Juiceboxxx to kick off tour with Public Enemy Friday

When my friend Chris told me that Juiceboxxx was touring with Public Enemy starting this Friday, I nearly fell off my barstool. Juiceboxxx? The kid we asked to freestyle over one of our songs at a New Year’s Eve basement show in 2002? The kid our old keyboardist got onto a bill at Club 770 in Madison with MC Paul Barman (and who proceeded to blow Barman off the stage)? The skinny little dude who rode with us from Milwaukee up to a show in Stevens Point all those years ago? Juiceboxxx is touring Canada? With Public Fucking Enemy?

But it’s true—the young twentysomething that most Milwaukeeans still remember as that goofy 16-year-old rapping at punk shows will be sharing the stage with one of the most culturally significant rap groups of all time. Clearly, while the rest of us have sat around debating whether or not Milwaukee’s reaching an all-time high of visibility thanks to Kings Go Forth and Jaill (we’re not, but that’s a rant for another time), the ‘boxxx has been keeping his nose to the grindstone and taking care of business, whether the rest of us have cared to notice or not. Need I point out that this is frakking HUGE and that our boy deserves mad accolades?

I sent some email questions to Juiceboxxx hoping to find out just how the hell this happened, but in his typical elusive style, the Mequon rapper whose mom calls him “John” chose to not shed too much light on how he got here (then again, maybe “life happens” really does say it all, you know?). Still, he had a little bit to say about the tour and his time on the road over the past few years. (Note: I left all his responses in all caps because it cracks me up that he always types like that.)

How did this tour with PE come together? Details! Tell us the story!

“LIFE HAPPENS”. YOU KEEP ON TRYING AND PUSHING AND SOMETIMES THINGS GO RIGHT. A LOT OF TIMES, THINGS GO WRONG, BUT THIS IS A CASE OF THINGS GOING RIGHT.

Have you met the PE guys yet? C’mon, what’s Flavor like in person?

I DON’T KNOW ANYBODY IN PUBIC ENEMY. I HOPE TO AT LEAST SHAKE THEIR HANDS ON THIS TOUR. IT IS A TRUE HONOR AND NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY.

You’ve probably become the hardest-touring Milwaukee export in recent years. How many shows do you think you play a year now? How often are you home?

100 PLUS. I AM NOT AT HOME VERY OFTEN. I DON’T KNOW WHERE HOME IS ANYMORE. THE “WASTED TOWN” ??? ??? ???

It seems to me that some local musicians need to leave town to get any kind of recognition, because for some reason or another, there are some local musicians Milwaukee just doesn’t take to as readily. Do you feel like this has been the case with you? What’s treated you better–Milwaukee or the road?

I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE IN MILWAUKEE HAVE A HARD TIME TAKING ME SERIOUSLY BECAUSE THEY HAVE KNOWN ME FOR SO LONG AND STILL HAVE IMAGES OF A 15 YEAR OLD NERD IN THEIR HEAD. I AM STILL THAT NERD, BUT I AM NOT 15 ANYMORE. I ENJOY TOURING, I HAVE PLAYED THROUGHOUT EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA AND IT IS ALWAYS AN ADVENTURE.

What’s on the agenda after the PE tour?

I’LL BE RUNNING AROUND, FUCKING TRYING TO KEEP MY HEAD ON STRAIGHT. WORKING ON MY DEBUT FULL LENGTH, TAKING IT ONE DAY AT A TIME. FUCK LIFE. LIFE RULES!

Juiceboxxx’s tour with PE starts on Friday at the Burton Cummings Theatre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, for fuck’s sake.