How are you affiliated with Jazze Pha? It’s more of a production situation. Everybody thought it was some label shit, but it wasn’t. I mean, it was a situation we was working on, but it didn’t work out. You’ve already got a good street buzz as a solo artist and a deal with Def Jam, so how does it benefit you to be a part of the group Boyz N Da Hood which is signed to Bad Boy? The group shit helped me get radio play. I was getting blackballed on the radio and shit with a lot of my music. Doing this shit with Puff just brought to light that I was an artist. Why were you getting blackballed? Just because of some street shit. Niggas knew me in the city before I got in with the rap shit, so that was the whole big thing. I was a real street nigga. I really don’t know what it was. I guess a lot of industry cats don’t like to let street niggas in. I see that now. It’s they world. They figure, once you let a couple street niggas in, they’ll all come in. With the buzz that you have as a solo artist, do you think it somewhat hurts the other members of Boyz N Da Hood? Like, you overshadow them? Nah. My buzz is more of a street thing. Puff is gonna take it to another level, to some household name type of shit. I don’t think it hurts the group, because every group needs someone that’s really visible. Do you agree with the description of Boyz N Da Hood as the “Southern N.W.A”? If it’s accurate, shit, I’m gonna be Ice Cube. That’s how I feel. But I don’t like to be compared to nobody. I love and respect everybody’s music, though. I think that’s what it is. I don’t think you should or could compare it. It’s two different types of lifestyles. As a consumer, though, I’m a big fan of N.W.A. When do you plan to drop the solo and group albums? My solo album drops June 28th, it’s called Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101. The Boyz N Da Hood album comes out on June 7th. Since you rap so blatantly about the drug game, are you worried about any backlash? Are the hip-hop police after you? Nah, I’m just tryin’ to survive. You got niggas talkin’ about killin’ niggas on records all day long. Being an American, I’ve got the right to freedom of speech. For me to connect with my people, I’ve gotta speak about what I’ve seen. I get that harassment, too, if that’s what you’re asking. I mean, that’s all I know. What I’ve seen and what I’ve come across. I couldn’t possibly rap about anything else right now. You talk about making money from the drug game, but what about the flip side? Do you plan on talking about the negative aspects? I think that’s something I’ll grow into. It wasn’t something that was on my mind at that time; I was in a different frame of mind. I do talk about the ups and downs of the game. It ain’t glorifying the drug game, I just speak on what I know and a lot of people can relate to the ups and downs. Right now is just the beginning for me, so I’m gonna get the chance to do all that. I can’t come out and give them everything at one time. I gotta get them caught up in the movement.
If you didn’t have money, would you consider yourself a failure? I’m a hustler, so I couldn’t see myself without anything. I’ve always been able to provide for myself and my team. That’s a big thing for me; weathering the storm and maintaining. That’s what I think about every day: mathematics. Speaking of mathematics, why did you decide to get into the rap game? Are you making more money than you did in your previous career? I think it’s a different feel. In the street shit, you could be that nigga in your city with the cars and the whips. But with this, whenever I’m out of state, I’m Jeezy. People I don’t recognize approach me and tell me they appreciate my music, so it’s just a different feel. Any features on this album? Definitely. I got my man Young Buck, T.I., Trick Daddy, Akon, my man Slick Pulla, and USDA. I didn’t want too many features. I wanted to hold it down myself, but I still wanted to work with a lot of the other artists that I respect. I’m a fan of a lot of indie music. I’m diggin’ Mike Jones, too. Are there some more personal, in-depth songs on your album? Yeah, all that. With my mixtape shit, it was just street swagger. With your album, you can get a lot more personal. I’ve got a song called “Let Me Talk to Them” which is talking to my homeboys, my grandmother who’s deceased, and a lot of people I ain’t get the chance to talk to. It’s a dedication. I definitely got some personal songs on there but I still did my street thing. Since you have such a hardcore sound, when you signed the group deal with Bad Boy were you worried about P Diddy controlling your sound creatively? Nah, Puff knows me so he knows I wasn’t going for that. For real, before we even sat down and did business I let him know that I stood on my own. I’m a real nigga, so I can’t make those type of [commercial] records. I can only make the type of records that I feel.
Since you signed to Def Jam, they’ve been going through a lot of internal changes. I’m a team player, so I just weather the storm. Things are looking good right now. Everybody’s excited with the project. I’m working with my man Jay-Z, he’s excited about the project. He’s a businessman, like me. We both businessmen and we don’t like to fail. Have you been getting love beyond Atlanta? Yeah, cause I’m a street nigga. For all street niggas, it ain’t about where you from. We got the same vibe. When I’m at the crib I listen to Dipset shit, and they all the way in Harlem. I hear niggas talk about my shit in Compton. It’s that love; it’s the streets. We cut from the same cloth with that gangsta music. Do you think your lyrics are too gangsta to reach a mainstream audience? My whole shit was thug motivation, so I wasn’t really worried about that. I mean, the numbers do matter. Of course I want to be successful, but at the same time I can’t sell out to sell records. I’m gonna stay true to what I do and let that take me wherever I’m supposed to go. Everybody ain’t supposed to crossover like that. You see what happens to some cats when they try to hard to crossover; they lose their whole fan base, even the ones they was tryin’ to reach. What are you working on besides the music? I’ve been working on this book for a minute, it’s called “Thug Motivation 101.” Def Jam is tryin’ to find me a publisher right now. It’s about the struggle, and there’s a couple of good messages in between. There’s a lot of niggas locked up, reading books they can’t relate to. I’m working on my clothing line, Snowman. I love clothes. I always wanted to wear my own shit. Anything else you want to say? Plug that album, baby, all day long. June 28th: Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101. Get one for the car, one for the house. - Interview and photo by Julia Beverly OZONE MAY 2005
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