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Juve The Great is back and is gearing to release his new album Cocky & Confident on November 17th.  The album will feature the new singles “Hands On You”   and “Gotta Get It.”  He spoke exclusively about the new project to Hip-Hop Wired and cleared up his label situation as his new project is being worked by Atlantic and E1.

“I got two singles out right now.  One featuring Pleasure P called “Hands On You” and it’s already at cross over radio and we got “Gotta Get It.”  It was produced by Precise who used to do Mystikal’s music in the beginning.  That single is also out everywhere and we getting ready shoot a video for that.  I got a helluva project and you definitely gonna get the title out of it.  It’s just that…Cocky & Confident. It’s an up-tempo album that wakes you up.  It’s not dark at all.  It’s one sample on the album just to show you the range of the music.  Mouse that does beats for Boosie and Webbie also produced some stuff and it’s one of my best projects.  I’m still UTP / Atlantic even though E1 is handling all the marketing, radio, promotions and everything like that.”

Since his last album Reality Check, Juve has also been through a transition and has moved back to New Orleans from Atlanta since Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005.  Giving the run down on his city, Juvenile also discussed the economic hardships of the ghettos of New Orleans, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and how gentrification is running rapid after millions were displaced.

“I still live in New Orleans.  I lived in Atlanta for a couple of years but I moved back after I built my house back.  So it’s all good, I’m at home.  Man, in New Orleans right now, we still in the rebuilding stage.  We having our same financial difficulties like everybody else but I don’t think we have it as worse as everybody else.  Our tourism is up, Canal and Bourbon Street is fixed back up.  New Orleans is pretty much doing alright.  The only problem we’re having is we got high crime and that’s because the cats from the minority side.  We haven’t seen anything yet.  It’s crazy when you get to that part.

If you g go through the ghettos of New Orleans and you ride around, you’ll see stuff being rebuilt.  You’ll see houses but the problem is who’s moving in them.  The people who actually lived in those areas are not getting the opportunity to move back in them.  So that’s why I say it’s still messed up in a sense.  Not by the naked eye it probably won’t look like that but it is still messed up.

I don’t have an opinion on Ray Nagin.  I get asked this question a lot and it doesn’t bother me to be asked this question but I really don’t have an opinion on Ray Nagin because I don’t know him.  And I really don’t see what he did that was so big or dramatic or great for the city.  So I don’t have no opinion.  I don’t have nothing bad to say about him but I don’t have anything good to say about him either.”

Cash Money’s breakthrough artist also spoke to Hip-Hop Wired about the highly anticipated reunion.

“It’s definitely gonna be a Hot Boy$ reunion.  I be talking to Baby like everyday.  That’s all I can tell you, the ball is in their hands right now.  We definitely been in the studio but the songs we recorded earlier got leaked but people know we definitely been in the studio.  But we waiting for Wayne to finish all the trips (tours) he doing and then we all gone fly back down to Miami and then we gone really get down on it.

Working with Cash Money again, it’s cool.  I mean it don’t hurt.  When you think about it and look at your past, we had a dynasty.  So it won’t hurt me reaching back at all.  It’s all pluses for me.  As far as Mannie Fresh being involved in the project, that’s something he gotta take up with Baby and them because that would be over my head right there.  That part there but I definitely feel and want Mannie to be involved in it.  If you asking me, yeah.”

While B.G., Wayne and Juve are all on board for the union, it’s still up in the air if the fourth-man of the team Turk will be involved in the reunion.  Locked up since 2004 for the attempted murder of a Memphis police officer, Turk’s case has gone through a number of appeals and he has been scheduled to be released several times but has yet to see freedom. Juve also added,

“I spoke to Turk months back and he told me he was getting out of jail.  Then I heard he signed with J. Prince (Rap-A-Lot) so I really don’t know what Turk’s situation is.  I even put money up in the past to get him out and they still ain’t let him out so I don’t know what’s going on with that.  But what I can tell you is I wanna see him on the street.  He’s a good dude and I know he ain’t shoot no cop.  He should have been out two years ago.  So I don’t know what’s going on with Turk.  If he’s getting into more trouble while he up in there or if they threw another charge on him?  If they holding him because it involved the police?  You gotta think about it.  It’s in Memphis and it’s the police.  It’s a touchy subject man.”

Stay tuned to Hip-Hop Wired for our upcoming feature with the original Solja Boy.  Cocky & Confident will be released on November 17th.