Juvenile Brings a Taste of Mardi Gras to Brooklyn Bowl

“It's freezing outside,” said Juvenile, taking a breather during Friday’s show at Brooklyn Bowl. “Where the fuck that shit come from?”

The preceding week was unseasonably warm and springlike, but evening showers precipitated a sudden return to midwinter that might have dampened the mood at your average gig. But Juvie is a legend from the Cash Money extended family, heroes of New Orleans hip-hop who played a major role in putting the Dirty South on the map in the rap world. It might have been a couple days past Mardi Gras, but he and The Tiny Desk Band — a condensed touring unit including members of the massive ensemble that backed him up for his sensational 2023 Tiny Desk Concert — were in town Thursday and Friday to party, and they weren’t about to let anyone get out of the building without getting down. 

To set the mood, a pair of DJs traded off about every 15 minutes over an hour-and-a-half block. Up first in the rotation was Nashville’s own Spice J, and it’s hard to imagine a better choice. He’s deeply tuned-in to New Orleans music; since he’s the first person I heard bumping Big Freedia around town back when she was first making waves outside Louisiana, I’ve taken to calling him Music City’s Honorary Ambassador of Bounce. More importantly, he’s a master at working the crowd by showing them how much he’s digging what he’s playing, constantly dancing and lip-syncing along whether the track is “No Ordinary Love” or a mashup of “Miss New Booty” and “The Safety Dance.” 

He also seems to have discovered a magic spell in Tevin Campbell’s 1993 slow jam “Can We Talk”; I’ve heard some good sing-alongs, but I can’t remember one more enthusiastic than when Spice J cued it up and turned the mic to the audience. That lit a fire under Juvenile’s touring opener Core DJ Kev, who brought a great contrast with high-energy Aughts rap tracks like Dorrough’s “Ice Cream Paint Job” and Choppa’s “Choppa Style.”

The crowd was fully hyped up and limber by the main event, which kicked off just a little after 9:30 p.m. Wearing his big fuzzy hat like a crown, Juvenile came roaring out of the gate with “Ha,” a song from his landmark album 400 Degreez; that record dropped in 1998, and this live-band tour is partly to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Most of the lines reflect on a person’s actions or circumstances and end in “ha”; sometimes it’s a scornful laugh about poor choices or bad luck, and sometimes it’s Juvie expressing surprise about things going well for himself, or seeing things in himself he might not have expected. Friday, it felt like a well-deserved victory lap, and it was at the start of the show.

Punctuated by a call-and-response that tied the show to Mardi Gras Indian traditions, the hourlong set paid ample tribute to 400 Degreez, including a ferocious run through “Welcome 2 Tha Nolia” and the indelible all-time party-starter “Back That Azz Up.” As you might expect, “Azz” ended the show on a high note, preceded by the ultra-groovy “Slow Motion.” There was a mellow take on 2006’s “Rodeo” too, among lots of tributes to the Cash Money crew Juvie came up with. Big Tymers’ “Get Your Roll On” was a natural highlight, as was “I Need a Hot Girl” by the Hot Boys, the ’90s NOLA rap version of a boy band made up of Juvenile, Lil Wayne, B.G. and Turk. 

As during the Tiny Desk Concert, Juvenile acknowledged that he wasn’t even on the original “Hot Girl” track (though he was in the video), and shouted out Turk’s verse, which he turned into his own part on Big Tymers’ “Project Bitch.” Despite struggling a little with a strained voice, Juvie had a sold-out crowd to help him perform “Project Bitch” a cappella. They sang back every word to that song and practically every other one.

The show ran like clockwork, despite a brief interruption for what looked like a medical emergency. I could see someone being escorted out about five minutes later, so it seems all ended well. If you’re lucky, you live long enough for things you thought of as new and exciting to become meaningful cultural touchstones. New Orleans rap has been instrumental in shaping hip-hop’s development in the 21st century. Juvenile appears rightly proud of his contributions, and it feels great to see the world loving him back.

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