Juicy J Breaks Down His 25 Most Essential Songs

One of the founding members of Three 6 Mafia talks about making songs like "Sippin' on Some Syrup," "Stay Fly," "Erryday."

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Complex Original

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Two decades deep into his career, Juicy J shows no signs of slowing down. Though he still records prolifically, the Three 6 Mafia co-founder remains humble about his success, and incredibly modest about his creative process. More than any particular muse, the Tennessee titan credits his group’s collaborative spirit and generous helpings of substance abuse.

From his early days with Memphis rapper Kingpin Skinny Pimp to his recent work with Lex Luger and Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J’s formula has remained beautifully simple: "Back then, we just got drunk, got high, went in the studio, and made records. Like we still do."

As a result, his memory of the early days can be vague at times—Juicy’s hedonistic approach to recording doesn't leave much time for reflection—but when reminded of certain events or people, memories can snap suddenly into focus. We spoke with Juicy J about intoxication, his days as a DJ in Memphis, and the high school origins of "Slob on my Knob."

As told to David Drake.

Three 6 Mafia f/ Kingpin Skinny Pimp and Playa Fly “Live By Yo Rep (B.O.N.E. Diss)” (1995)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Mystic Stylez

Label: Prophet

Juicy J: “Man when we did that we was young and stupid—being real. We was young and stupid. Just some old stupid … It wasn't ever no beef, man. We cool with them, they good people, just some stupid shit back in the day, man. They good dudes, man. We did some music with one of them, Krayzie Bone....something back in the late 90s, something on Project Pat's album.”

Three 6 Mafia “Fuckin’ Wit Dis Click” (1995)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Mystic Stylez

Label: Prophet

Juicy J: “Man, woo—we did that whole album in a studio in North Memphis, man. That was, woo! We did that on a 16 track. Not 24 track, 16 track! You know, reel-to-reel tape. So that was so, so long ago man. We went in the studio and just made records, man. Go in there, got high, drank, and just made records. That's all I remember doing. I can't remember 'I came up with… Who did…' We just made the beats. We all just came in and contributed, and the shit came out hard.

“[At the time, we listened to] Willie Hutch, Isaac Hayes, Geto Boys, N.W.A. Stuff like that. Gangster rap music, you know what I'm saying? As well as anything else that was out, we was jamming. KRS-One—you know, we listened to all that stuff, man.”

Three 6 Mafia “Break The Law '95” (1995)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Mystic Stylez

Label: Prophet

Juicy J: “Yeah that was a mixtape song that we had redid and redid, remixed, remixed, redid. We always remixed our songs, because they were just so hot, man. Just let 'em keep growing.”

Three 6 Mafia “Da Summa” (1995)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Mystic Stylez

Label: Prophet

Juicy J: “It’s the first song Three-6 Mafia had on the radio. They didn't want to play our music on the radio. And we gave them that one, they said, like, that one was talking about the summer, it's laid back, it was groovy. So they were like, Cool, we'll play this one.

“It was a struggle, man, but shout out to Andre Cash Money and Stan Bell. Those were the two main DJs that was on different radio stations that started supporting local music. There was some more guys too, a lot of DJs man... the mix-show guys, the personalities. But as far as on the radio stations, those two were really the number one guys in the city, but they was actually helping out the local music.”

Three 6 Mafia “Late Nite Tip” (1996)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Chapter 1: The End

Label: Prophet

Juicy J: “Man I remember all of us was in the studio and we just put it together and we did it. I can't remember all that stuff. That was what was going on at the time. We just went in the studio and did that shit. That's how we used to do it. Go up in the studio, just make a record, you know? Make a beat, and finish the whole song. Until it was done....Just went in the studio and did it. I can't—back then we just got drunk, got high, went in the studio and made records. Like we still do.”

Kingpin Skinny Pimp “One Life 2 Live” (1996)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: King Of Da Playaz Ball

Label: Prophet

Juicy J: “We recorded that song in Paul's mama's house. Paul had a little studio, and he said, Oh we should record that in his mama's house. We shot the video in a jail, this old abandoned jail in some part of Tennessee. We shot the video out there, it was great. It was cool man.

“I can't remember exactly how we met, when you try to do rap music, most of the top local rappers know each other. He was the number one rapper back then, coming up. So everybody knew everybody, man. We all worked together.”

Three 6 Mafia “Tear Da Club Up ‘97” (1997)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Chapter 2: World Domination

Label: Relativity

Juicy J: “That song was actually on a mixtape at first, and we decided to redo it, know what I'm saying? Cuz it was so hot in the clubs. Once we got the major deal with Sony, with Relativity Records, they wanted that song to be on there. It was in the contract that that song had to be in the album, because it was going ham in the clubs.

“[Being offered the contract] was a blessing, of course. It was something we was trying to do. We had our own independent label which was buzzing. We had a real good buzz. So we came in the game with money in our pockets. So it was good that we started out independent, because it gave us a little bit of business sense. Instead of just going in and signing some contracts, we already knew what we wanted, how much money we wanted, how we wanted our stuff structured. So we came in with some business sense, which was great.”

Three 6 Mafia “Anyone Out There?” (1997)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Chapter 2: World Domination

Label: Relativity

Juicy J: “We wanted that to be [a Lord Infamous] song, man. We were gonna do a Lord Infamous solo tape, so that song would sound like his thing. That beat was like, ‘This you man...’ His style, man, the way he rapped. He had his own thing, you know what I'm saying. He was the mystical one. He had his own little thing. Everybody had their own thing, Gangsta Boo had her thing, he had his own thing. That's why we named the album Mystic Stylez, because everybody had their own style.”

Gangsta Boo f/ DJ Paul & Juicy J “Where Dem Dollas At” (1998)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Enquiring Minds

Label: Relativity

Juicy J: “She was a part of Three-6 Mafia, so, you know, we was putting an album out. Me and Paul still was over the record company, so we wanted to bring solo [artists]. Gangsta Boo got a great flow, so we felt like she needed to be solo too, you know? Extra money, man. Extra money.

“It was kind of on some strip club stuff, you know what I'm saying? I remember the studio we recorded, I think it was Cotton Row. I think that was it. That was the studio we used to record all our stuff out of.”

Tear Da Club Up Thugs f/ The Hot Boys and Baby “Hypnotize Cash Money” (1999)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: CrazyNDaLazDayz

Label: Relativity

Juicy J: “Yeah, I had the whole Cash Money in the studio, Juvenile, Lil Wayne, Turk, Mannie Fresh, Baby, Slim. Everybody. We all went in the studio and made a record. Lil Wayne was like sixteen when I first met him. And we was getting' it in. We made a bunch of records together, we made some history, man.


 

I did a song with Drake, I don't think it ever got released.

 

“[They were] talented, man. Talented. I knew those guys were gonna be big. What I liked about Cash Money, their style was so different. Didn't sound like nobody else's stuff. They had a totally different style. I was like, man, this is amazing. Wayne was sixteen years old, he was killing it, man.

“I used to like Juvenile. They all was good. But Juvenile, his voice stuck out a little then, the way he used to flow, “Back that Azz Up,” I bought that, the first album 400 Degreez? WOOO that joint was blazing!

“We haven't done anything together lately, but I'd still love to get back in the studio with those guys, man. I run into Baby here and there. Yeah. I did a song with Drake, I don't think it ever got released. We was in the studio before he was signed with Cash Money, we just chopped it up man. He's a cool dude. I did a song, sent him some beats, did a song with him. As far as the new Cash Money.”

Three 6 Mafia “Where Da Bud At” (1999)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Underground Vol. 1: (1991-1994)

Label: Relativity

Juicy J: “That was off of a mixtape, and we just redid it for the album. It was like a hot underground song, and we did it for the album.


 

[Our live show was about] getting drunk and going on stage.

 

“We do shows in the city, DJ in the city. Memphis is showing crazy love. Show a lot of love, man. That's where it started, and once we got our distribution deal, we started doing a few shows in Mississippi, a few in Alabama, a couple in Tennessee, and then when the major deal hit, we was all over the place.

“[Our live show was about] getting drunk and going on stage. Getting super, super messed up and going straight on stage and doing what you had to do to make it a show. That's what it was. Wasn't no routine, just niggas getting drunk and high and going on stage and performing.”

Juicy J “Slob on my Knob (Pt. II)” (1999)

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Producer: Juicy J

Album: Underground Vol. 2: Club Memphis

Label: Smoked Out Music

Juicy J: “That was a song I wrote when I was in 11th grade. I was in a history class with this dude named Papa Owens, in North Side High School. And the song was—it had two different kind of beats. The first beat I had with it was just, whatever. People was fucking with it, but they wasn't on-it-on-it. So I changed the beat up, it was like a sampled beat or whatever. And I played it in the club one night—because I started as a DJ.


 

That song right there is really, really, seriously, seriously old. That song's been out for a long time. A lot of people are just starting to get on it...I recorded that in my bedroom in 11th grade.

 

And I played the song one night, and the next Sunday—because I DJ'd every Sunday—the next Sunday, as I was setting my equipment up, people were coming up while I was walking through the club, they was like, 'Yo yo yo, Juicy, you gonna play that song you played last weekend?'

I was like, 'What?' They was like, 'Slob on my knob or something like that. I think that’s how that went.' I was like, shocked, 'You really liked that shit?!' They're like 'Man, hell yeah. Play that song!'

So the second time I played the song? Whole club went crazy! And that song right there is really, really, seriously, seriously old. That song's been out for a long time. A lot of people are just starting to get on it. Every time we do that song at a show, they go crazy.

But that song been around for, man... [whistles] At least twenty years man, that song's been around for a minute man. I recorded that in my bedroom in my mama's house in my bedroom on a four track. I can't even remember what year that was. I was in 11th Grade.”


 

That's what I called myself, ‘The Notorious DJ Juicy J.’ [Laughs.] That was a long name back then. I used to spray paint my name all over the sidewalk and shit.

 

“I always wanted to play drums and shit—I was DJing in high school, I started DJing when I was 16. Me and this guy, which I consider a father figure, man, I looked up to him, was a dude named D-Magic. His name was Danny, Danny Jackson. Man, he still around today.

When I was growing up in the hood as a young nigga, he had the equipment. I could do all the scratching and the mixing, but he had the DJ equipment. And a friend of mine introduced me to him, he was like, ‘Yo man, I got all this equipment, I got these records, I got these turntables.’ I was like, ‘All right, let me come by, let me check this shit out.’”

So I went over there, man. I was sixteen, though. But I was good on the turntables. I could scratch, mix behind my back, do all kinds of tricks and shit. I used to love listening to Jazzy Jeff. But anyway, [Jackson] gave me my first start at DJing. He would set the equipment up, and I would do DJing, and we started a business.

My name got kind of hot as a DJ around town, on the north side of town, they had ‘DJ Juicy J.’ That's what I called myself, ‘The Notorious DJ Juicy J.’ [Laughs.] That was a long name back then. I used to spray paint my name all over the sidewalk and shit. [I used to play] LL Cool J, Public Enemy. I'm jamming everything. N.W.A, Geto Boys.

Three 6 Mafia f/ UGK & Project Pat “Sippin' on Some Syrup” (2000)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: When the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1

Label: Loud

Juicy J: “What was so crazy about that song was when we went to go do that, when me and Paul came up with it, we had to drive down to Atlanta. They had this big snowstorm down there. I think there was something going down, I think it was Superbowl weekend or whatever. And man, we almost killed ourselves.


 

We was driving down the street and the car started spinning, because the roads were so icy, the car started spinning into the incoming lane.

 

We was driving down the street and the car started spinning, because the roads were so icy, the car started spinning into the incoming lane. There was a big truck coming, a big rig almost hit us, and in just enough time, he maneuvered around us. Then when we got to Pimp C's house. Pimp C stayed on this big old hill. We had to literally almost get rope and try to hold each other's jackets—Bun B held my jacket, I held Paul's jacket, Paul held somebody else's jacket—we pulled each other up the hill. That's how slick the hill was.

So we went through a lot man to get that record done, man. But when we got into the studio, the magic happened.... Me and Paul always made beats together. So he'd do something, I'd do something, just come up with ideas and collaborate. That's just how we did it, you know. That's how we did it.”

Three 6 Mafia f/ La Chat “2-Way Freak” (2001)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Hustle Till I Die

Label: Loud, Relativity

Juicy J: “I knew LaChat from back in the day, I met her through this dude. He introduced me to LaChat. She was like sixteen or whatever. We always kept in touch. Once Three-6 Mafia got signed, I used to always tell her I wanted to bring her over to the company. We wanted to sign her and put her album out too as well, because she had good flow.

So we just promoted, man, we put her on a bunch of songs, the “Baby Mama,” we had a song called “Chickenhead,” “Two Way Freak.” Like I said, can't remember all that. But we just always tried to promote and push our artists, man, that was our thing.”

Project Pat f/ LaChat DJ Paul & Juicy J “Chickenhead” (2001)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Mista Don't Play: Everythang's Workin'

Label: Loud

Juicy J: “I remember Project Pat came to me and he said man, I got this song called ‘Chickenheads,’ I was like, ‘How it go?’ He was like, ‘Bok bok! Chicken chicken.’ I'm like, What??’ At first I was like, ‘What the hell?’ You know what I'm saying? ‘Bok Bok’—what you just say man?”


 

Project Pat came to me and he said man, I got this song called ‘Chickenheads,’ I was like, ‘How it go?’ He was like, ‘Bok bok! Chicken chicken.’ I'm like, What??

 

”He said, ‘Man, it's gonna be hot, it's gonna work.’ So I said, ‘Aite, cool.’ We recorded the song, me and Paul did the beat, and shit, the record company heard it and was like, man, this song is a SMASH. And the song blew up, man.”

“We had a director, you know, I can't remember who directed that, I think it was Gil Green maybe. But whoever did it did a great job. We usually counted on the director to direct the videos and bring up the concepts and all that.”

Juicy J “Name It After Me” (2002)

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Producer: Juicy J

Album: Chronicles of the Juice Man

Label: North North Records

Juicy J: “Yeah, that's a song he did with me off my little solo... We was in the studio one day, just recorded the motherfucker. I made the beat, and we just did it. Frayser Boy was a friend of Koopsta Knicca’s, one of the guys in the group. He was just a homie that came by the studio all the time. He had some lyrics, man, know what I'm saying?

He seemed like a cool guy. We signed him and gave him a chance. He was one of the writers on the ‘Hard Out Here for a Pimp’ song, which was great. He got an Oscar too. It was a blessing man. I was shocked. It was some underground shit. I was still like, ‘Damn, motherfuckers like me on some solo shit.’”

Three 6 Mafia “Testin My Gangsta” (2003)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Da Unbreakables

Label: Columbia

Juicy J: “We just get drunk, get high, go in the studio and make a record. That's how it happened man. If we would go in the studio, we'd finish it. Not half do it, not do a half a song today, the rest tomorr—no, we'd walk in the studio and finish the whole song.”

“It took a minute, because back then we was working with those tape dudes, 24-track-tapes, so those weren't as fast as the Pro Tools stuff is. Back then, when you book studio time, you had to go in and seriously work. Because the prices wasn't bullshitting, we didn't waste time. We partied, got high and drunk, but we did music.”

Lil Wyte “I Sho Will” (2004)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Phinally Phamous

Label: Hypnotize Minds

Juicy J: “We were doing a radio interview at this radio station in Memphis called K97. Three-6 Mafia was doing a radio interview. And as me and Paul was walking out, Lil Wyte was standing in front of the radio station, with him and his boys. And they was holding a demo tape, a CD or whatever. And they were like, ‘Yeah we rap we rap we rap.’ I'm like, ‘Alright, cool.’ We took the CD or whatever. And we went back to the studio.”

”We usually don't listen to that many demos, but I was like, ‘Let's just listen to this demo and see what it sounds like.’ And we popped it in, and I was blown away. Like, these guys got a little bit of talent here! So we called 'em down to the studio, and there was a group of them then. And we tried to sign the whole group, but the things didn't work out with the group, so we ended up signing Lil Wyte.”

Three 6 Mafia f/ Insane Clown Posse & Twiztid “Just Another Crazy Click” (2004)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: When The Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1

Label: Loud

Juicy J: “One of the executives at the record company, this guy named Allen Grunblatt, he was like, ‘Man, y'all should do something with the Insane Clown Posse, man. You know, with y'all style and their style, it's the same kind of rock-n-roll, wild guys...’ You should get together and do something. I heard some of their stuff, I was like, ‘Aww yeah, those guys are jamming.’


 

I love Linkin Park, that's one of my favorite groups

 

Three-6 Mafia, we were always doing different kinds of things, and we like rock music, we like whatever—not saying they was rock, but they had a little rock-n-roll with some of their music, a little rock with it. We like working with rockers, we work with Good Charlotte.

I love Linkin Park, that's one of my favorite groups, that I went to all their concerts. I love those guys, man, they do, like, pop-rock, know what I'm saying. But I like all the music though. We did the song with Insane Clown Posse. It took us to another level, man. We started doing shows everywhere, man, all in the midwest. It was expanded.”

Three 6 Mafia f/ 8ball, MJG and Young Buck “Stay Fly” (2005)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Most Known Unknowns

Label: Sony BMG

Juicy J: “We put 8ball and MJG, who are good friends of ours, and out other homie, who's a good friend of ours, Young Buck, because we wanted it to be a Tennessee thing. We wanted to make it a Tennessee anthem. At the time, 8ball and MJG, Three-6 Mafia, Young Buck, we was like the hardest rappers out of Tennessee.


 

We wanted to make it a Tennessee anthem. At the time, 8ball and MJG, Three-6 Mafia, Young Buck, we was like the hardest rappers out of Tennessee.

 

“My stylist [picked out the skull shirt from the video]. It was at the last minute. I was looking for a shirt to wear, and he's like ‘Yeah I got this cool little rock shirt man, you know. You can put on.’ I looked at the shirt, I was like, ‘Aww yeah, that is some different shit.’ I like to do different shit. Always wanted to do something that other persons wouldn't do.

So I saw a shirt like that, I was like, ‘Man, that's a crazy-lookin' ass shirt. I'ma wear that motherfucker.’ You know what I'm saying? We didn't get paid off that motherfucker neither, somebody else got paid off of that shirt. But that shirt was like THE SHIRT. Everybody was wearing that shit, man, it was crazy.

“I mean, our stuff is just dark, man, that's where we come from—the street, man. The streets of Memphis is dark. Everything, when you heard our music, it was like the pain and the hustle and the struggle from the street, and that's just what it was. Memphis is just a gangster town.... We watched a lot of horror movies man, we just liked a lot of stuff like that, horror movies that's dark, anything that was like, blood and guts, man. You know, blood and guts!”

Djay f/ Shug “It’s Hard Out Here For a Pimp” (2005)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Hustle & Flow Soundtrack

Label: Atlantic/Grand Hustle

Juicy J: “That was a blessing, man, we didn't know what was going to happen, never knew nothing. I thought we was gonna lose [at the Oscars], everybody thought we was gonna lose. I walked in, thinking we was gonna lose. It's still exciting today, man. That was a huge blessing. Because we grew up just being underground rappers.

"Three-6 Mafia was always underground rap, and that just took us to another level, that we thought we was never going to be at level. Everyone knew who Three-6 Mafia was after that. We got the longest Oscar party—still going on right now. [At the Oscars, I got to meet] Reese Witherspoon, man, she is super-hot. Wow man, wow. WOW.”

UGK f/ Outkast “Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You)” (2007)

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Producer: DJ Paul & Juicy J

Album: Underground Kingz

Label: Jive

Juicy J: “Yeah Pimp C got out of jail he liked that song so much he said he just wanted to redo that whole thing. Just wanted to use that same beat, that SAME BEAT. And shit—it worked. Pimp C was like, ‘It's gonna be jamming, watch what I tell you, I want that SAME BEAT, it's gonna be JAMMING!” Every time Pimp C said that, it was jamming. And he knew his music. Whatever he said was gonna blow, it'd actually happen.”

“And Sony wouldn't clear it. Sony wouldn't clear [Three 6 Mafia’s verses]. It's like when we won that Oscar. Everyone trying to step in our way of us doing things. I thought that was a real stupid mistake not to clear that. We was in the video. I was really pissed about that. I was like, ‘Shit, the song is hot, UGK are our brothers, man.’ I was kind of bitter over that when they did that. But man, it's all good.... label politics bullshit. That was straight bull. But it's cool man, it's over.”

Juicy J f/ Project Pat and Gucci Mane “30 Inches” (2009)

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Wiz Khalifa “Erryday” (2011)

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Producer: Lex Luger

Album: Cabin Fever

Label: N/A

Juicy J: “I met Wiz on Twitter. I was listening to some of his mixtapes, and I was like, man, this guy—I like his flow, he has an incredible flow man. And me and him talk about a lot of the same stuff. I smoke weed, he smoke weed. So I was like, ‘Hey, man, we gotta hook up and do a record together.’ I hit him on Twitter, and he's cool, man.

“We was talking about getting together and doing some music together, andI sent him a message about that ‘Black and Yellow’ song I heard. When he had first released ‘Black and Yellow,’ he released it on iTunes. I downloaded from iTunes.


 

I recorded my verse in a beat-up little hotel room in Canada, with a microphone with a sock over it.

 

“I was like, man, that ‘Black and Yellow’ song is just gonna be a smash, man. That's gonna be a smash!’ It's one of my favorite songs, man. I was singing it, you know. And he asked me to be on the remix, which is a blessing, man. And he sent me the files, the instrumental.

“I was in Canada, and I recorded my verse in a beat-up little hotel room in Canada, with a microphone with a sock over it. And my engineer had the Pro Tools on his laptop when we recorded my verse. Then I met up with Wiz in California, and then we did ‘In My Car.’

“And then, you know, we brothers now. And he asked me to jump on the ‘Erryday’ song, you know. He came in and did the hook, and vibed, just smoking in the studio and came up with it.”

Juicy J “Zip and a Double Cup” (2011)

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