Young Jeezy: The Understanding

As the summer offers weltering heat waves, Young Jeezy hopes to change the climate of Hip-Hop to a much frostier temperature in the fourth quarter of the year. After being the runaway new star of 2005, the question remains as to whether Jeezy will affirm a role in the game that matches his monstrous voice. One thing is made clear from jump, the ATL trap star is much more concerned with the streets that built him up than the ‘burbs that embraced him as a boy n’ da hood.

The self-proclaimed “Snowman of Rap” is all set to release The Inspiration: Thug Motivation 102. Here, Jeezy encourage with candid talk on the plight of the ‘hood, his growth and whether a certain presidential rapper plans to return to rap.

AllHipHop.com: So, Jeezy, rumor has it Jay-Z’s coming back?

Young Jeezy: I mean he here for me. But I love his s**t, why not. But you know I can’t say that s**t. I told my man, I’m gonna go do one album and get us in the game and so y’all do what you gotta do. He can’t walk away from that s**t. He loves it [Hip-Hop]. I just love being able to do it. So I know he love it. Jay ain’t gonna walk away from that.

AllHipHop.com: You love Hip-Hop, but a lot of rappers love your flow so much they borrow it.

Young Jeezy: Yeah.

AllHipHop.com: Ad libs and all that. How do you feel about that?

Young Jeezy: I mean, it is what it is. I’m a trendsetter. I ain’t mad at that. You know that’s how I drive the game. Somebody else’ll start rapping, I want to start you know doing what I’ve done. You know, I just think you gotta make sure you know what you’re talking about. I damn sure do.

AllHipHop.com: Right, right. Can you talk about the song “Bury Me at G”?

Young Jeezy: Oh man. It’s crazy. You know for one “Bury Me at G” is that’s I mean by growing and not getting outside of who you are. You listen to “Bury Me at G” and it’s everything going on today. I still understand the fact that it is what it is, like every time you walk outside you wishing and saying it’s not me [that will die]. You know a lot of people don’t touch on that subject. Only people who really done it all. [Streetlife] was cool, but it was part of being, you know cats like that. But to me, you know I lose homeboys every time we’re on the road. I really understand what it is. It ain’t like I’m not of the scene because I still deal with real issues. Because I’m still that close to the hood, know what I’m saying?

So to me, “Bury Me at G” was just to let people know how I feel about a lot of stuff I go through. Because I feel like this life is sort of deliberate. I mean all this s**t be taken away from me tomorrow, and I think about that, you know what I mean? A lot of people don’t do that. I just really want to touch up on that subject and I ain’t really scared of that. So to me, I really want to speak boldly on it but in a way that you can get it.

AllHipHop.com: So you really want to be buried in Evisu jeans like the song says?

Young Jeezy: F**king right. In a USDA shirt.

AllHipHop.com: Okay.

AllHipHop.com: You lost a lot of weight.

Young Jeezy: The gym, man. I always told myself when I got myself established and I was able to move and wouldn’t have so much to worry about, [I would] get my health right. I did a lot of drinking, a lot of smoking over the years. I’m still doing four shows a week, in nine months, know what I’m saying? [I] get tired. You know, because you ain’t getting no rest and you ain’t eating right, know what I mean? So you know that’s my job. I just take it seriously. Man, I can’t really carry stress like I want to no more. I don’t want to die of stress, know what I’m saying?

AllHipHop.com: What’s the album about?

Young Jeezy: I mean, you know the album, basically that’s gonna take off where we left off. You know what I’m saying? It’s like a lot of cats come and change. So, to me, it’s more important that I keep the music good. You know keeping the message out there, know what I mean?

AllHipHop.com: Did you accomplish your mission with the first album?

Young Jeezy: My first album opened up the door. You know, I perfected my craft, you know a little more every day, you know?

AllHipHop.com: What do you feel about growth?

Young Jeezy: Yeah, you know I just think growth, growth is getting better at what you do, not making no type of songs gonna sell you out [or] take away from who you are. It’s almost like selling your soul. I mean, I ain’t even with that s**t. My whole thing is I do what I do. And I’m good at what I do. I might even sell ten million records this year but, you know. I don’t want to go do something that’s not me [in trying] to sell records, and it’ll blow up in my face. They won’t buy them anyway and I’d be lying to the people. If I preach all this stuff, motivation s**t and then just turn around and do something to get some more money.

AllHipHop.com: You said you had 62 joints. Can you speak on the process of whittling that down?

Young Jeezy: I’m a workaholic dude. I love to work to keep me out of trouble. But like the last [album], I picked out 72 songs. If I can [record] 80 songs, pick 14 from that. But that’s the process, you know, it’s just how you feel. You do what you feel at the time, and when it’s all said and done, you know it’s just like packing yourself all year, you know getting ready to go on that trip you want to take your best s**t. Same thing with album, you know you just get, you want to get all this s**t done and you know it’s time to go, it’s your best s**t let’s get it, know what I mean?

AllHipHop.com: You spoke of before speaking in certain code that only certain people can get.

Young Jeezy: Yeah.

AllHipHop.com: How, are you changing that? Are you opening up a little more?

Young Jeezy: No, I’m just… I’m making it a little bit more … I’m in the streets, so quite naturally, anybody speaking any type of street lingo, I’m gonna pick up on it. It’s like speaking Spanish. Because you go the Spanish [people], you understand Spanish. If you fluid in the streets, you understand street. But if you don’t understand it, it sounds like good music. It’s like Jamaican music, you know like don’t understand what they’re saying but you like it. I think it’s like a lot of people are shifting away from the streets. They ain’t really get it-get it, so the sound, I might lighten up on them just a little bit, know what I’m saying. Let them understand too, so they can get, you know let everybody else get it. Know what I’m saying, the message. Dig?

AllHipHop.com: Yep. You mentioned, you said the label can’t follow me in the streets.

Young Jeezy: Yeah.

AllHipHop.com: What’s the battle that, maybe not a battle but you know what are they looking for as opposed to what you’re giving them?

Young Jeezy: You gotta understand it’s not even the people at the label. It’s the people up top. You know it’s about money. In order to make money, you got to get ahead first. To us, it’s about doing what we love to do and what we’re good at doing and that’s talking to the people. It’s almost like a game sometimes. You get so caught up in that that you can get sidetracked so to speak. You go out and start doing things that ain’t in your character just to sell records. That’s where the problem is. I’m gonna do, what I’m gonna do.

AllHipHop.com: Your life and the life of others in the hood are constantly criticized and monitored.

Young Jeezy: I mean, it’s kind of crazy because look at like that’s the the way it’s designed. It’s like somebody put that s**t together. [The government] wants to stop a terrorist from coming in the country, so you can stop anything – if that’s what you want to do. But like I say, when you just sit back and look at it, kind of see [how drugs] get here and do what you do and you get locked up. Tax payers got to pay for you to be in jail. I mean, the [penal] system is like if there was no mother f**king maids, the hotel wouldn’t work. [If] there wasn’t no cooks, the kitchen wouldn’t work. Wasn’t no us, the world wouldn’t work. Because how you gonna pay this detective. How you gonna pay this government, how you gonna maintain all of this s**t. It’s like its just crazy, man.

AllHipHop.com: It’s like Blacks and minorities in jail is a part of the bottom line in the system.

Young Jeezy: And what’s crazy to me, if the [drug game] wasn’t like it was the world would be f**ked up. They better [feel] lucky they finding a way for us to eat. I mean where I’m from, you got to be taking it, because nobody is giving it.

AllHipHop.com: You think on those deeper levels a lot?

Young Jeezy: Hell yeah. Man, I’m so lucky. I sit back sometimes I can’t even take it all in. Because it’s like, any minute, somebody gonna come with a monkey wrench. I ain’t tripping on it, but it’s like sometimes just thinking about how far I came and what’s going on now in my life and s**t I’m able to do. It’s a whole different type of stress because its industry s**t. I just sit back and look at how lucky I am. You know I got out, I get a chance to ride through the city and have fun, you know having my own but I still feel like going through and it’s like “Damn.” It’s how you used to live, but they still going through it.