Three 6 Mafia member Juicy J had a unsuspected late career resurgence. While always a highlight of the group, his solo work took time to fully form into its own force. Credit can be attributed to his linking up with Wiz Khalifa & Taylor Gang, where he transitioned from the dark lyrics of the Mafia into his party lifestyle. Creating what are now classic mixtapes like Blue Dream & Lean 2, his modern peak of stardom came on his album Stay Trippy. While it wouldn’t the back to back bangers that he brought on the mixtapes, it brought his biggest hits to date that became some the soundtrack of multiple parties.
The stripper anthem “Bandz A Make Her Dance” was clearly the biggest track from the album. While his mixtapes are quintessential trap music, tracks like this succeeded in their slower more anthemic feel. Mike-Will provides this spacy instrumental that builds into gigantic drops, with Juicy J hitting his perfected flows in-between. The two kings of rap features appear on the track to pack out its star power, Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz provide prime stripper bars.
While “Bandz” gives this feeling it was primed for the clubs, “Scholarship” with A$AP Rocky gives a more standard trap feel. With Three 6’s classic “yeah hoe” adlib in the background, the song gives love for his older sound while embracing the new. Rocky & Juicy would continue to work on more songs for many years to come, but we see both on the track in the peak of their pop appeal killing it. To this day, they haven’t been able to put together a hit as strong as this.
When its not about strippers, its about drugs. With tracks like “Smoke a N*gga,” “Wax,” “All I Blow is Loud” and “If It Ain’t,” Juicy creates the soundtrack to every smoke sesh. No matter the song, it never gets tiring. With production that varies from trap to more pop appeal, Juicy J has so many different flows that he can find a pocket no matter what song. “Wax” in particular shows this off, he hits this head nodding slow flow in the beginning before hitting this rapid double time flow. Paired with a legendary sample, it feels like the sample was made for Juicy J to sample it.
Despite the age of this project, its aged wonderfully. Some of the songs were such a level of popularity that you could play songs like “Show Out” and still have a crazy crowd. This is a rare album that is made for a mainstream audiences & still finds appeal for both crowds. Even dipping into his older Three 6 sound on “Gun Plus A Mask,” there’s something here for everyone without overdoing it. While Rocky would be seen as a sell-out with tracks like “Wild for the Night,” Juicy smartly played to his strengths rather than going outside his comfort zone. It remains one of the better solo albums in his discography too, making worthy of a relisten.