2007
You had a little problem with that on the radio with Monie Love in Philly.
Young Jeezy: It really wasn’t no problem, man. She was just disrespectful,
and I’m a man first. I don’t give a fuck about all that rap shit. A lot of people
don’t know that it was a lot said off-air that really sparked that. She kept
saying things like, “The South killed Hip Hop and it is dead.” And I just didn’t
agree with that. I ain’t no fucking punk, man. Nobody finna fucking talk to me
that way, on or off radio. I said what I felt. I ain’t have no personal problems
with Nas. I said I fuckin’ disagree, shit. I’m a grown ass man, how the fuck I
can’t tell you I disagree with something? I ain’t gotta see nothing nobody’s
way. That’s why I’m standing right here right now, cause I did what I had to
do. Hip Hop, to me, is Big and Tupac, UGK, 8Ball, MJG, niggas like that. That’s
Hip Hop to me. It might not be Hip Hop to the next man, but that’s Hip Hop
to me.
You’ve said in the past that you’re not a rapper. Do you still feel that way?
Young Jeezy: I’m gonna be real, man, it’s like any hustle. If you stay on
a hustle long enough, and you focus hard enough on that shit and really
try to do the best you can, then you gon’ get a lot of money. It’s the same
thing with music. I love the studio. I really be in there, and a lot of niggas
don’t know what type of work I put in, but I love what the fuck I do. And
I’m always in that muthafucka, so eventually I’m gotta get better. It’s called
progress. And if the people accept it, then I’m doing it right.
The Inspiration had less promotion from Def Jam than Thug Motivation, but it
still sold more units. Why’s that?
Young Jeezy: It’s different because when you become profitable, things
change. It’s politics involved. When you just a street nigga doing this shit
and you come straight out the hood like, “Fuck it, here I am,” that’s how it
is. But when you start making money, it’s different. It ain’t a lot that people
can do for you no more, because we really went in the streets and put that
shit out there and promoted and really was doing the legwork.
You can’t sit back and depend on
nobody but yourself.
I know a lot of your album success
has resulted from your mixtape
success. What are your thoughts on
the current mixtape mayhem and
DJ Drama?
Young Jeezy: The streets are riding
with Drama. I don’t give a fuck,
my nigga. Tell Drama we got loyal
money; we good. We ain’t about to
let that nigga go nowhere. I actually
think it’s kind of a good thing, because
SHOUTS OUT TO ANY REAL
DJ OUT THERE THAT PLAYS
REAL STREET MUSIC, BECAUSE
IT TAKES A REAL NIGGA TO
BREAK A REAL NIGGA. NIGGAS
LIKE DRAMA ARE THE NIGGAS
WHO MAKE NIGGAS LIKE ME. { } - YOUNG JEEZY
he’s gonna come out of it cool, and it shows
how big this shit really is. We live it, so we don’t really know. I didn’t understand
how big my Trap or Die mixtape was until I was in Toronto, Canada, and
a nigga was rapping this shit to me and everybody was playing it. I didn’t
understand how big this shit was until I was doing album release parties for
my mixtapes and 5,000 or 6,000 people showed up. Mixtapes are the streets,
so we need this shit. It can’t be the streets without mixtapes. And if they try
to stop it, it’s only gonna make it bigger. It’s like weed, homie. You can’t slow
that down. Shouts out to any real DJ out there that plays real street music,
because it takes a real nigga to break a real nigga. Niggas like Drama are the
niggas who make niggas like me. I toured for two years off my mixtapes
Streets Is Watching and Trap or Die. Two years! I did a show every night, some
nights two or three shows, hustlin’ off a mixtape. I can look you in your eyes
and tell you that if I wouldn’t have done those mixtapes, I wouldn’t be where
I am right now. And that’s why I’m able to do the type of records I do can do.
Go back and check my catalogue, if you wanna know if a nigga is real or not,
go check his first couple of mixtapes. If he wasn’t talking how he’s talking
now, then that ain’t that nigga. You can go back and check any mixtapes I
did: Streets Is Watching, Trap or Die, Can’t Ban the Snowman, all the way to
I Am The Street Dream. Those shits are like albums. It’s niggas’ albums that
don’t sound as good as those, so I could never cross over, baby.
You seem to have crafted an image that’s beyond just rap at this point.
Young Jeezy: Robin Hood, baby, that’s me. You see it on the jacket. I’m Robin
Hood. I’m just one of those types of niggas, man. I’ve been there, I’ve done it
all and I seen it all. Just cause my life is moving at a fast pace doesn’t mean
that I’m not aware that other people need help sometimes to get to where
they’re trying to go. Anything that I can do, I’m gonna try to do to help. I got
a good heart, so anything that I can do for the kids or the community, I’m
the first to bat. I’m so happy to be here, and I’m at that point where I know
I’ve done my job. So I can do me now, relax and have fun and do the things
a nigga of my status is supposed to do. That’s why I feel so good about this
shit. I feel good, baby! But I ain’t gon’ lie, on my next album, I’m going back
to the club. I’m partying, because I gotta enjoy life, man. I’ve been so hard on
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myself since the beginning and now, I feel like I can step back a little. There’s
a lot of pressure off my shoulder, because it’s always been on me. Now with
this Corporate Thuggin’ project I get to introduce the world to my niggas,
Slick Pulla and BloodRaw.
With so much solo success, what made you decide to work with the group on
the Corporate Thuggin’ project?
Young Jeezy: This is real family shit over here. This USDA shit is real. CTE is
us, we all we got and it’s just time for USDA. Niggas been hearing me scream
that shit every since I been doing my thing, so now its time to hear ‘em.
Corporate Thuggin’ baby. The object of the game is to get paper and that’s
what the fuck we gon’ do, and keep it street. And we gon’ win, we gon’ be
the only niggas that keep it street and don’t crossover or do no silly shit. We
just gon’ be the niggas that stay solid and do what we do. We work together
as a group because those are my niggas. They been on the road with me,
they been through gangsta shit with me; shootouts or whatever, and I vouch
for them niggas. They really do what they say they’ve done. We all really are
street niggas, and they hungry just as I am; they hustle. That nigga Blood
Raw stays on the road, doing shows constantly. Slick Pulla is on the road,
too and niggas constantly doing mixtapes, so when we get together it’s like a
family reunion because niggas be so happy to see each other.
What do Slick Pulla and BloodRaw bring to the table that Young Jeezy
doesn’t?
Young Jeezy: I think ‘Raw appeals to every nigga in the penitentiary, every
nigga in the Fed, State, whatever. And he’s not from Georgia, he’s from
Florida, but we accept him like one of our own. When gangsta shit went down,
we stood up for the nigga like family does. This ain’t no bullshit, and a lot
of niggas don’t know that Slick got locked up twice, for months at a time
between this, and both those niggas were in and out
of jail. It was hard to get the project
done, and I was out on the road
without my niggas, so it was different.
We all sat around and prayed
when ‘Raw was in Florida for his
court date. The whole family prayed
because this nigga was facing a
life sentence, my nigga. It was
either life or he was going home.
And when his manager, Wakeley
called me and said this nigga is
fuckin’ free, niggas damn near was
crying in that muthafucka, dawg.
Niggas lost they mind. It was the
biggest shit ever. And that nigga Slick, he’s a livewire.
That nigga is fucking crazy. Slick is hotheaded like a muthafucka, he is off the
chain and he be in the streets wildin’. I be trying to calm this nigga down and
show him another side of life. He be out shootin’ at niggas, getting shot and
all types of shit. It’s a lot of shit that we go through that people don’t know
about, but God is good.
All three of you are very different. How would you describe each style?
Young Jeezy: The biggest thing that I think ‘Raw brings is pain. You can hear
his pain in his words. And the biggest thing about Slick is that he’s that
young, fly muthafucka who don’t give a fuck about nothing. The ladies love
that muthafucka. I call him the wavy haired Cuban. And then Jeezy definitely
brings that hustle to the group, you know? I’m gonna talk that money shit till
you tired of hearing it, nigga. I’m gon’ talk that money shit and if you gotta
problem with it, don’t fuck with us.
How do you think Slick and Blood will be able to come out of your shadow?
Young Jeezy: I just hope that the streets embrace them, just as they’ve
done me. It feels good to be able to do something you love to do and help
some real niggas out in the process. It ain’t gon’ stop with Blood and Slick.
I’m gonna help some other niggas and we gon’ make this shit big. This is a
movement. It ain’t nothing like taking a nigga you fuck with, who you been in
the streets with and in the trenches with, to sit on the 106th & Park sofa when
you know that this is this nigga’s dream. This is all he ever wanted to do,
and you made that happen for him. To me, that shit is priceless. That’s being
gangsta. That’s gangsta right there. Just watch our moves, you’ll see.
SLICK PULLA AND BLOODRAW
If you had to define Corporate Thuggin’, what would the definition be?
Slick Pulla: Corporate Thuggin’, it’s like a way of life. That’s what you do when
you hit the streets and you handle yo’ business, that’s corporate thuggin’.
No matter what you’re doing, but its not just being in the streets, you can be
corporate thuggin’ behind a desk.
BloodRaw: It’s just us. We came from the streets and we’ve just been intro-
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