Jeezy

Raised in poverty by a single mother, young Jay Jenkins learned to make money and earn respect in the few, mostly unlawful, arenas open to him on the streets of his Atlanta neighborhood. Starting out in such enterprises as selling illegal cell phones in alleys, Jenkins had a driving ambition to escape the dead-end life that seemed inevitable for some inner-city youth. He was drawn to rap music because hip-hop artists and their songs appeared to be the only cultural medium telling the truth about the lives of young people of color in the inner city.

Jenkins eventually entered the music industry as a producer, but he did not stay behind the scenes for long. In 2001 he released his first album under the rap name "Lil' J," and by 2003 he had become Young Jeezy, one of the most popular rappers; first in Atlanta, then throughout the South, and finally across the United States. Jeezy's authentic experience on the streets endeared him to his fans, but not to critics of rap and hip-hop culture, who condemned the references to drugs and guns in many of his lyrics. However, Jeezy saw himself as a teacher as well as an entertainer. As someone who knew the hopeless life of the streets, he hoped to motivate young men like himself with a message of hope and honesty. As he said on the Web site of his record label, Def Jam, "I don't just do music for the clubs, I do music for the struggle. I do music for...the kids who ain't got no sense of direction. I'm trying to restore some of the morals back into the game, as far as the street."

Jeezy changed his name in 2013, opting to drop the Young because, as he told MTV at the time, "I'm grown now." After marrying television personality Jeannie Mai Jenkins in 2021, he became a father for the fourth time. Jenkins gave birth to their daughter, Monaco, in January of 2022.

Grew Up in Southern Ghetto

Jay Jenkins was born on October 12, 1977, in Columbia, South Carolina. His parents were not married, and his mother soon took her baby son back to her home in Macon, Georgia. Jenkins was raised by his mother and grandmother in Macon and moved to Atlanta as a teenager. There he lived in the rough Fourth Ward area of town, where he quickly learned how hard life could be for a poor African-American youth. Jeezy described the roots of his ambition in an interview with Nooreen Kara on the British Web site The Situation, "I don't want to be a statistic. I don't wanna be dead or in jail without nothing. It happens a lot where I'm from; people get killed, people go to jail, and people forget about them. I won't let that happen to me."

Determined to survive and succeed, Jay Jenkins took whatever opportunities came his way, legitimate or not. He understood early that on the streets his image was all-important and, after earning $200 working for his uncle's construction company, he asked for the money to be paid with one twenty dollar bill and the rest in ones, so that he would have a bigger roll of cash to show his friends. Along with working for his uncle, Jenkins became what he would later call a "hustler," selling whatever he could to make money. Beginning with stolen goods, such as cell phones, he soon progressed to stealing cars and selling drugs.

Jenkins was still focused on a way out of the street life, however, and hip-hop music seemed to offer an opportunity. Hip-hop culture rose out of poor urban black culture, and though Jenkins had little education, his early years had given him authentic credentials to enter the rap music business. With a friend named Demetrius Ellerbee (stage name "Kinky B"), he started a music company called Corporate Thugz Entertainment in 1998, intending to work behind the scenes as a music producer. He soon began to feel that he had the talent and experience to become a positive voice within U.S. hip-hop culture and the young, black, urban community.

Began Career as Rapper

Jenkins began releasing mixtapes of his work, first as Lil' J, then as Young Jeezy. Mixtapes, or homemade compilations of a rapper's work, are a staple of the hip-hop music scene and are eagerly bought by fans who value their underground nature. In 2001, Lil' J's first CD, Thuggin' Under the Influence, was released, followed in 2003 by Come Shop Wit' Me. Produced by Corporate Thugz Entertainment, Come Shop Wit' Me was Jenkins first appearance as Young Jeezy, and the album sold tens of thousands of copies.

In 2004, rap legend P Diddy approached Young Jeezy about making an album for his Bad Boy Records label. Jeezy agreed to make one album as part of a studio group called Boyz in Da Hood, which included fellow rappers Big Gee and Big Duke. The three released the album Boyz in Da Hood, which reached number five on the Billboard Magazine chart of 200 most popular albums.

Jeezy was determined to make it as a solo performer, and in 2005 he signed with the respected rap record label Def Jam. His first major label album, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, sold 172,000 copies during the first week of its release, rocketing to number two on Billboard's chart. In 2006, Def Jam released Inspiration: Thug Motivation 102, which was also popular with Jeezy's fans. In 2007, Young Jeezy joined two rapper friends, Slick Pulla and Blood Raw, to form a new group they called USDA, or United Streets and Dopeboyz of America. Together they made an album called Cold Summer, The Authorized Mixtape.

Wrote Controversial Lyrics

Jeezy's gangster past, gravelly voice, and street-smart style gave him credibility among fans of rap, but the explicit references to drugs, guns, and sex have been controversial. During the early part of his career, Atlanta radio stations were reluctant to play his songs. Critics of Jeezy's lifestyle also point to two arrests, one in March 2006 in Miami for carrying a concealed weapon, and one in Macon, Georgia, in May 2007 for disorderly conduct. Jeezy has for the most part remained unconcerned about mainstream response to either his music or his life. Though he has worked to become successful, he has consistently refused to become commercial and has little interest in crossing over to other genres. He has always considered the poor people of the street to be his true audience, and they, he feels, will understand his message.

Jeezy's sharp lyrics and tight rhymes delivered vivid images, and he considered himself to be like a motivational speaker, using his words to inspire change in his listeners. His message was down-to-earth and gritty, like the hard life of the hustler. In songs like "Talk to 'Em", he spoke to the younger generation about the hard, cold side of the gangster life. "Soul Survivor" was an uplifting anthem of endurance and triumph over hard times, and "Don't Get Caught" offered advice about the incomparable black male experience of being stopped by the police.

One of Jeezy's biggest controversies arose out of one of his street nicknames, "Snowman." Some commentators on the rap scene claim that Jeezy got the name because of his habit of adorning himself with "ice," or glittery jewelry, but many others point out that "snow" is a street name for cocaine, which Jeezy admits to selling during his youth. When Jeezy's music company began selling T-shirts with a picture of a glowering snowman, the news network CNN issued a story about the drug connection. In response, many high schools banned the shirts, prompting Jeezy to explain to Nooreen Kara, "You can't just look at the snowman and say that it glorifies one thing. It doesn't glorify drug use, it glorifies the ultimate hustler, the struggle, the movement, the people who ain't got it and are trying to get it."

When Hurricane Katrina hit the U.S. Gulf Coast in August 2005, Jeezy demonstrated that his support for the poor and the disenfranchised went further than the words of his songs. He not only collected enough food, water, clothing, and other supplies to fill 12 tractor-trailers that he sent to help survivors, but he opened his own large house in Georgia to more than a dozen refugees left homeless by the storm.

In spite of disapproval from the critics of gangsta rap, Jeezy continued to develop his career. He guest appeared on the albums of rapper Fabolous and Lil' Wayne and appeared in live performances such as the March-April 2007 Street Dreams Tour. On November 12, 2006, he performed several songs on Black Entertainment Television's first annual Hip-Hop Awards.

In 2008 Jeezy released his third studio album The Recession, which hit the top spot on the charts. After working on music with artists such as Rihanna and Usher, he released the single "Lose My Mind" from his 2011 album Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition. The single was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2011, making it the third time Jeezy was nominated for a Grammy Award. He received his fourth nomination in 2012 for best rap performance for "I Do." The track features Jay-Z and Andreacute; 3000.

He released a studio album annually from 2014 through 2017. The biggest was likely "Seen It All," which likewise featured Jay-Z. The cut was certified gold. His final album on Def Jam was Thug Motivation 104: The Legend of the Snowman, in 2019. His next albums were released on the Universal label, though his 2020 album The Recession 2 was again a Def Jam product.

Personal Life

Jeezy married Jeannie Mai Jenkins in March of 2021. He is a father of four. Sons Shyheim and Jadarius were born in 1995 and 1996, respectively. A daughter, Amra, was born in 2014. On January 11, 2022, he and Jenkins welcomed a daughter, Monaco.