RIP To Young Jeezy's Career.

TheCritic

The music loving blogger.
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In 2003 T.I. released the album that created a lane for artists like Young Jeezy in mainstream rap. This sub-genre is known as "trap music". It involves rapping about trap (drug dealing) related activities and the rewards of being a trap star (prosperous drug dealer). The beats have very heavy bass and are, usually, very melodic using sounds such as horns, strings, and organs.

While T.I. may have paved the way, Young Jeezy came on the scene in 2005 as a part of Boyz N Da Hood. They are a group signed to Diddy's Bad Boy South. They had a very street sound and from the very beginning Jeezy was the obvious stand out. For Jeezy, the group deal was just for one album as he was signed to Def Jam South as a solo artist. The group album was nothing more than an introduction to the man who would soon take over stereos everywhere.

Jeezy's debut album Lets Get It : Thug Motivation 101 was released just a little over a month after Boyz N Da Hood (self-titled). After his first week's sales were counted he came in at number 2 on the charts. The album went on to achieve platinum status. Featuring production from Shawty Redd, Jazze Pha, and Mannie Fresh it was a high energy album that was perfect for the car, parties, and the club. It was filled with street bangers that everyone from drug dealers to suburban high school kids felt compelled to blast as loud as their speakers would allow.

He quicky followed the album up with the release of the infamous Trap Or Die mixtape in November of 2005. The mixtape caught fire in the streets, not only giving Jeezy more exposure and blowing up the mixtape's host DJ Drama but also changing the way a lot of rap artists would promote their albums.

After the release of this mixtape artists such as Yo Gotti and Gucci Mane started to gain popularity in the streets. Trap music had officially become a sub genre and started to grow with artists and producers at a very fast rate.

Young Jeezy release two more mixtape in 2006 with DJ Drama before releasing his sophomore album The Inspiration : The Motivation 102. Can't Ban The Snowman was released in February of 2006 and was followed by I Am The Street Dream! which was his the official mixtape before the album. Def Jam had a full promotional campaign behind it which included heavy plastering of posters and I AM THE STREET DREAM t-shirts. The Inspiration dropped in December of 2006 and hit the charts at the number one spot and went platinum. The album sales were driven by the two platinum singles I Luv It and Go Getta featuring R. Kelly.

After promotion on The Inspiration was done Jeezy began to work on building label and group, USDA. They released Cold Summer (The Authorized Mixtape) in May of 2007. With the help of their front man, Young Jeezy's fame and a pretty hot single in White Girl it came it at number four on the charts.

In the meantime, Gucci Mane (who was always seen as Jeezy's biggest competition) was building steam by releasing mixtapes non stop. He had his biggest single yet with Freaky Gurl which peaked at 62 on the Hot 100. He had released multiple albums but his mixtapes are what kept gaining him fans. It became the thing to do for trap rappers. Everyone was releasing mixtapes as frequently as they could.

Between 2007 and 2008 we saw the emergence of a few more trap rappers including OJ Da Juiceman who had his own big single in Make The Trap Say Aye which features Gucci Mane. Shawty Lo also came on the scene with his hit Dey Know which had a remix that featured Young Jeezy as well as others.

Jeezy came back strong in May of 2008 with the single Put On which featured labelmate Kanye West. The Drumma Boy produced track quickly took off on the radio and peaked at number 12 on the Hot 100. It was also his highest debut for a single at 36. He gained his second number one album debut with The Recession and the album eventually went on to sell gold.

Shortly after the release of The Recession the sound of trap music started to change. The beats became a little more futuristic and the subject matter became a little more mianstream with artists like Gucci Mane toning down the drug talk. This led to him being featured on a few mainstream hits by Black Eyed Peas, Mario, and Mariah Carey. Instead of making a song about selling drugs Gucci Mane came with a hit single about using them called Wasted. It peaked at 36 on the charts and was followed by three more singles including Lemonade which also caught on with the masses and peaked at 52 on the charts.

While Gucci was blowing up Jeezy had released Trappin' Ain't Dead, a mixtape that was called garbage by most of his fans. He would continue to release tracks here and there for another year until he dropped Trap Or Die 2 in May of 2010. This mixtape had a split reception. Some of his fans loved it because it was the "old Jeezy" and the rest of them hated it for the very same reason. Even trap rappers have to progress. Trap Or Die 2 is where we heard the first single for Thug Motivation 103. The song is called Lose My Mind and features Plies. This should've been a a huge warning sign that Jeezy was falling off. When you have to go get an artist that is below you to feature on your single in hopes of a bigger buzz something is terribly wrong.

I had been telling people since The Recession that Jeezy was done. His sound was too stale and it seemed as if he just kept recreating the same old songs. He was lost in the evolution of trap music. In my opinion Jeezy was never the most creative or anything. He just found a sound that worked and when that sound died he didn't move on simply because he wasn't talented enough to. Artists like Jeezy are meant to have short careers. If the initial impact is as good as it gets then there's really no point for them to be around.

There is a reason I chose that picture. Jeezy needs to pray for a miracle if he doesn't want to fade away. His album has been officially shelved by Def Jam and his buzz is flat-lining. The only people I still see checking for him are from Atlanta so maybe he would be cool going independent. I don't know the details of his contract with Def Jam but he is still signed and would have to finish his contract or get released from it for that to happen so, for now, he is stuck in rapper limbo.
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What do you guys think? Is he done or does he have a chance to come back?
 
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I would hate to think that he is finished, but it's lookin that way...He was one of my favorites, and I never got that vibe of 'fake' from him either.

I was really feelin all white everything but most of his newer songs just don't sound that inspired.
 
i honestly dont think he's done.. the streets "buzz" about you are 1 aspect of music. but i think that he has a waay more mainstream fanbase now.. i think hes kinda moved on to that hipsterish kanye, pharrell, clipse type of fanbase. jeezy's not dead. besides souljaboys wack ass still here
 
i honestly dont think he's done.. the streets "buzz" about you are 1 aspect of music. but i think that he has a waay more mainstream fanbase now.. i think hes kinda moved on to that hipsterish kanye, pharrell, clipse type of fanbase. jeezy's not dead. besides souljaboys wack ass still here

If you have no buzz you are worthless to the mainstream hence Def Jam shelving his album.
 
If you have no buzz you are worthless to the mainstream hence Def Jam shelving his album.
Lose my mind was very mainstream in my opinion. Truthfully that song came on every radio station every 5 minutes.. of course everyone's buzz dies after a while. as will drakes, as will nicki minajs and as did 50 cent. all of which were in that same kinda spotlight as bein the hottest out when they came out. so idk, but it is possible his gucci mane beef could have hurt his career. which is a shame cuz hes waaay better than gucci
 
no hate to the op but this really sounds like a case of painting the bullseye around the arrow.
 
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His charisma is not where it used to be but he still holds a special spot in the hearts of a lot of listeners because when he WAS on, he was ON! Like the legendary tracks were so thug motivational, for lack of a better term, that his spirit is always welcome to come back in the minds of listeners. Even though we saw that his latest efforts were sub par we still checked in didn't we? To see if there's a another ultra banger in there that they stumbled upon making.

He's gotta be cocky and energetic and above all else charismatic. He was never a lyricist but he did have amazing delivery and ad libs. He needs to focus on that, his energy and his swag. That's what we cared about. He's gotta take a page outta kanyes book and continue to be a likeable cocky-funny a-hole on wax.
 
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if in the same sense you count Plies, Gucci, T.I and maybe Kanye too, sure.

meanwhile Rick Ross showed us all how "no-buzz" can transform to a dominant summer. that overall blog is flawed to me.
 
Rick Ross' album was never shelved. BMF is bigger than anything Jeezy has made since Put On. Thats what I mean by no buzz. How can you have a buzz if your label is shelving your album?
 
you're emphasizing a point that needs no real explanation to it . . .


BMF was a mixtape song, that luckily happened to catch on. in turn it gave Ross a much needed boost. and before then all the slated singles were just the usual smooth r&b joints with Ne-Yo and John Legend features.

it became huge. and Aston Martin Music with Drake is keeping momentum. that was Jeezy and T.I's problems. their follow-ups to "Lose My Mind" and "I'm Back" weren't really about shit.

so when they failed to KEEP the momentum, they had to start over again. but "All White" and "Jizzle" suck as street singles. as did "Pledge Allegience to the Swag".

and don't quote me, but a director I know in Miami told me the Teflon Don we have now is "rushed" CD that was put out due to Ross/BMF's/MC Hammer's popularity. all speculation though.

. . . might explain why the CD as a whole isn't really messing with Deeper Than Rap.

and also, the same way you can have no real buzz and a album releasing. T.I 's album is coming out, there isn't really a buzz for that. Gucci has a CD out RIGHT NOW and I don't know a soul who knows about it. YET everybody knows about Jeezy's street album. ever wonder why it was called "The Last Laugh" to begin with? as well as being released on the day as Gucci's retail drops? well there ya go.

Jeezy's scenario with Def Jam is probably more than what meets the eye. rant over.
 
Rick Ross' album was never shelved. BMF is bigger than anything Jeezy has made since Put On. Thats what I mean by no buzz. How can you have a buzz if your label is shelving your album?

Easy. Mixtapes, singles. Last I checked Lost my Mind has been doing good on the radio.
 
no hate to the op but this really sounds like a case of painting the bullseye around the arrow.


exactly.. this is dumb as hell.. i'v heard plenty of RECENT material that says otherwise.. Trap or die 2 was a fail, but other than that, he doin' his damn thing..

---------- Post added at 12:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:15 AM ----------

and BTW, I JUSTT HEARDD a song with RR and YG TOGETHER.. Stop the BS..
 
I believe Hip-Hop is changing. That's why veterans like Young Jeezy, Nelly, 50 Cent, TI, and Soulja Boy are all facing career ending releases.

The invisible hand is correcting the game. Acts like Drake, Wiz Khalifa, J-Cole, and Nicki Minaj are becoming marquee Hip-hop staples for being center right on the Hip-hop spectrum. Their ability to draw moderate to non-listeners but remain rugged enough for traditionalists adds to their appeal.

The grim reality is the game is in systematic disarray. These veterans are delivering tired formulas. They're focused on the charts and the suits "upstairs" instead of the music.

A mix tape won't save Young Jeezy, but creating an album of traditional, hard core trap music will appease who true fans, which will serve to prolong the inevitable.

Ps: I feel like this blog was written by a 17 year old in AP English. Terrible.
 
even cats at Def Jam and his management agree

he's a dead man walking as far as his career go.. nothing can really save him.. in my opinion his best bet wouldve been to put that Jay song from Bluprint 3 to TM 103 and use that as a single at least it wouldve gotten attention cause of Jay

he's not putting out good music, or at least not half as good as before, and his label is getting frustrated with the lack of success, especially when artists like Luda and Rick Ross are still getting push on the radio, clubs and tours

the fact that the best thing to happen to him as far as radio goes is the fact he was featured on a Rihanna song? thats not very good lol
 
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