The Breakfast ClubINTERVIEW: Mannie Fresh & Juvenile On The Legacy Of 'Back That Azz Up' + More
The legendary Mannie Fresh and Juvenile sit down to discuss the legacy of their iconic hit "Back That Azz Up." Over two decades since its release, the track remains a cultural phenomenon. Mannie Fresh and Juvenile share behind-the-scenes stories of how the song came to life, its impact on hip-hop, and how it continues to resonate with fans old and new. Listen for More.
Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club, yeps.
The world's more thank this morning to show the Breakfast Club.
Charlamagne, the god you know, just hilarious is on Mattornity to leave envy is actually yeah, your attorney leave any moment. So Laura Lenro says guest hosting, and we got a man. I feel like legends is an understatement. I feel like icons is an understatement. Many fresh and juvenile twenty five years of back that ass up.
God, Yes, sir Lord birth Yeah, man, bro, I mean the way you even represented you know, a lot of this started with you know, you giving it acronyms and all of that, and you have given it.
This praise as well. The Negro spiritual.
Yes, yes, brop is a Negro spiriture to this day.
Did y'all still think y'all would have people back in that ass up twenty five years later?
Hell no, no, I did.
You might see yeah, you.
Know, but you know, man, man at the club, dude me, you know, personally, as an MC, I didn't.
I didn't. I didn't see it. I was trying to enjoy myself with with you the moment I had.
You know, yeah, I saw it.
Like, you know, from the very beginning of you know, we did that song three times over, and we was making it because you know, every time he did a rap, you know, I felt like it was beating.
Up my beat.
So I did something to compliment what he was doing.
So when I did it again, he did a better rap, and I was just like, shit, you know what I'm saying.
So by the third time, we felt like, okay, this is it.
The version we got now with the yeah yeah, you know what I'm saying. Because every time we did it, it elevated, you know, and it got better and better. And when we finally was like this the one, I was like, oh, yeah, this is gonna be the one.
Line to y'all. He was trying to be he was trying to kill it.
I was trying to beat him up.
We got was about to turning.
I'm like, look, broy, y'all gotta let me go one more time, one more time, bro. So I changed it because at first I was doing a lot of rap, and I changed it to the one word thing to the yeah, and it flipped it that way. Then man, it was like, all right, we got one now.
So with the other versions, were you being too lyrical on it.
I was was it wasn't wasn't it wasn't right?
Y'all still have the other two versions?
No, you got rid of.
Yeah, I got rid of it.
That was you know, that was the.
We need these tracks.
I was gonna ask y'all, do y'all remember the day y'all made it? But y'all made it multiple times?
I remember, though I can remember. I can't remember the exact date, but I remember where we was. We was in Nashville because high End back that was the last two songs.
I was kind of like beating on the desk, was trapping, you know what I'm saying. And I was like, oh, ship.
We got.
When did Wayne get on it?
Oh? After we'd done it?
He was.
Wayne was hanging around the studio he got.
Making sure he got on that. He was just like, Oh, there's no way this going down without me getting on this song. And I mean I think he saw it as well, because for him to hang around nobody else there. He's just hanging around in the back and then when it was complete, just pop up like a leper corn and some ship like check this, check this out back?
So are we gonna like? Because I know at Essence Festival like that was like the whole thing there. But because this is the twenty five years you guys are out here now, are we going to get the full You said that everybody was getting back together?
Is that a thing? Is that happening?
Well, as far as I'm concerned, it's still happening. You know, as far as I'm concerned, it's still happening. But we always know what you know, oppositely what happened on the internet. So I'm trying to resolve that, so that gotta happen. You know, we got to sit down and have a conversation about that first.
What does that look like between y'all when you say resolve and have the conversation because y'all are brothers, y'all.
Imagine you being a big brother in your little brother's fight, fussing and you and you you wish you could stop it, and you know it's pretty much nothing you can do about it. But I got a relationship with all of them, you know, So it's it's it's one of them things that I'm trying to fix. I'm gonn continue to try to fix until until that day happens.
I'm not giving up.
I feel like once things get to the Internet, it makes it more irreparable.
Than it probably does, and they complicate that at.
A certain age.
Honestly, you know, especially if you just being introduced back to the world, stay off the internet, you know what I'm saying, until you actually get your feet playing it. You know what I'm saying, Stay off the internet because social media, especially for me, is a tool to sell something. It ain't where I air out my business, you feel what I'm saying. So it's like Julie said, we're gonna keep on campaigning to fix it, you know, because the fans have spoken, this is what they want. This is a lot of people that grow up on this and it's even more crazy when you don't even.
Know what you're all get about. You know what I'm saying, It's like what we fussing about, Like, hey, so it's weird, but yeah, we're gonna keep on going.
Men, Me and Juve y'all already see we ain't turning down college out there.
When was the moment y'all realized back that ass up was a cultural anthem? Like because that happens over time. So when did y'all realize, like, boy, this ain't never going nowhere.
I mean I would say I would say probably at the ten year mark. You know, when when I start realizing that, wow, I'm never gonna get a chance to take a break. People gonna keep on trying to book me for shows or missfass weddness and stuff like that. And yeah, ten years in, I mean when the question he asked was kind of like asking me how long. Yeah, like make ten years in when I said, I'm like, damn, this song ain't never dying so well.
I looked at it as from a DJ perspective, you know, it was the song that pretty much, as a DJ, this your go to, Like this is the one that saved you, you.
Know what I'm saying.
But it's like, if everything else going bad, play back that ass up, you know what I'm saying.
You can recuperate.
And when when it's a song like that, you know it's gonna be around for forever, like you know, and it was always it became the song that closed the club up, closed like down South, it would be that last song that they played. You know what I'm saying. I'm like, oh, yeah, this one's gonna be here.
For a while.
I've never heard of a song getting a proclamation.
Issue issue.
The proclamation declared JUNI eleventh is.
Back that ass up day, all that day.
I don't know how they do it, I mean, but I think next year we're gonna celebrate it to the fullest and we'll see.
You will see you got something playing.
Yeah, I got something plan.
I plan on doing something in that same park, Shakespeare Park where we shot the video, where we shot slow motion, and back that the ass up, bringing it back home to my area.
That's my that's my neighborhood.
What does Shakespeare Park me to the city.
It mean a lot to me, you know, a hell of a lot to the Magnolia Project because that's our park, right you know a lot of all the projects in the city have a park that's right close to it. And I went to school right there. That's my school in front of it, Cartig Wilson. They mean everything to me.
Bro I mean you, I mean you you icon anyway.
But when you bring things back to your community like that, yeah, to memoralize the community forever in videos, oh man.
Oh yeah man. And that's the that's the cool part about it. You see, you see the outcome if you look at both both of those videos, and you see how many people come out.
That's all the time.
It was like that, even when man in Fresh came to DJ block Parties in the project and it was like that when I threw block Parties in the project. And it's still like that even when I go back with this event, it's gonna be crazy.
So four hundred degrees is still your favorite song? Over the back that ass up to perform?
Yeah it is.
I love back that ass up.
But many Fresher tell you that's more his song because he put all the hot parts on. I always tell people that. Look, if many Fresh is on the song, wait till it breaks. Listen to what it breaks.
Song.
Listen to as soon as you come.
In on the song. The crowd go to doing this, but they'd be like, you know, but they waiting on him. You know, that's his song. To me, four hundred when I come out, I'm clowning. That's my that's my thing.
That's a Negro spiritual too though.
Hello, yeah, you shouldn't talk TV charges of thought that like that. That's one of the ones.
Now, why did it take so long for the video? Like why did you never do a vision video?
Or original.
That's a universal cash money question because it's a lot of songs on it that I felt like that for I wasn't.
Ready to go on to the next album really, you know me and him. But it was more of you know, like he said, the Powers of b was like, hey, it's time to do another album.
Five million records listen.
We was like, put more singles out.
It was it was a bunch of singles on there.
You know, run for it. Uh, I'm on fire, you know what I'm saying.
It was it's it's a bunch of them on there. Bro that we that we kind of like overlooked.
Y'all had another one, man, I think it might have been on.
I Got the Fire.
I got that.
Well, that should have been huge to.
But that one did pretty good, that one, that one out as a single. It's pretty good platinum.
Okay, that's what.
We're standing on the project with the fire and all that. When when I'm in the big with the different phones and stuff. Yeah, you missed that one though.
Maybe that's another one.
I'm thinking But about that girl, I need you know, the woman.
He's like, slim got a big flame throw Which one is that?
Man said Slim got a playing throw hitting them from coach to coat.
You're talking about Wiggler and Fresh on that. The walls got to go to clinic.
That's all hard, that's all hard.
But what's on is that it was on the hot No, that's on that's on my second album.
I cannot think of the name of that ring coming.
I ain't terrified for nothing. I'm young, crazy and discussing.
That's that he no more than me because folks always say, like, I'm like, bro, I did an elbow a single, so I don't even know.
I say, we raised up looking at trees and brick walls.
Prob.
I know the song you're talking to, that one.
That's the song y'all hit on the album.
Because if you don't listen to that commercial with you and Ziggy, you missed the song.
We have to listen to that, y'all don't have.
It at So it's not it's after a skit, yeah, it's after it's combined.
If you don't listen to the you don't hear the song.
When y'all sat down to like put these projects together like for that time in that time, were y'all thinking like because I know sometimes like you'll hear like all like Rockefeller stories that are like, oh, well, we were thinking we want to tell stories in the videos because we knew movies were next. Like were you guys thinking that long hout? Or were you just like, we want to make good music because now you guys are soundtracks to commercials to all different people's celebrations of life, Like was it that big of an idea for you guys at the time?
It was true to fum like you know, when we was making these records, it was it was where we was living, you know. And I think that's why they resonated with people so well, like because it wasn't no gimmicks to them, you know right now would be like somebody going, oh that's a gimmick, and you saying this A doing this to us. It was just like, nah, this is how I feel to day, and I'm gonna write it from a real perspective, you know.
Well then and then with me.
With some of my songs, I didn't make all my songs about me, Like how was me being third person like that person in your ear as you that big body being like cycking you up, motivating you. So I think with that I made songs that people could you know, you will find something in the song that really really relates to your life, you know. So I try to make songs that's not about me all the time, even back of ass it ain't about me.
It's about the women, you know.
So I think when when you make songs like that, people tend to it tend to sticks to people a little longer. So, you know, I'm just grateful that we got opportunities to make the kind of music we made.
I mean, when he did, you know she get it from my mama.
You know, it was just like God, damn Julie, Like that's that's that's touching, Like you know what I'm say, like truth, you know what I'm saying.
Regular conversation.
I say that now, Like if somebody tell my daughter you're pretty, my wife will be like you get.
Her my mom.
Yeah.
And I think a lot of it might have been baller shop talk or whatever, but Julie was great at picking up dude, this is what the streets is saying right now, and I'm gonna put it in a song.
A lot of stuff used to really come from me just being in the project, a lot of hearing with everybody you know, hearing hearing stuff a lot.
I was gonna ask, man, do you have a favorite album or beat that you produced?
No, no, you said, you said, you just be making albums.
Yeah, I don't.
I don't have a favorite you know, album all beat that I've done yet because I really feel like I'm not finished, you know what I'm saying. A lot of people will say, oh, that was it. The crazy thing is, to me, my masterpiece might be something that only I like, you know, and to me, it doesn't have to.
Go to everybody.
It could just be like, this is my body of work that I love, and I'll sit here and just jam it my damn stuff. But yeah, I don't. I don't feel like I'm done yet. Like, so, yeah, I don't have one yet. What about you?
It ain't over till it's over, man, you know, I'm I'm I feel like I got my second win right now, you know. So I'm backing the studio, creating, and I feel like I made a lot of music, But I don't know. I feel the same way with him, like I've made some great songs, but I still think I have a little more to get out, and until I do that, I really I don't want to label anything and master piece shit.
The fans do it.
That's interesting record.
Even when I look at Wayne, it feel like Wayne just starting to get his just due.
As a lyricist. People have all time conversations.
Yeah, I feel like I got.
One conversation when you bring Wayne up the goat. I think Wayne the greatest rap of all time. I've been with him, that's my dude. I saw the whole process of him. I saw the times where he couldn't curse and we were stopping him from saying certain things like but you can't say that. Yeah sound good, but you just can't say that. People don't want to hear that from you right now, you know. And just seeing the whole development of Wayne and where he at right now, I just feel like he's the greatest of all time.
But then I feel like you should be in them all time.
Incredible that you always, bro, You always watching me. I lave you for that. You always throw my name.
It's like, you know, that's that's like a barber shop fight.
You know, when somebody's telling me, you know, they're like, oh, broah blah blah blah, and I'm.
Like, but j it, bro, you know what I'm saying.
Why do you think that they don't throw you in those conversations? Is it because people are too busy having a good time to your music.
I think it's partially because I don't really care. Like even when they asks me, I, they always ask me who you think the greatest rapper is, I'm like, I don't care. I wish people stop saying that. Let's say who make the best song? Who forget who the greatest rap is? Because I know some rappers that's real good.
Let's check. Let's go to the numbers. Pull up any one.
Of your greatest rappers, your best rapper, whoever you like a lot, and we'll put four hundred degrees against their best album. Let's check the sales. No double CDs. Don't pull a double CD trick on me either. That's some bullshit right there. Oh he sold to me. He had two CDs in his packaging. Fam So if I sell five minion, he sold the same amount as me. Now let's go from there and then let the people let the numbers decide.
So you think she'd just be about songs, not boss.
Not boss, click man, some of these cast can rap as off, can't make a song to say the like, I know a lot of great rappers who cannot make a hit, a lot.
Of it from a little small city in New Orleans, you know what I'm saying. And it's weird, like like what you're saying. I don't know why we get overpassed so much or whatever with all of the numbers and all of the stuff that we've done or whatever.
But it's to the point now.
Yeah, I used to be modest about it now, but I'd be like, fuck that ship.
I'm bad as a motherfucker about it. No more like check the numbers, man, just check the numbers.
I mean, y'all you talk about people that changed hip hop, that changed of culture.
Cash money, y'all did that.
You did that with your production manned Julie wayde BG y'all did that with the raps hurt Like you can't discredit that, Like I don't know if that celebrated.
The way it should be.
Yeah, I'm with you, right, you know what I'm saying. And I used to be like I said, cool about it or what of her? But now it's like I'm like, you know, what, fuck it? You know, when I'm like, I mean disrespect, I am a bad motherfucker put me in them numbers. If you don't, then you know what I'm saying, I ain't rocking with you. I'm like, give me my dude, like and to still be relevant still, you know, be here. And it's even what we want to challenge anybody young to do, like, you know, show me where you're gonna be around.
Ten more years. Show me where you're gonna do something.
They gonna drop it at a wedding reception and they still remember it, and they gonna say, like, oh, that's the jam.
Not just that.
Show me when somebody remixed one of your songs, but your song is that good when one of these cats ten years later have that much respect for your song and love you that much to way they want to remake one of your songs.
You guys are being used as like seeing in cultural references. Did you guys see that moment?
Yeah, we saw her.
Yeah saw that.
It's matter of fact, he's one of my hosts in my show when I get to South Carolina.
Because he's gonna host.
So y'all go get your tickets if you want.
You don't want to see.
I recently saw you say that.
Megan the Stallion Whin's best for When's for best dance performance?
The back that ass up?
How they did that? I said it.
I was given credit right because she represents the whole hot hot boy, hot girl thing, right, so I was giving credit. I didn't know how it was going to be written, right, I didn't even know it was going back part was gonna be written. But I was just giving credit because the question was asked, who do I think represents?
Right now?
Back that ass up the most and dances dances the most to back. So that's the only person I'm really seeing. It's like a lot of other people out there, but that's the only person I'm really seeing. That's why I said that. And then you know, I got to keep it southern.
What you said?
Yeah, so you saw when she was getting on the slack forking when she performed with Kamala. Yeah, how y'all feel about that? Because I feel like with back that ass up and you don't even feel like you're and you just you having such a good to whatever we frow mind.
I was just about to tell my mom I was.
Just speak on me.
I don't speak on other people.
I just I just don't do it like you know. That's that's where negatives come from. I got products and things like that that I want to sell and I want everybody to support me. So I'm definitely never going to say nothing negative about nobody. I just don't do it on no platform.
When you all clear.
Now, when I'm to myself, yeah, you might hear some ship catch me off.
I got I got koyak if I'm off that yact. That's what I'm really you know what I'm saying.
Is when y'all got to clear the record, how do y'all make that decision? Like for example, when A the Elementary use the song when you get the call and they're like, look, they want to use it for back that ass.
Up, y'all you yeah, believe it or not.
It's some ship that I've shot down, Like you know what I'm saying. I'm just like, nah, you butchering that, like you know what I'm saying. And we even kind of both have said it all money ain't.
Good money, you know what I'm saying.
And we even want to give like this this new generation a shot at it, but we don't want you to kill it, like you know what I'm saying. And we always wanted to be represented.
Well, how do you monitor that though?
Anybody clear something for me? You know what I'm saying, I got to say yes or no to if it gets you know, however it works.
I guess my question is like, what's like?
What?
So what's like? Comes in? It's like, notice this trash. This isn't going to do justice to what we want.
The production is awful too, something, you know, Like it's a lot of times where something I'm like, God.
Damn, dude, you you just took the part you and.
You toe it up like you know what I'm saying, and I get it, Like I'm not a hater or whatever.
I don't.
I don't know what's just being for real. I don't know what music is right now. I really don't you know what I'm saying. If me and my son is riding right now, he playing some new ship, I'll be like you fucking a you please, I still play old school ship, like you know what I'm saying, And and he'll even say, Dad, it's one of your beats, and I'm just like that one slipped through the crack. But then I'll find out it's some ship that somebody didn't clear and I'm all I'm calling you know, golds them them they didn't clear the soul, you.
Know what I'm saying. So it's people that do that kind of ship like you know what I'm saying.
There's some's some it's some cats out that that then butchered up my songs. But they were so unsuccessful with what they were doing. It wasn't even work. Was my time going after I'm like, damn, I'm gonna chase that dollar.
What happened Quinn?
It reached out to yall and said this is gonna be the scene.
Yeah, like a lot of stuff, you know what I'm saying, especially when it's something like that. You know, that's a great that's a good show, you know what I'm saying. So when it's something like that, I'm like, yeah, like I forget who it was. I know Michelle Obama had her podcast and it was one of I forget what the song was. It was old girl, but she she did back that ass up and it was used in the beginning of you know what I'm saying. It was like, it's Michelle Obama. I was gonna say, you know what I'm saying, And all of that actually still helps elevate it, and especially when it's icons of our generation and people that really matter that recognize these songs, so we're like, yeah, we want them placed in the right important place.
Julie, you had a phenomenal tiny desk too.
Man, thank your brother and all my brother together.
Though it almost didn't happen though, Yeah, because you didn't know what it was, like one of the most funny ship ever.
Bro.
We always laugh about it, me and me and the guys from times. We laugh all the time about this it because I really didn't know.
You can't. You can't knock a brother for not knowing.
When they hit you with you like you want you to do it, tiny, Just like we.
Were sitting in there, my guys was telling me you should do it tiny Dess and my daughter also, I'm like, what the fuck is what the is the tiny I don't even know what the fuck y'all talking about, Like, Dad, you really should do it. Then his idea was, now you should post that just like that, and they're gonna come at you.
So you know, we kind of like asked for it to go like that.
But then when he started coming at me, I'm like, wait, hold up, bro, we gotta have a solution. So he said, all right, the next ten thousand retweets, we'll do a show and we'll do a short tiny That's then I find out they don't pay for flights and shit together. I'm like, oh damn, so I gottah so I had so now I'm like, well fuck it, then we're gonna We're gonna do it.
So I paid for everybody to get up there.
I call man, I'm like, man, they look, really, I think I'm really gonna need you to do this because I'm gonna do tiny dess and sing back the ass up live without him there, sing any really you on all the hits, So I'm gonna sing any of these songs right in present.
So it worked out.
Man, My dude came down, and then I told Trombone Shorty about it, and Trombone said, man, look, I'll come down and play with you too. I ran the same ship by John Baptista and he was the same way, say like, I fly down and do it, which it would just make it an all New Orleans set, and we bought some some some members of the Field Harmonic down too from our city. So it was just a great look New Orleans said it was it was a good look.
That's what made this so amazing.
The instrumentation, Yeah, that says a lot about you, band, because clearly you were influenced by like what they.
Call them in New Orleans, the second Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean on every corner you got a band.
You know.
In my high school, a lot of the bands that's that's you know, important people like even Kermit Ruffin or whatever.
All of them went to the same all of us went to the same school.
So instead of really having a band, we had like second line bands. We didn't have marching bands, so and we didn't even have band teachers, you know, so we kind of learned by ear and just what feels good. And I'm glad that's the way I kind of do music because I think if I actually really would have had training, it would have sounded a whole lot different.
And and I think even.
With the way I do it, it goes across so much better because to me is a feeling. It ain't so much of oh, you don't know how to read music, you don't, you know, and even to watch like Trombone Shorty those dudes do, but but they play with feeling, he do they play with feeling?
You know, yeah, they are the best, man I'm talking about it ain't close with I mean them dudes can play all the instruments, Manny being mine is though, because Mandy play a lot of instruments.
His damn self, drums, keyboards, all that, a little bit of everything.
Yeah, yeah, I know, y'all got to go.
Man, you said something earlier, you be about the gift in the curse of the Internet is what are the gifts in the curse for y'all?
Well, for me, my gift is I get an opportunity to use my platform and do things like I did the other day.
Will the Russell right, absolutely, man.
And the other gift is I get I get opportunity to promote my product. So I got multiple products. I got my tour, you know, I got the twenty five years back that that's up tour on the road and just everybody know what I meant to. That's the good part. But the curse is when things that's going on, like what's going on with my bros. You know, that's the curse to me. I feel like when I don't like negativity and I feel like it's bad. I really don't like to see all this beef with each other too, because at the end of the day, man, we all trying to do the same thing, feed our family. So I don't like to see that. Even though I know hip hop came from battling. I like to see that, but I don't just I don't like to see the beef.
I mean, it's probably he's super super close. I see the Internet as a tool to just promote what I'm doing and everything about what I'm doing, you know, And the curse.
Of it is the negativity, you know, And I don't.
Think too many people know how to close out a negative comment or or you know, somebody saying something. If somebody followed you to talk about you, you already won.
You know what I'm saying, you the winner.
Like it's like, why even answer somebody who you really seeked me out to tell me what you don't like about me.
I'm like, you need a hug, you know.
You need Jesus, you need a hug.
So I think that is the negative spot, and he hitting it dead on, Like I just think a lot of people think now that that is the way, Like that's that's the only way, you know, real ship. I want real fans, real real people that mess with me. I'd rather have a million real fans that mess with me than have four million people that you know, these are all just people that talk ship all the time and don't really care.
I don't like me because you hate somebody that you see is my enemy. Don't like me because of that?
You know what I mean? That's how I see it.
Is it a cursed man knowing that people say every black stud looks like you?
Yeah?
It is. But guess what, I can't even laugh at that.
You heard me? You see how?
You see how I am. I don't even know how can get cyber bully.
You know what I'm saying.
You don't know how to.
Turn that ship off.
You don't turn this ship off looking off, you know what I'm saying, And and and real ship. What I love about my parents or whatever I was taught a long time ago, Like dude, you are.
Greatness, You are God's favorite.
You know what I'm saying. So it ain't really nothing nobody could tell me. My confidence is through the roof, like you know what I'm saying. And I feel like anybody who say that, especially if you hide your.
Page or some ship you cowardly fuck in.
The internet as Wellster go to hang out there.
I was like, yeah, listen, man, the Icons, Living Juvenile and Many Fresh, twenty fifth Annibroasria back that ass up. Make sure you check them out on the back. That ass up tall and it's always a pleasure see in y'all.
Brothers. Thank you, Broke, Thank you for champion for us too.
I mean, you go hard for us and I'm proud of you everything.
Yeah, let him take you.
That's right.
The Juvenile Mandy Press at the Breakfast Club.
Wake that ass up early in the morning.
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