Juicy J Brings Twerk Circles, Flashing and Blunts to Rock the Bells 2013
It took 24 seconds for the first twerk circle to begin at Juicy J's Sunday night set at Rock the Bells 2013. It started with two girls in their early 20s, eventually expanding to five; a circle forming as surrounding guys whipped out their cameras for posterior posterity. I consider taking a picture to accompany this article, then remember that I'm 34 and yes, that will look weird.
A Juicy J show circa 2013 is what happens when the Stony Awards attendees hang out with Spring Breakers. Multiple girls will hop on their boyfriends' shoulders to flash the rapper, acknowledged by the king himself with an emphatic, "Titties. I see some titties." Blunts and bags of weed will be thrown on stage. ("I love when the fans throw drugs at me. That's the coolest thing in the world," says the rapper.) And, of course, the twerk is never far from anyone's mind.
After performing "A Zip and a Double Cup," Juicy requested 10 ladies to dance on stage for "She Dancin.""They gotta be older and sh-t," noted the 38-year-old rapper. "At least 20 and up." While surprisingly few girls took him up on the offer, two teenage girls snuck their way on stage before the rapper quickly booed them and escorted them off. A more age-appropriate woman appeared in black leather pants and all was right again.
During his 28-song set, the Three 6 Mafia co-founder never strayed off-message; a hedonistic prophet with an insatiable lust for new recruits. If Chris Rock recorded his 2004 "It's hard to defend rap music" bit in 2013, it's easy to imagine he'd use nearly any of tonight's songs as his example. And Juicy J would laugh.
The hardest thing about tonight's set is deciphering Juicy J's line between sincerity and wink-wink humor. Before going into "Scholarship," featuring a surprise appearance by A$AP Rocky, the rapper reiterated his plan to donate $50,000 to the best twerker. "Ladies only," he reminds the crowd. "I'm trying to give back to the community."
The hour-long set, which mixed Three 6 Mafia hits like "Stay Fly" and "Poppin' My Collar" with tracks from Juicy J's latest album Stay Trippy, ended on a message of positive affirmation.
"Believe in yourself," said the rapper. "And get high as f-ck every day."
Setlist:
1. Stop It (a capella)
2. Smokin' Rollin'
3. All I Blow Is Loud
4. Show Out
5. Still in This Bitch (B.o.B song)
6. Stay Fly
7. Poppin' My Collar (Snippet)
8. Errday (Wiz Khalifa song)
9. Bounce it
10. Scholarship
11. A Zip and a Double Cup
12. She Dancin
13. Bandz A Make Her Dance
14. Pour It Up (remix) (Rihanna song)
15. No Heart, No Love
16. Riley
17. Slob on My Knob
18. Countin' Faces
19. Juicy J Can't
20. Bombay Gin Dance (Snippet)
21. If I Ain't
22. Smoke a N-gga
23. Money A Do It (Snippet)
24. Geeked Up Off Them Bars
25. Get Higher
26. Gun Plus a Mask
27. Drugged Out
28. Wax (Snippet)
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