Juvenile is a 51 year old rapper, songwriter & actor from New Orleans, Louisiana introducing himself 3 decades ago his full-length debut Being Myself. Forming the Hot Boy$ with The B.G.’z & Turk after signing to Cash Money Records, his sophomore effort Solja Rags showed greatly improvements over it’s predecessor & 400 Degreez would become the greatest album in the label’s history even now. Tha G-Code, Project English & Juve the Great would all be received positively in their own rights, leaving Cash Money & releasing Reality Check under his own imprint UTP Records in tandem with Atlantic Records to divided feedback. Juvie’s first LP in over a decade & his 12th overall however gave me hope since Cocky & Confident, Beast Mode, Rejuvenation and The Fundamentals were all forgettable.

After the intro, the first song “Lenny Kravitz” produced by Mannie Fresh blends trap & rock to talk about being too clean to fuck with dirty hoes whereas “Drop the Location” works in some hi-hats & a chipmunk soul sample to address those who don’t want to see him at the top. “Pay Me” makes it clear to this woman throwing it back for him that he wants to be paid back in sex while “You Mad” hops over some strings from Swizz Beatz clapping back at the people who envy him.

“Juvie Beverly” combines elements of gospel & trap talking about making some changes in his life just before “Hot Boy Summer” featuring B.G., Jacquees & Trombone Shorty finds the quartet embracing a dirty south vibe dropping an anthem for their city ahead of the weather getting nicer. After the “Doze Off” interlude, “The Reunion” featuring Birdman & B.G. reunites so they can talk about the Cash Money Millionaires’ return while “The Hottest” featuring B Streezy, Roi Anthony & Young Juve opens up regarding seeing a whole lot of bodies.

Megan Thee Stallion’s appearance on the remix of “B.B.B. (Big Booty Bitch)” was far more entertaining to me than the original version of it with Genesis da Gawd kicking off the 2nd half of Boiling Point with an ode to the strip clubs while “Meph Town” issues a stern warning about methamphetamines. “Pull Up” featuring Birdman, Goodfella & Lil Bryan brings all 3 of them together for a decently cloudy pop rap cut while “Fuego” dedicates itself to the ladies, having DJ Khaled bringing back the rap rock influences.

“WYM (Whoa)” featuring Akeem Ali talks about both of them being picky with their bitches due to their own biases while “Neva Go Broke” gives off a bit of a tropical atmosphere courtesy of London on da Track declaring that he ain’t ever losing all of his money. “1 More Round” fuses trap & rock again for a carefree dedication to all the drinkers & once “He Gone” featuring Dee-1 talks about the kind of people who are gonna blow up because of their credibilities, “Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah” boisterously ends by assuring that he only cares for results over a Timbaland instrumental.

There are some Hot Boy$ fans that’ll tell you that Juvenile is the greatest member & I can’t even argue that considering 400 Degreez’ impact, although I have a feeling most of them will feel vindicated once they find out Boiling Point surpasses both B.G. & Lil Wayne’s latest full-lengths Freedom of Speech & Tha Carter VI. Putting its flaws in terms a few of the guests performances missing the landing & some of the production aside, it’s refreshing to hear Juvie sounding this confident after continuously putting out duds.

Score: 3.5/5

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