Mannie Fresh to executive produce new Juvenile Album

By: Yves Erwin Salomon

Producer Mannie Fresh recently inked a production deal with Def Jam Records to produce songs for artist on the label's roster as well as to release his own album later this year. Before Fresh can get into his own project, he's agreed to executive produce Juvenile's next album. Fresh told MTV.com, "Most of the tracks is gonna be mine, the rest is gonna be me putting him with the right producers, making sure the fans get what they wanna hear from Juvenile. It kinda started off slow. Me and dude haven't been working like that. If it was, it was one session, then he went his way, I went my way. We gotta grow back into each other and get that comfort zone. But the chemistry is there. My thing is we gonna keep recording until we get the songs we want. The chemistry is still there."

Fresh and Juvenile always maintained a relationship even after Juvenile left Cash Money Records in 2001. Fresh explained what it was like when they first hooked back up to work on the rapper's 2003 project, Juvie The Great. He said: "It's kinda like I had to come to terms with dude. In order for this album to be a success, I mean, dude, we got to let bygones be bygones if you want it to be a classic album. It's all on you, you know. I mean in my heart, I could never be mad at nobody regardless of what you do."

Fresh will also be working with former Cash Money Millionaire B.G. on his new album. The producer said, "B.G., we're working it out to work on his album as well. I'm hoping me, him, Juvie could all get in the studio and do something as well. We don't even have to call it the Hot Boys. We just do what people know we can do."

As for his new solo album, Fresh said, "I don't want to call it a compilation, but it's a chance for me to work with everybody I wanted to work with and put a project together. I'm actually signed as an act to Def Jam. And on top of that, I get to do whatever I want outside of that. It's not an exclusive deal, I'm just exclusively signed to Def Jam. They understand the hustle of the game, my daily activities."

The producer added, "It's gonna consist of a lot of cats. Akon, Tyrese, T.I., Jay-Z, Nas. It's gonna be something crazy. Cats I never really worked with, so I'm gonna get a chance to give them my music and let them do their thing creatively over what I'm doing. And I'm looking for some new talent as well to showcase. It's not just gonna be all established artists."

Fresh was one-half of the Big Tymers, which included rapper Baby, a.k.a. Birdman. The group's last release, 2003's Big Money Heavyweight, was certified gold for sales of 500,000 copies, while the Big Tymers'two previous releases, 2002's Hood Rich and 2000's I Got That Work, were both certified platinum for sales of 1 million copies. The group released its debut album, How You Luv That, in 1998.

Fresh released his solo album, The Mind of Mannie Fresh, in 2004 on Cash Money Records.