Jeezy

Episode notes

(Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET)

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains frank discussions about violence, crime and drug use that some listeners might be sensitive to.

Rap month continues here at Bullseye. Next up, the trap music pioneer Jeezy. 

In the early 2000’s, he was known as Young Jeezy. On his major label debut, Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, he called himself your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper on the track Standing Ovation. 

The record’s production was brash and audacious. Orchestral hits, big, bold synth stabs. The 808 cranked up into the front of the mix.  It’s trap music – an Atlanta original in its biggest, most bombastic form. 

Young Jeezy, alongside T.I. and Gucci Mane helped bring trap music into the mainstream.

Today, Jeezy is 45. He dropped “young” from his name over a decade ago. Recently, he published a book: Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe. 

Jeezy joins Bullseye to talk about his new book and he gets into the first time he found his love of music. Plus, he reflects on some of the toughest parts of his childhood and time hustling on the street.