In 2002, after a fruitful partnership with Cash Money, New Orleans rapper Juvenile parted ways with the crew, creating the Uptown Project (or UTP) with childhood friends. During 2004, he returned to the Cash Money fold for JUVE THE GREAT, where half the record consisted of collaborations with the UTP, half with the Cash Money Millionaires. However, the reunion with Cash Money was brief, as later that year Juvenile aligned with Rap-A-Lot Records, bringing with him the UTP. The first offering from this alliance is THE BEGINNING OF THE END--a collaboration between Juvenile and two other members of the UTP, Skip and Wacko. Throughout the album, the trio trades raps with ease like the oldest of friends, as they flow over beats that feel balanced between the Cash Money and Rap-A-Lot styles. It's a dark, murky, dangerous world, and the threesome's lyrics are as earnest as they are brutal. THE BEGINNING OF THE END builds on the success of JUVE THE GREAT to mark a new chapter for New Orleans rap.