Witness Juvenile, Mystikal, & Mannie Fresh in New Orleans Saturday (10/29)

The Ballers' Ball comes to NOLA. But really, it never left.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

These are only three out of eight performers hitting the stage for “The Ballers’ Ball” at The Maison on Saturday night, but they are definitely a blast from New Orleans’ pre-Katrina past, when Cash Money Records was known way more for its larger-than-life, fake diamond fonts than for Lil Wayne’s Young Money imprint. Juvenile and Mystikal pioneered the one-syllable, thickly drawled Southern rap template that cartoon characters like Waka Flocka Flame seem to have pumped up on steroids these days. Mystikal himself was aligned with Master P’s No Limit imprint, which had even worse cover art than Cash Money, but that was the least of his problems; he spent a few years in jail for sexual battery, which interrupted a musical career that had been initially defined by some beefs with the Cash Money crew. Apparently that’s been squashed, since he’s appearing with Juvenile, one of Cash Money’s original Hot Boys (along with Lil Wayne, B.G. and Young Turk), but maybe that’s because they both have expressed a dedicated appreciation for the female behind; see Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up” and Mystikal’s “Shake Ya Ass” for more details. And tying it all together is former Cash Money in-house producer Mannie Fresh, he of the tinny snares and wheezingly cheesy synths.

The Ballers' Ball
Saturday, October 29
10 p.m.
The Maison
508 Frenchmen St., New Orleans
Tickets $20

Latest in Pop Culture