Juicy J has had an unconventional career, to say the least. The former Three 6 Mafia member hit rarified heights in 2006 while winning an Oscar for "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp," and really announced himself as a solo artist with last September's "Bandz A Make Her Dance," featuring 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne. That track served as the debut single for Stay Trippy, Juicy's new album which just debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Juicy's highest ranking by far on the metric, almost a year after the single dropped.

Since then he's been just about everywhere, cropping up as a guest on more than fifteen tracks and dropping a handful singles in the buildup to his release, finally capping it off by streaming the album on his website using a game where fans could throw money and paint at strippers. He's got a surprising collaboration with Justin Timberlake. He's worked with Timbaland and Mike WiLL Made It. He's producing a bunch of tracks on the upcoming Pimp C posthumous album (securing an unreleased verse from the late Houston legend for his own album by asking Pimp's widow). And he wants to be the next big record label head honcho. Juicy's got a lot of plans, and he's not going anywhere. Last week, he stopped by the XXL offices to dish on his new album, working with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake, and how he dealt with success after his Oscar seven years ago. —Interview by BJ Steiner (@DocZeus)

You released a video game to coincide with the album. What made you want to do it?
Juicy J: I just tried to have some funs with things, man. A lot of times, I think it’s better to have fun with whatever you doing—even if you are working with McDonald’s have some fun with it. Play that Juicy J Stripper Game while you are working at McDonalds.

I’ve noticed on the album there were definitely elements of your classic sound but it also had a smoother, more melodic sound on the album. Did you feel that there would be a backlash from your fans used to the aggressive style of Three 6 Mafia?
I figured it was going to hit in the right place because it’s different ears now. A lot of people don’t know that I was in Three 6 Mafia. They don’t even know that I did music back then. So the ears are different. Not everybody is looking for that 1999 sound, that 2000 sound. I just try to put a little bit of this in it, a little bit of that in it. Plus, I’m the type of person that try to do stuff that’s different. I’m not trying to do the same stuff I did ten years ago. That would be stupid.

After the success of “Bandz,” did you feel any pressure to make a hit that was as big as that song?
I’ve been working on this album for almost a year. Pretty much a year, I would say. I didn’t feel there was any stress. I just had to come up with another single. I mean I already know that my album is dope. I know I got great songs. I know I got great performances at my show. It’s on point. I’ve got confidence in myself that whatever I put out...it might not be as big as this or bigger than that but it’s definitely going to work. You can’t duplicate what you’ve already done. Once it’s done it’s done. “Bandz” came and now it’s done. I can’t make another “Bandz.” I just got to make another song and who knows what it’s gonna do?

There was a significant gap between the release of “Bandz” and the release of the album. Did you ever feel the album might not come out?
I was confident. I just wanted to make sure that everything was right. I didn’t want to just throw an album out there that’s not all put together. It had to be set up right. The marketing, the plans, everything has got to be on point. I consider myself a legend in the game. If I’m gonna be a legend in the game, its gotta be like “classic” whenever I drop. I feel good about it, though.

What was the thing that attracted to you about Mike WiLL Made It’s production?
When I first heard “Bandz A Make Her Dance,” I was like “Wow!” I was blown away with that beat. It sounded like an R&B-type beat. A slow song. Usually I hear what a song’s like to dance to like “Bandz A Make Her Dance.” It’s usually fast, so listening to that beat kind of put me back in the mode...what’s that song that came out a long time ago with Juvenile and Soulja Slim...“Slow Motion For Me.” Remember that song?

It kind of put me in the frame mind of that. It took me back to that. That’s what I like about it, because “Slow Motion” was definitely a dance record. You play it in the club and girls will start dancing, twerking their asses. It didn’t have a lot of energy, it was just chill. It was a chill strip club record. When I heard the beat that was what I wanted to make. I wanted to be different. I didn’t want to come out with a real turned up strip club record. It was almost like a slow song but still rap music. You can ride to “Bandz.” Most strip club records you’d be so turned up that you couldn’t do that. Who wants to ride to music that’s loud or has too much going on? I want to make songs you can ride to, chill, smoke a little weed or whatever.

One of the most prevalent themes on the album is your love of strip clubs. Do you have any good strip club stories?
Good strip club stories? I think all my strip club stories are good. I think everything I say about strip clubs is good because I’m having fun. K.O.D. is the best strip club in the world. You ever been there? It looks like a mall. It’s like if you walk in a mall and there are stripper poles everywhere.

That’s the one in Miami. It’s just like a shopping mall with poles in it but real getdown. I gave out a lot of money. I don’t remember a lot of stuff at strip clubs. I be drunk.

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How was it working with Justin Timberlake?
A lot of people don’t know that I’m from Memphis and Justin is from Memphis. We’ve known each for a while. I did a song on his last album—Three 6 Mafia, me and Paul did. So Timbaland had reached out to me and asked me to do some songs for his album. So I flew to New York and I did the records with Timbaland and I was on my way out of the studio and he was like, “Listen to these records.” He was just playing records from his phone and he let me hear a bunch of songs. I didn’t know who was on the hooks. He just played beats and I heard singing on the hook and I was like “Who is that?” And he’s like “That’s Justin Timberlake.” I was like “Aww. That’s dope.” He was like “Yeah, man. You wanna use that for your album?” I was like “What?! For real? Seriously?” He told me “Yeah, man. You can use that for your album.” That was a blessing, man.

One of the things you are most noted for is that you won an Oscar in 2006. Was there ever any sort of fear that you might not get that high in your career ever again?
No. I just felt like I had to keep working. You can’t think about that. You just gotta keep thinking about working. That’s the first thing that came to my mind—I gotta get out and work. So I started doing mixtapes. I hired a street team. I went down to Atlanta. I went to Florida. I went to Alabama. I had people passing out mixtapes. Some of the cities in the Midwest. I was just grinding and, boom! Here I am. That’s what started this solo movement. I was planning on going solo. I just wanted to keep the Three 6 Mafia buzz rolling just by doing my own mixtapes but it just happened, man.

What’s next for you?
Right now, I’m producing the Pimp C album—I’m not producing the whole album but I’m producing a lot of the tracks on there. I’m producing some tracks for Wiz. I’m doing some features. I’m working on this Taylor Gang album that’s me, Wiz, Chevy, Burner. It’s like a group album.

I’m hoping that Columbia makes me CEO of their record label. I hope. I’m just joking but that’s what I want to do. A lot of people ask me what I want to do in the next five years, the next ten years and I’m like, “My goal is to be CEO of a major label." That’s what I wanna do. Like L.A. Reid or Barry Weiss, I want to follow in the footsteps of those guys.

It takes time. You gotta build your way up to be a CEO of major label. You can’t just walk in there. They are just gonna let anybody in there. I’m looking for new talent. We just see what happens when I feel like that I get to that point where I want to sit down and have that conversation with these major labels I’ll do it. Right now, I feel like I’m still grinding. Maybe in a year, I’ll probably do it.

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