking water is your thing, do that too. But in 2020, man, I guess you have to get trippy in quarantine. Right now, I'm going to smoke some weed and get high as hell. Trippy.
On His New Single & Video “GAHDAMNHIGH”
It’s about just being in the house. High as a fool. It ain't too much thought that I had to put to it. Just being in quarantine, that's all I've been doing. In the video, I'm cleaning everything, washing everything, scrubbing the house. I had my maid come over and clean up, but I still try to clean up behind them. It's just like that in my real life during quarantine.
On His New Album
It’s super dope. I produced 98 percent of it by myself. There are some cool features like Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, Ty Dolla $ign, Jay Rock, Wiz Khalifa, and Logic. To me it's one of my greatest albums I've ever put together, because I had 100% control over it. I got to put it out when I want to put it out. I had a couple of songs that I had already recorded before the pandemic and built the rest of it from there.
On OnlyFans
Bella Thorne made a million dollars in a day. I love it. I'm about to get me an OnlyFans. Put some stripper chicks in there so fans can see some cheeks dancing or something. I can play some music and work on promotion. I heard a lot of people be like, "Oh man. OnlyFans is OnlyFans." I'm like, look, somebody made a million dollars. I don't even know what she did to get that million dollars. She probably just showed pictures of herself, just chilling in the house or whatever. You can bake a cake, make spaghetti, and whatever the hell you're doing and, as long as you have an audience, people will pay to tune in. Somebody wants to see Juicy J make spaghetti. That's how you run that check up. You get that $1, $2 million, whatever that chick got. I think it's a great way to interact with your fans and promote your music and get a paycheck.
On Megan Thee Stallion
I love her. She’s an amazingly gifted artist. Man, she's hands on in the studio. I send her the beats I produce and she’ll let me know quickly which ones she likes and which ones she doesn’t. She lets the engineer know when to drop the beat or do something cool with a song’s engineering. When I first met her, I knew that she was going to be a superstar.
On “WAP”
I fuck with “WAP.” Everybody's playing it and the song was No. 1 for two weeks in a row. Yeah. It's a dope, trippy record. I haven't been in a club since this quarantine shit, but I know that motherfucker goes crazy when they play it there.
On Virtual Shows
Honestly, I feel like it's the future. I feel there are going to be more virtual shows and more virtual stuff in general over time. Like The Matrix. I don't think it's going to be crazy like that, where they are sticking stuff in the back of people's brains. But I feel like Hollywood is ahead of its time when it comes to these ideas. When film companies put out these movies and you look at them, the futuristic ideas seem weird at the time but then, later down the line, you start to see what they’re seeing. It's going to be all digital down the line. Look at the iPhone. You can do everything on your phone. You can control your whole house from your phone. You could start your car with your phone, warm it up, turn on your house’s lights, turn on the alarm, unlock your doors, lock your doors, and so much more. Look how we’re talking now. We’re on a computer.
On Pandemic Partying
I think it's very risky, because I've had a person close to me pass away due to Covid. It was one of my body guards. I know some other people that passed away. So it's something out here, and it's serious and people are getting sick. Some people are dying, some people are not. But I think we need to just go by the guidelines, wear a mask, make sure we wash our hands, and social distance. I don't think it's smart to party just yet. I would give it a minute. Because if you’re throwing a party, you're going to have your friends there and you don't want to put your friends at risk as well as yourself.
On a New Wiz Khalifa Joint Project
We have over 50 songs together, so I'm putting out this project that we don’t even have a name for it yet. I produced it entirely. It’s been a long time since me and Wiz have put out music together so it’s time to empty the vault. Some of these songs were recorded this year and some were made last year. We got a lot of surprises in there. Motherfuckers going to go crazy when it hits.
On the State of Memphis Rap
To me, it's taken over. I hear people using the flows, sounds, drum patterns, cadences, and everything else. I hear the city’s influence in every artist that isn’t from Memphis. Shit, I clear a sample probably every day from my catalog with Three Six Mafia. So Memphis is getting what it's due. Memphis has always been like, an overlooked city back in the day. It's finally starting to shine with what’s going on right now with all the new artists and producers coming out of the city.
On Being Healthier (And Vegan)
It starts with being active. You can eat meat. I ain't never going to say meat is bad for you. It's always good to work out. Sweat, sit in the sun, go in the pool, or just absorb some of nature. I feel like that will keep you more healthy than anything. Because you can sit up and eat vegan stuff all day, but not work out and you'll get fat. Take a jog or at least take a walk around the block. You ain't got to over-stress yourself — you can just take a walk. We're not doing nothing. We are at home all day. Take some vitamins and don't do too much of anything. If you're a vegan, man, thumbs up. It's the best. You feel lighter. You feel better. You feel a little bit fresher. To me, meat makes me feel....heavy. It gasses up my stomach too. A lot of the meats will gas your stomach up. Vegan food helps me think differently.
