Juvenile - Rejuvenation Review

There's an air of desperation to Juvenile's Rejuvenation, which is being branded as a resurrection. His last two efforts were critically panned and generally ignored, with the rhythms of Southern hip-hop ceding to a baroque operatic style that doesn't leave much room for his laconic drawl. These factors mean that Rejuvenation finds Juvenile playing catch-up, experimenting with a variety of styles and approaches, hoping to find something that clicks.


Juvenile gets some essential aid from longtime collaborator Mannie Fresh, the Cash Money producer whose organic, R&B-inflected beats made albums like 400 Degreez surprisingly lush, redolent of Stevie Wonder's slinky clavinet funk. Fresh helms a handful of songs here, and serves up a strong lead single in "Power," one of the few tracks that sounds like it's trying to foment a trend rather than chase one. Granted, this is done by copping part of the hook from Snap!'s similarly named hit from 1990, along with its percussion style, but it's still the obvious standout here. Rick Ross makes an appearance, in the album's only big-name guest spot, but his verse is flat and unenthusiastic, a gesture that feels like the current boss paying a respectful, obligatory visit to a former equal.


This shabby quality continues with weak efforts from other producers and uninspired lyrics from Juvenile himself. "Lost My Mind" envisions a night of freewheeling excess, with Juvenile floating the bill, but it sounds tacky and low-rent, less like a club blowout than a visit to the local Chili's, splurging on boneless wings and rounds of appletinis. Other songs probably reveal more about his current circumstances than they intend, like the aspirational "Imma Get Rich," which finds Juvenile lusting over the wealth and prestige of former cohorts like Jay-Z and Diddy. Lacking their business sense, he's forced to try to stay afloat by constantly releasing new material, an effort that's stymied by his lack of creativity, which results in slogs like "Say Hello," a repetitive rip-off of a five-year-old Jay-Z track. Rejuvenation may aspire to a comeback, but it's a lukewarm effort from an MC who likely has nowhere to go but down....full text Based on the blasé pun, one could argue Juvenile is angling for a Southern Stillmatic with Rejuvenation. Instead, the Nolia vet comes to the cookout sans matchbook. From the retread lyrics on “Fall Back,” to a casually-dropped Master P punchline, to the vague Pen + Pixel cover mosaic, the album is littered with half-assed attempts to rekindle the spark of 400 Degreez. The “Mardi Gras” hook sounds like if your parents were to attempt hashtag rap, while “Ahh Haa” is lovable in a family member-with-a-lobotomy kind of way. Don’t expect Hov to be calling to hop on the remix....full text Juvenile has been relatively quiet since the release of his album Beast Mode, which dropped in July 2010. Speaking with DJ Smallz (via RR), the Hot Boys member gives an update on his next album Rejuvenation, which sees him reuniting with Mannie Fresh.

“What it do, man? As y’all can see, I’m in the studio getting ready for this new album, Rejuvenation, man. Got some hot beats from Mannie Fresh, we back. It’s going down, man. It’s going down,” he said.

He also touched on a new project with Wacko and Skip, explaining that he’s simultaneously working on his tenth solo album and a joint release. “And also, me, Wacko and Skip, we in the studio working on our new album, too. So y’all be looking for that. Monstrous....full text