Juvenile Holds Out Hope For Hot Boys Reunion, But Only Under One Condition
The Hot Boys’ highly anticipated reunion at this year’s ESSENCE Festival may have went awry, but group member Juvenile remains confident that the entirety of the crew will return to the stage as a full unit.
On Monday (Aug. 12), Juvie and Mannie Fresh appeared on The Breakfast Club, with the “Ha” rapper assuring cohosts Charlamagne Tha God and DJ Envy that a proper reunion featuring all members remains in play.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s still happening,” Juvenile said of him and his Hot Boys groupmates banding together in celebration of their legacy. However, he admitted that Birdman, B.G., Lil Wayne, and Turk would have to iron out their differences with one another before moving forward together on one accord.
“We need to sit down and have a conversation about that first,” continued Juvie, who has largely steered clear of the internal drama amongst various members. Shortly after his groupmate’s interview with The Breakfast Club, Turk echoed Juvenile’s sentiments on social media, declaring, “HotBoy’s Reunion Coming” in a post on X later that same day.
Earlier this summer, the Hot Boys were expected to reunite for a live performance at this year’s ESSENCE Festival, but the set, dubbed “Birdman and Friends,” consisted of two separate shows, one featuring Birdman, Juvenile, B.G., and Mannie Fresh, and another with Lil Wayne performing with his Young Money crew. Group member Turk, who previously hinted at “business” potentially getting in the way of his appearance, was not present for either set.
During his time on stage, B.G. would allude to Turk’s absence from the performance, deeming it a self-inflicted consequence on the rapper’s own part. “It’s only one ni**a that ain’t in this bi**h, you heard me?” the “Bling Bling” creator said at the time. “He brought that on hisself. Ni**a did a bunch of h*e sh*t, he can’t take it back. He got to fault hisself for not being here.”
Turk would later clap back at his groupmate with a rant on social media, during which he declared, “F**k a Hot Boys tour, ni**a.” However, the spitter appears to have since had a change of heart, based on his latest statement regarding the pending reunion.
Initially, statements made by Birdman during his portion of the ESSENCE Fest performance were perceived as directed at Lil Wayne and his decision to perform sepearately, speculation the CEO later cleared up, as he revealed that the dual performances were predetermined prior to the show.
“We always knew that Wayne was gonna have his own set,” Birdman told Gregory “Geedy P” Earls in a recent interview. “Because me and Juvie and Geezy and Fresh, we rehearsed together every day and we had our own set together. But we all knew that Wayne was gonna have his own set. He was only a surprise guest.”
He continued, adding that Weezy only took the stage at his behest. “He had done Essence two years in a row and he turned them down personally,” the New Orleans native said. “And I asked him would he do it for me, and he did it for me. Shout out to my son Weezy, man.”
See Juvenile and Mannie Fresh’s The Breakfast Club interview below.
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