Jeezy

Jeezy carved out his place as a foundational force in trap music through gruff yet dynamic rhymes shaped by an insider's view of street life. After surfacing from Atlanta's underground scene as part of Boyz N da Hood, he nearly claimed the top Billboard 200 slot with his solo Def Jam bow, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, just a month after the group's self-titled Bad Boy release cracked the chart's Top Ten in 2005. While anchoring both Atlanta's mainstream ascendance and Def Jam's continued prominence, he placed every one of his eight later major-label projects inside the Top Ten, among them the chart-topping The Inspiration in 2006, The Recession in 2008, and Trap or Die 3 in 2016. Across that span he earned more than a dozen gold and platinum singles either as lead or featured performer, with four tracks—"Put On" and "Amazing," both Kanye West pairings, "Lose My Mind" with Plies, and "I Do" alongside Jay-Z and André 3000—earning Grammy nods in Best Rap Performance categories. Although he planned to step away following TM104: The Legend of the Snowman in 2019, Jeezy resurfaced the next year with several EPs and the full-length The Recession 2; Snofall, a 2022 collaboration with DJ Drama, then preceded the 2023 double-album I Might Forgive... But I Don't Forget.

Born in Columbia, South Carolina and raised across Georgia—first Atlanta, later Hawkinsville and Macon—Jay Wayne Jenkins navigated an early life marked by gang ties and street-level hustling. Returning to Atlanta in his early twenties with plans to stay behind the scenes, he launched Corporate Thugz Entertainment (CTE), helped promote Cash Money projects, and made his recorded debut in 2001 as Lil' J on Thuggin' Under the Influence, which drew contributions from early backers Kinky B, Shawty Redd, and Lil' Jon. Two years afterward the set was expanded into the two-disc Come Shop wit' Me under his fresh alias Young Jeezy. Around the same period Jeezy joined Bad Boy's Boyz N da Hood roster and supplied the main creative drive for the group's self-titled album, a Top Ten Billboard 200 arrival issued in June 2005. Signed simultaneously as a solo act to Def Jam, he delivered Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 the following month, where it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and established him among the genre's leading figures. The platinum-certified project was propelled by the gold "And Then What" featuring Mannie Fresh, the multi-platinum number-four pop smash "Soul Survivor" with Akon, "Go Crazy" alongside Jay-Z, and "My Hood."

Jeezy's next two solo albums both reached the Billboard 200 summit. The Inspiration, another platinum effort, surfaced near the close of 2006 and spawned the Top 20 pop singles "I Luv It" and "Go Getta." Following his work as one-third of U.S.D.A.—whose Cold Summer reached the Top Five on Def Jam in 2007—he reclaimed the top position in 2008 with The Recession. Among its five charting cuts was the multi-platinum Kanye West collaboration "Put On," a Top 20 pop hit that earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. By decade's end Jeezy also appeared on numerous high-profile tracks, including Usher's number-one "Love in This Club," Akon's "I'm So Paid," West's Grammy-nominated "Amazing," Drake's "I'm Goin' In," and Rihanna's number-eight hit "Hard."

"Lose My Mind" served as the lead single for TM:103 Hustlerz Ambition in 2010, becoming Jeezy's fifth Top 40 entry as lead artist and his third Grammy-nominated recording; however, a Bell's palsy diagnosis postponed the album until late 2011. Once released, the still-anticipated TM:103 landed inside the Top Ten and yielded further singles such as "I Do," which reunited him with Jay-Z and André 3000 and secured a fourth Grammy nomination, plus "Leave You Alone." Although three years passed without a new studio album, Jeezy surfaced on hits by Yo Gotti ("Act Right") and YG ("My N*gga") while issuing multiple mixtapes. From 2014 through 2017 he issued a studio album each year, beginning with Seen It All: The Autobiography—dropping the adjective from his stage name—then continuing with the loosely thematic Church in These Streets, Trap or Die 3 (his third number-one album), and Pressure. The standout track from this run, "Seen It All" with Jay-Z, achieved gold status. Marketed as his final Def Jam release, TM104: The Legend of the Snowman arrived in 2019 and extended his Top Ten streak, yet it merely concluded that label partnership. In 2020 Jeezy returned via the EPs Twenty/20 Pyrex Vision and Trap or Treat while preparing The Recession 2; the sequel, previewed by the Yo Gotti-assisted "Back," landed in late November. Two years later he teamed with mixtape specialist DJ Drama for Snofall, which peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200. The November 2023 single "No Complaining" marked one of the earliest tracks from his eleventh album, the double-LP I Might Forgive... But I Don't Forget.