Published: Wednesday - May 18, 2005
Words by Bill "Low-Key" Heinzelman
Young Jeezy (Photo: Def Jam)
Young Jeezy is not an emcee, and he will be the first person to admit it. The rap game is just something to make money off of in Jeezy's mind, as the Atlanta native has skyrocketed to the top of the South through his intelligent business moves and street savvy. With a solo deal with Def Jam, and a group deal with Bad Boy for his click Boyz N Da Hood, Jeezy has set the stage for a successful 2005.
BallerStatus.com: I was reading that you first started out as a financier for other rappers through your company Corporate Thugz Entertainment. Tell us about that, and how you got started in that field.
Young Jeezy: I always had a lot of love for music, but to make a long story short, I saw Cash Money doing it and got turned out. At the time, it was like, if you weren't a Hot Boy you weren't nothing. Them n----s were getting all the money in the world, and a n---- like me had the bread, but I couldn't get that respect. If you are in the club just doing you, then you are just you. But when you come in the club and you are Juvenile, you are Juvenile, you feel me? So I knew I had to get my hustle on with the music game. I got a couple of n----s from my hood together, got myself a little label, but at the time everybody didn't see eye to eye. N----s really didn't want to come to the studio on time, and eventually things just got out of hand. A couple of my n----s got locked up on murder cases, sh-- like that. In the end I was just stuck with me and my man, Kinky B, and a label with no artists. And from there, we just had to make due with what we had. My man was like, "What are we gonna do?," and I told him, "Real talk, I can f---ing rap if that's what needs to be done." I went for it and it ain't stopped since.
BallerStatus.com: So you were responsible for trying to get everybody's careers off the ground before everything fell through?
Young Jeezy: Nah, I ran the whole thing like a real company. I had an office, studio, and all of that. But everyday life caught up to everybody, cause those n----s were really getting into trouble. Two of them caught murder cases, one of them got killed, and the other one got locked up on some crazy sh--. I ran the whole thing like a real company, and we were really making some progress.
BallerStatus.com: How did you get the money to invest in these rappers?
Young Jeezy: Just surviving -- whatever I had to do to get it. It was whatever. It was crazy 'cause after a while we were really getting bread. We were getting paid off of the CDs, so it was crazy. Because you can record in the studio all you want, but to see the streets embrace it was crazy. We were going all these shows, Daytona Beach events, Kentucky Derby, and selling two or three thousand CDs in a day.
BallerStatus.com: Yeah, I read that your last album, Come Shop With Me, sold fifty thousand copies, that's crazy.
Young Jeezy: Yeah! And what's crazy is, when I hear that album today, I can't stand it. But, that is where I was at that time. Like I said, I ain't no rapper. I'm still not on some rap sh--; I just know how to make sense with my words. With that album, it was a blessing in disguise because once it came out and people started feeling it, I started getting all of these shows and things like that. So I was like, "Damn, I gotta get a manager or something." Sh-- was crazy! Can you imagine a real street n---- having to get a manager because he is getting so many shows and he can't take all of the calls?
BallerStatus.com: So what is the key to pushing a lot of units in the streets like you have done?
Young Jeezy: Being visual, definitely! A lot of n----s get on a record and rap about having this and doing that, but it's really about being visual and painting a picture. I think a lot of my success has to do with the fact that I was on scene and niggas know the sh-- I talk about is real. The sh-- I say, I have done, so n----s know me for that. Word of mouth is the biggest promotion you can get because if a n---- from Detroit calls his boy in Atlanta asking about Jeezy and his man knows that Jeezy is thorough, then there you go. You just got another hood feeling your music right there. So the biggest key to moving a lot of units in the streets is word of mouth.
BallerStatus.com: Let's talk about your group Boyz N The Hood. You guys are starting to blow up now -- I've seen your new video about five times already today. So tell us the history behind the group and how you guys formed.
Young Jeezy: Basically, I was working on my solo album, and at the time I had the streets on smash. I was getting money for shows that usually platinum artists get; I'm talking Michael Jordan numbers. But I couldn't get any radio play, even though I had the entire South Eastern region on smash! There was no way you would hear any of my stuff on the radio. Still, everybody knew my sh-- word for word. So at the time, Puff kept getting at me, and he knew me on some cool sh-- -- he had seen me around. He knew I had the street credibility, so he asked me to do the Boyz N The Hood project. I looked at it as a power move, because at the time Def Jam wasn't ready to smash, and Puff could get us that radio play. Before I signed, it was so bad that Boyz N The Hood would be up at the radio station, but I couldn't come. They would say, "Boyz N The Hood can come, but not Jeezy." Reason being, I was really in the streets and they knew that. So when Puff got in the picture, he told everybody, "They are a group, and if Jeezy can't come, then they can't either." So Puffy helped me get out of being blackballed. Plus, everybody knows that Puffy is going to make you a star; there is no doubt about that. The whole thing with Boyz N The Hood was a win-win situation, and it worked out. Puff is a real dude; he helped me get through a lot of doors when niggas was shutting them on me, because they were scared of me.
BallerStatus.com: What do you think of the comparison between Boyz N The Hood and an earlier version of the Hot Boyz?
Young Jeezy: Nah, I wouldn't say that man. It's a totally different thing; you are talking about two different regions of the country. You couldn't compare a New Orleans lifestyle to a ATL lifestyle, and vice versa. Right now, niggas that are really doing it are products of their environment, so it's a whole different thing. Because when you think of Atlanta, you think of crunk, but it ain't that. I wouldn't compare us to them because we all have different personalities and styles.
BallerStatus.com: Do you think there is a general bias against Southern emcees in the East and West. As some may feel that southern emcees can't rap, or things of that nature?
Young Jeezy: Nah man, I think there is respect. Because I f--- around and listen to Jim Jones all day, so it's not about where you live. I don't live in Harlem, but listening to the Diplomats music, I can see what it's like. And if someone doesn't live in Georgia, you can understand it by listening to my music. I don't think it has anything to do where you are from, because now every place as hot music jumping off -- East, West, South, and Midwest.
BallerStatus.com: Tell us about your album coming out on Def Jam this summer, Let's Get It. What can fans expect out of it?
Young Jeezy: You can expect to hear Jeezy, because on a lot of these mixtapes, I'm not able to properly express myself. Now with this album, I can talk about different issues and topics because on mixtapes, you basically get your swagger on. My album is definitely motivational and inspirational. It's some sh-- that can get you through your day, no matter what you do. So get one for the house, and one for the car. If you dig anything I did on the mixtapes, than you already know what it is.
BallerStatus.com: What's the official release date?
Young Jeezy: June 28, homie!
BallerStatus.com: Who's producing on it?
Young Jeezy: I got Akon, Jazze Pha, Mannie Fresh, CKP, DJ Smurf, basically everybody in my region. I didn't want to change it up because I got a deal. I know what type of sound I like, and I'm gonna stick with it.
BallerStatus.com: What about Organized Noize, I think that would be a good match?
Young Jeezy: I worked with all of them cats when I was coming up. I worked with Rico and everybody on Come Shop With Me and the album I had before that.
BallerStatus.com: Any guest appearances?
Young Jeezy: I got Trick Daddy, Young Buck, Lil Scrappy, and T.I.. Then I got Lloyd and Akon on hooks, because I didn't want too many guest appearances.
BallerStatus.com: Def Jam has been under a lot of criticism the past couple of years for their lack of promotion and artist develop. Emcees like Joe Budden, Ghostface have failed to get the right push. Even Redman said that Def Jam just signs stars, they don't make them. Are you concerned with any of that?
Young Jeezy: I'm a hustler man, so no label can stop that. I'm gonna do what I can do, and I wanted to be somewhere I could be respected and accepted. I wasn't here when all of that was going on, but I'm pretty sure its not like that now, because it's a different team. Plus, I did a lot of the leg work for them, so now they just have to connect the dots. I just need to be on the shelves, the rest is on us.
BallerStatus.com: What else do you have going on in the future?
Young Jeezy: Basically, just grindin! I'm gonna have a new mixtape drop after the album, look out for that. I have really just been doing a lot of shows, so I've been sitting back on that.
BallerStatus.com: Any last words?
Young Jeezy: June 28, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 -- pick that up.
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