Juicy J wants Wichita to be ‘lit’ when he comes to town

When Juicy J was last in Wichita in 2014, he said, he remembers a lot of his family showing up at the Cotillion.

“I got a lot of family in Kansas – cousins, uncles, you know, aunts,” said Juicy J, whose birth name is Jordan Michael Houston. “I used to live in (Kansas City, Kansas) growing up as a kid.”

On Wednesday, the 41-year-old rapper who rose to the top of the charts as a featured artist on Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” is returning to the Cotillion as part of his Rubba Band Business Tour.

The tour is in support of his upcoming album, “Rubba Band Business,” the release date of which he said he doesn’t even know – “but it’s a dope album.”

“Kansas want to hang,” he said. “I want them to be lit, you know what I’m saying? Enjoy the show, definitely grab the new CD when it drops. ... I want them to enjoy everything.”

Juicy J was a founding member of Three 6 Mafia, a Southern hip-hop group that rose to popularity in 2005 with its track “Stay Fly.”

The prolific Three 6 Mafia won the Academy Award for best original song in 2006 for “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” featured in the movie “Hustle & Flow.”

While Juicy J left the group in 2011 to focus on his solo career, he said his new album, “Rubba Band Business,” hearkens back to those early-career days.

“This is going to be, like, 85 percent Three 6 Mafia sound,” he said in a phone interview with The Eagle earlier this month.

The album shares a name with three mixtapes Juicy J released at the beginning of his solo career.

As a solo rapper, Juicy J has been one for collaboration – often appearing as a guest artist on others’ songs and inviting guests on his own tracks. In the past, he’s collaborated with Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Trey Songz, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Ne-Yo, Usher and more.

“It’s good when people collaborate, man, it’s just interesting,” he said. “You get to hear a Juicy J verse on one track, then someone else. You get to hear how they come on the song.

“The Katy Perry (collaboration on ‘Dark Horse’) was definitely a surprise to everybody. It’s great. It brings both fan bases together as well.”

He said his new album includes “a few” collaborations, though he wouldn’t elaborate on the surprises in store.

Just this week, he released a song featuring Wiz Khalifa and Ty Dolla $ign.

He promises he’ll perform a few songs from the new album at his upcoming show at the Cotillion.

“I just like going out there and seeing the fans,” he said. “I like to see people smile, man. Have a good time, that’s the main thing.”

This story was originally published February 9, 2017 at 3:26 PM with the headline "Juicy J wants Wichita to be ‘lit’ when he comes to town."