Ever since Juicy J started his late-career resurgence around the turn of the decade with a pair of Rubba Band Business mixtapes, he’s capitalized on his and the rest of Three 6 Mafia’s massive influence, truly earning the title “The Godfather of Trap.” He paired up with Flockaveli’s Trap 2.0 architect Lex Luger for those aforementioned tapes, tapped spiritual successors like Jeezy, 2 Chainz, A$AP Rocky, and his Taylor Gang label boss Wiz Khalifa for his 2013 comeback album, Stay Trippy, and since then, has been a go-to guest for artists from Katy Perry to Young Scooter who are looking to add either trap or veteran cred to a single.
Most of Juicy’s recent tapes have fallen in line with that youthful, collaborative streak he’s been on since claiming his Godfather title. May’s Gas Face saw him linking up with Quavo and up-and-comer Yung Nudy, among others, and Highly Intoxicated, released last night, has even more new blood. Its guests include it-kids like XXXTentacion, Smokepurpp, Cardi B, Rae Sremmurd’s Slim Jxmmi, and New Orleans duo $uicideboy$, the last of whom guest on choice cut “Freaky.”
The track (which is, very surprisingly, the first song in Juicy J’s discography called “Freaky”) bounces along with a classic Three 6 minor key strut, which is provided by producers DJ Chase, DJ Smoky666, and $uicideboy$ themselves. The Louisiana duo’s sound and image might be the most indebted to Three 6 of any of their peers (which is saying something), as they traffick almost exclusively in grimy, gothic, pre-2010s-style trap, so much so that “Freaky” sounds like a pop song by their standards. A$AP Rocky’s also on this one, collaborating with Juicy for something like the hundredth time— that’s an exaggeration, but considering that he named Juicy the executive producer of his last album, the bond is strong.
Stream and download the full Highly Intoxicated tape on DatPiff. Juicy’s next announced release is actually a continuation on the fan-favorite Rubba Band Business series, but this time it’ll be an album. No explicit details on that one yet.