“Back That Azz Up” was the 1999 hit Anthem
Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up” was the 1999 hit anthem that brought twerking and New Orleans mainstream. Look at the story of how it has became a sensation over the years.
Twenty-five hot summers ago, Juven threw down the gauntlet and the boots were never the same everywhere for him. Then came “Back That Azz Up,” the second single from the New Orleans rapper’s “400 Degreez” album, which almost immediately became a twerk anthem — before the word entered the American vocabulary.
One could argue that the song is misogynistic, endearing, or both. But the track, built around Juvenile’s hypnotically rapping title track, producer Mannie Fresh’s raspy verse, and teenage up-and-comer Lil Wayne’s syrupy outro, certainly proved resilient.
The 49-year-old minor initially doubted the song would make it as a single and endured a last-minute trip to Nashville’s Music Row before completing the recording. Ultimately, the song helped bring pop music, an offshoot of New Orleans hip-hop featuring fast beats and call-and-response chants, into the mainstream and cemented the South as hip-hop’s epicenter. In interviews, the artists and key people behind the story explained how it all happened. These are edited excerpts from the discussions.
TO JUVEN I sang the hook of “Back that Azz Up” for probably half a year, about five or six months, knowing that I was working on my album.
MANNIE FRESH I heard the words first. I just said, “You know what? It’s already magical.” So Beatin was married to it.
ALAEINE As a solo artist, I just wanted to break up.
MANNIE FRESH I took it apart maybe two or three times when I was just like, “No, that’s not it.” And then it finally clicked. I was like, “It deserves an intro. It deserves an outro. Some breaks that the girls can get into, and some elements of classical music, some elements of the Hood.”
DINO DELVAILLE (UNIVERSAL A&R) Fresh came up with this bubble bath that was very reminiscent of what was happening in New Orleans at the time and continues to be happening there.
YOUTH was right to put something like that on the album because people want to hear that New Orleans sound.
MANNIE FRESH The world hasn’t rocked yet, but I’m thinking, “How can I do it everywhere: white, black, Hispanic, so all the elements were there?” So I thought, “How about we start collecting, so it gives you a chance to get on the dance floor.”
JUVENIL Me and Mannie Fresh went back and forth about it. It was one of those songs where he changed the tempo and I changed the whole song. To be honest, the only one that stayed the same was “Back That Azz Up”. That was always the hook.
MANNIE FRESH I think the best thing that could have happened was that we finished that last part in Tennessee. A lot of it came quite naturally because we never recorded our element.
MINOR When we got to Nashville, we knew we had to play the song the next day. Wayne was in the studio and Wayne said, “I have to be in it.” He gave me a little vocal that he had at the end of the song that’s straight out of New Orleans [problem] and we just had to put him in there. To be fair, he wasn’t banned.
MANNIE FRESH After hearing that last part, he said, “I know it’s going to be something special.”
MINOR I didn’t hear this until my hearing in New Orleans because you have to remember that back then we didn’t have email or streaming or Dropbox or anything. You really had to be in the studio when they played it to hear it. So I didn’t actually hear the song until we had promotional copies to give to the press that came to the opening party.
MANNIE FRESH I knew the world was ready to hear something completely different.
MINOR When I first heard it, I didn’t like it because it was different. He changed the music yet again. It was different than what I was rapping about. As an artists, we want things to stay the same for long time for repuation and success. When we leave the studio, we expect it to stay the same. And I took a minute. It really worked. It took time for it to grow on me.
MANNIE FRESH If it was just an obvious rebound like in New Orleans, no, it wouldn’t have come.
DELVAILLE When the record was received, we sent it back and said, “Hey, everyone in the office appreciated the record, but we needed to find a way to make it a clean version.”
ANGELA CHARLES (NEWOLEAN Q93 AND PROGRAMMER) It’s funny because we still have the radio version that says “Back That Azz Up” – a-z-z that we can somehow get out and it’s acceptable.
DELVAILLE Then we only used sound effects or muted the bad part. But they came out with “Back That Thang Up” and we just knew that was going to come out.
CHARLES Every other prayer, people calling, “I want to hear ‘Back That Thang Up,’ “Back That Thang Up.” It just came out, “This is New Orleans, this is us. And we want to hear it. I don’t care how many times you play it, you play it in rotation, you play it in the mix show, you play it when we do it live.”
JUVENILE I hit the clubs in town first thing on the weekend. the album came out and I got that real reaction every time it came out. I have the same reaction now. Women are crazy, shaking ass everywhere. Everywhere. Old women, young women, big women, skinny women.
DELVAILLE We wanted to ride it on video and we thought the best way to release the record was to perform it in New Orleans and capture the whole bounce element.
CHARLES It was in the park, A.L. In the middle of Davis Park, Central City, New Orleans, and it was chaos.
MANNIE FRESH Every time we did a scene and the director showed it back, I was like, “Okay, no one thinks it’s New Orleans.” It’s like, “We really live like this.” After it came out, people said, “Well, where did you get all the props and how did you get the dog?” I say, “This is now real life in New Orleans and must be accepted”
“Back That Azz Up” reached number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, which hardly reflects its longevity or popularity. The song gained renewed attention after Juvenile included it in his Tiny Desk Concert performance last year. Artists like Drake, Beyoncé and even Lil Wayne have covered the song, a staple at backyard barbecues and memorable weddings. Many, like the main Ava of “Abbott Elementary” (played by Janelle James), find it simply irresistible.
MINOR They took it to the next level. Twerking is now part of the culture. Enjoy it.
LESLIE SEGAR (HOST, BET’s “RAP CITY”) Even though we had Lil’ Kims and Foxy Brown do their own version of female sexual empowerment, the adults in our community somehow took it.
MINOR The ladies really keep going. It’s one of those songs they play at weddings, bars, family functions and family gatherings. It’s just the song that starts it all.
CHARLES For the ladies, “Back That Azz Up” is the theme song. It’s, “You know what? I know I look good and I want to get on the floor and I want to show everybody what I’m working on.
SEGAR It brought people together, even though it wasn’t considered. acceptable porter, it was acceptable. Even to this day, you can see your Uncle Joe or Pookie and they just say, “Ah, there it is.” I don’t think they will leave the pot table for this, they will party in their seats with one leg still up at the table.
YOUNG PEOPLE I was at an award show and I was walking around and I saw all these cool people like Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston. But I see Patti LaBelle and Patti LaBelle recognizes me and says, “I hear to your song when I’m working. It’s an inspiration to me. Your song inspires people to work. It enables me.”
MANNIE FRESH This is the greatest love song ever written. We were in the right place at the right time in the universe and everything was right. It’s just one of those songs that goes nowhere.
