Juvenile

Terius Gray (born March 26, 1975), better known by his stage name Juvenile, is an American rapper best known for his work with Birdman's Cash Money Records in the late 1990s and early 2000s, both solo and as a member of the label's then-flagship group, Hot Boys.

Juvenile's career began in the early 1990s as a teenager with bounce music recordings that earned him local recognition.

He first began recording his raps in the early 1990s.

After releasing his debut studio album—Being Myself (1995)—to regional success, he signed with Cash Money and made his mainstream breakthrough with his second and third albums, Solja Rags (1997) and 400 Degreez (1998).

The latter peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200, received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and was supported by the singles "Ha" and "Back That Azz Up" (featuring Mannie Fresh and Lil Wayne), which marked his first entries on the Billboard Hot 100.

Juvenile's debut album, Being Myself, was released in 1995 after signing with Warlock Records.

The album did not gain much national attention and did not chart, but did fairly well on a local level.

After the regional success of his debut, Juvenile soon left the label to sign with the larger label of the New Orlens area, Cash Money Records.

His second album and first for the label, Solja Rags was released in May 1997.

It became popular among local rap audiences, and also saw some national success as it charted on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

It was the first time he worked with Cash Money in-house producer Mannie Fresh, who would go on to produce all of Juvenile's albums on Cash Money in their entirety except Juve the Great.

Also in 1997, Juvenile joined the Hot Boys with fellow Cash Money rappers B.G., Turk, and Lil Wayne.

They released their debut album as a group, Get It How U Live! that same year.

Juvenile's third album, 400 Degreez, was released in November 1998.

The Cash Money label entered a distribution deal from Universal Records during the same time, which gave the label further national promotion.

Its first single, "Ha" was released the month prior and became his first to enter the Billboard Hot 100.

He released four subsequent albums for the label to continued success—Tha G-Code (1999), Project English (2001) and Juve the Great (2003)—the latter of which spawned the 2004 single "Slow Motion" (featuring SoulJa Slim), which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100 and became his first song to do so.

After leaving Cash Money, Juvenile briefly signed with Atlantic Records.

The album spawned the follow up single, "Back That Azz Up" (featuring Lil Wayne and Mannie Fresh) which was released commercially in June 1999 and peaked at number 19 on the chart, and number five on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

This, along with wider critical praise and it becoming his best-selling album, made Juvenile a prominent figure in hip hop.

Disputes arose over who owned the rights to the title of "Back That Azz Up", as another New Orleans performer DJ Jubilee claimed that Juvenile's song sounded very similar to a song of his.

In July 1999, he released his second album with Hot Boys, Guerrilla Warfare, which also received platinum certification.

Juvenile released two further solo albums for Cash Money: Tha G-Code in 1999 and Project English in 2001, which received double platinum and platinum certifications respectively by the RIAA.

Moreover, the albums reached numbers ten and two respectively on the Billboard 200, but failed to match the success of 400 Degreez.

UTP Records announced an album titled 600 Degreez during this time, which was never released.

During his solo work, he formed the hip hop group UTP in 2002, with whom he has released two albums; the former of which spawned the 2004 single "Nolia Clap."

In March 2003, the Hot Boys released their album, Let 'Em Burn.

Juvenile's manager Aubrey Francis and Birdman met and negotiated a deal for Juvenile and CMR to release one further solo album for the latter's label.

His sixth album, Juve the Great was released by Cash Money and UTP Records in December 2003.

It received platinum certification and spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Slow Motion" featuring SoulJa Slim.

It was the Juvenile and label's first, and Slim's only number one song prior to his death in November 2003.

The namesake group UTP (Juve, Skip, and Wacko) released the 2004 hit song "Nolia Clap" as part of the group's first album Beginning of the End (2004).

The song was produced by Juvenile along with producer Donald "XL" Robertson.

In January 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans denied the case.

Capitalizing off the album's success, Juvenile released a remixed version of his debut Being Myself, and commercial reissue of his second, Solja Rags that same year.

In 2005, Juvenile signed with Atlantic Records as a both a solo act and for his UTP Records imprint, which was co-founded by his longtime manager Aubrey "Pied Piper" Francis and older brother Corey.

His seventh album, Reality Check (2006) debuted atop the Billboard 200, and was followed by Cocky & Confident (2009).

He then independently released the albums Beast Mode (2010), Rejuvenation (2012), and The Fundamentals (2014).

He returned to Cash Money in 2014.

Juvenile was raised in the Magnolia Projects of Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana's 3rd Ward and attended Our Lady of Grace Catholic School.