Juicy J & Pi’erre Bourne – “This Fronto”

Amel Gibson

Juicy J & Pi’erre Bourne – “This Fronto”

Amel Gibson

Memphis rap legend Juicy J started off as his career as half of the production duo behind the great Three 6 Mafia, and his production work for that group and its various offshoots still casts a huge shadow over rap, both in its underground and arena-level forms. But Juicy has also had some serious success when teaming up with other producers. Juicy really kicked off his post-Three 6 solo career with 2010’s Rubba Band Business and 2011’s Rubba Band Business 2, the two mixtapes that he recorded with producer Lex Luger. On a forthcoming album, Juicy will team up with another big-deal rap producer.

New York native Pi’erre Bourne made his name with the noisy, chaotic tracks that he produced for artists like Playboi Carti, Young Nudy, and Lil Uzi Vert, and that led to collaborations with big names like Kanye West and Drake. Pi’erre raps, too, and he’s made collaborative mixtapes with rappers like Young Nudy and producers like Cardo. Later this month, Juicy J and Pi’erre Bourne will release their collaborative album Space Age Pimpin’, and its lead single arrived yesterday.

“This Fronto” pretty much just sounds like classic Juicy J, at least until it doesn’t. Juicy and Pi’erre co-produced the track together. Early on, it’s Juicy chanting about drugs over a stomping churn not that different from what Three 6 Mafia were doing around 2000. But then Pi’erre Bourne comes in rapping through Auto-Tune, and the song warps and distends a little. It’ll be interesting to hear how those two sounds converge and diverge over the course of an album. Listen to “This Fronto” below.

Space Age Pimpin’ is out 6/22.

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