I was just starting to drive (legally) when Jeezy's album came out, it changed my life. Seriously, i think sometimes we underappreciate how influential Jeezy's album was to hip hop as a whole
i mean this was the first guy to make Trap Music a national thing, and not just something that was in atlanta, this was the guy that was talking about cooking dope and stashing the money at his aunties house on a single that was all over the place. He had CNN going crazy with those snowmen T-shirts
going back and forth with Nas about Hip hop being dead and they were on the same label. If it wasnt for Jeezy's album taking off like it did, i dont think the music industry would be as it is right now, i think New York hip hop would still be on "top", there would be a lot more 50 Cents popping, than Jeezys, Rick Ross, Yo Gotti, Gucci Mane.. Jeezy really opened the door for every single rapper on a major scale, bigger then what TI could.. and i really like TI, but Jeezy added a personality to what TI was trying to do.
i just remember whipping my car around the streets of brooklyn with that Standing Ovation BLASTING. and as a New York cat Jeezy was the first cat of the new age.. from the south (a guy that wasnt Scarface, UGK, Outkast or Devin The Dude) That New Yorkers really respected and could rock with lol
listening to Jeezys new stuff is kinda bleh, same with Ross when you think about where he came from in his career from CO to ****ed up deals with Slip N Slide, being basically a backup rapper to Trina to now being one of the biggest artists in hip hop. Its kinda crazy when you look back and see things change.. considering Ross & Jeezy kinda came up at the same time