Juvenile:
Reality Check

Release Date: 07 March 2006

Reviewed By: Lloyd Vaughan

1. Intro

2. Get Ya Hustle On

3. Around The Way

4. Sets Go Up

5. Rodeo

6. What’s Happenin’

7. Loose Booty

8. Way I Be Leanin’

9. Break A Brick Down

10. Who’s Ya Daddy

11. I Know You Know

12. Keep Talkin’

13. Rock Like That

14. Why Not

15. Animal

16. Addicted

17. Holla Back

18. Pop U

19. Say It To Me

Mobb Deep - Blood Money
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Juvenile’s recent and ugly split from his label, Cash Money, and the grim aftermath of Hurricane Katrina hit him and his New Orleans home hard. Family members and friends were scattered around the country leaving Juve with a bad taste in his mouth. On the flipside, Juvenile topped Billboard with his hit single ‘Slow Motion’ and his latest offering ‘Reality Check’ knocked Ne-Yo off his perch in the US album charts which debuted with 174,000 in first week sales.

After eight years in the game, Juvenile has moved away from salacious ballads to rhythms more rough and grittier than your cat’s tongue. Juvenile ups his political mindset and unleashes his frustrations on his seventh album release, ‘Reality Check’.

Being a former resident of the Magnolia projects in New Orleans’ Third Ward, one of the places worst hit by Hurricane Katrina, Juve unleashes his feelings on the track, ‘Get Ya Hustle On’. After the ultimately pointless intro track runs out, the track kicks in with its clap beat and XL-produced dark-edged forcefulness. This lays the foundations for the lyric, ‘Talk, talk, your mayor ain’t ya friend he’s ya enemy/Just to get ya vote, a saint is what he pretends to be/Listen to me I got the remedy/Save your money up and find out who got ‘em for 10 a ki’. Juvenile’s suggestion of tackling the poverty and lack of government aid by selling crack does seem somewhat ill-advised, but let there be no doubt, the tirade on US government and FEMA comes from the heart.

The track does not set out a blueprint for the LP as just as more profound, political activism is expected to take control, it drops to a more consumer friendly level with a blend of club tracks and old school, Juve ballads for the ladies. ‘I Know You Know’ showcases Juvenile at his best with the lyric, ‘You have to believe me/You don’t have to police me/I be in the streets making sure you and me eat see’, a ballad respecting commitment to his wife and family. ‘Addicted’ showcases Juvenile’s ballad weaknesses as his spoken dialogue sounds more like incessant rambling. Brian McKnight at the chorus does little to save this track.

Moving on to club tracks and ‘Around The Way’ does not fail to impress; with Sinista holding down production duties, the track oozes street life sentiments Hot Boy style. ‘Break A Brick Down’ is an ode to cocaine dealing, whilst the track ‘Animal’ with its jungle noise samples is a raw mixtape hit. ‘Pop U’ features Ludacris and Fat Joe spitting on the best-produced track of the album, whilst old school Juve fans must move the laser over the last track ‘Say It To Me Now’ to hear Juvenile’s beef over the Cash Money split, again over polished production.

Juvenile’s seventh offering is not one of his best or worst, but tight production and consistently ‘average’ lyrics make it a decent album. With 70 minutes and 19 tracks to listen to, the album surprisingly does not stray too far from mediocre at worst. The title suggests a ‘Reality Check’, but does seem a disjointed statement, as apart from ‘Get Ya Hustle On’, which deals with contemporary issues, the rest is vintage Juvenile - which is not a bad thing.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Top 3 Tracks:
11. I Know You Know
18. Pop U
19. Say It To Me Now

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