90s classic hip-hop song “Slob On My Knob” makes a comeback on Juicy J’s album “Ravenite Social Club (Deluxe)” released in 2024, but in an entirely new form. Over 30 years after its original release, “Slob On My Knob” ventures into the world of jazz alongside 25 other traditionally hip-hop songs. Juicy J’s reimagining of his music exceeds expectations and challenges the boundaries of musical genres.
The jazz remix was not solely responsible for the reemergence of this song in the 21st century. The song has been referenced and sampled by other hip-hop artists. It received a shoutout on A$AP Ferg’s “Plain Jane,” G-Eazy and Cardi B referenced some of the lyrics in the song “No Limit,” and Future directly quotes the title in a collab with Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar and James Blake titled “King’s Dead” on the “Black Panther” soundtrack.
The influence of Juicy J and his song “Slob On My Knob” on the hip-hop world is undeniable. However, what makes this influence even more impressive is the origin of the song. While in just the 11th grade, the American rapper wrote this song in class as a bit of a joke.
“You know, you write some things and, you know, you don’t really take it seriously. I just talked about stuff that went around in my neighborhood,” Juicy J said in a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone.
The unserious nature of this song did not end when he finished writing the song. The jazz remix starts with some clinking of glasses and soft talking in the background, placing the listener in a jazz club while Juicy J talks with the audience and introduces the song, acknowledging the version of the song released with his band, Three 6 Mafia. With a catchy, swinging percussion, he starts singing the lyrics of the hip-hop classic song “Slob On My Knob,” which caught me off guard upon my first listen.
While the addition of some arguably crude lyrics of “Slob On My Knob” may go against the nature of jazz, I found it did an entertaining job of combining the classic hip-hop vibes with a new jazzy take. Jazz has an inherently sensual nature to it, with the smooth sound of the brass instruments, and these lyrics do not entirely conflict with this nature. However, the point of this jazz remix was not for Juicy J to completely change genres; it was to weave together both jazz and rap, which is exactly what he did.
Juicy J does not have the only vocals on this track. A vocalist, Emi Secrest, elevates the track when she adds in a unique vocal improvisation, making the not traditionally jazzy lyrics have more jazz. Every time she repeats “Do a little something, something,” she draws it out a little more, adding additional riffing and leaning into her vocal creativity.
While the verses of “Slob On My Knob” are not tear-jerkers, this remix is almost emotional when you hear of its roots. The jazz remix is a very clean, crisp recording with a variety of instruments and backup singers, which stands as a vast upgrade from when he recorded the original in his bunk bed with the materials he could scrape together.
“You know, when I first started DJing, when I first started learning how to scratch and mix, I used to use … I used to have a bread wrapper. You ever seen like a bread wrapper, you know, like on the Wonder Bread? You’d get the [twist tie] and it’s in metal. That was for my needle, because I didn’t have no money to get a needle, so I took a bread wrapper and made a needle out of it. … I had a Fisher Price turntable,” Juicy J said in a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone.
Juicy J is not new to pushing the boundaries of genres. My first introduction to Juicy J came from his feature on pop icon Katy Perry’s song “Dark Horse,” released in 2013. Hearing this song for the first time, not to be dramatic, created an obsession for elementary school me that follows me to this day. In this song, even though he had a feature on a classic pop song, he does not change his music to fit the pop genre, but rather works to meld the genres together.
Juicy J’s music stands as a great example of venturing outside of the norm and trying out of the box concepts while not abandoning your roots.
