The Inspiration, another platinum set, arrived toward the end of 2006 with the Top 20 pop singles "I Luv It" and "Go Getta." After his success as one-third of U.S.D.A., whose Top Five Def Jam-issued Cold Summer landed in 2007, Jeezy returned to the top in 2008 with The Recession. Jeezy topped the Billboard 200 with his next two solo albums. It went platinum, promoted by the gold-certified "And Then What" (featuring Mannie Fresh), the multi-platinum number four pop hit "Soul Survivor" (with Akon), "Go Crazy" (joined by Jay-Z), and "My Hood." The album positioned Jeezy as one of his genre's most prominent artists. Also signed as a solo artist to Def Jam, Jeezy's own Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 arrived the next month and entered the Billboard 200 at number two. Around the same time, Jeezy became part of Bad Boy Entertainment signees Boyz N da Hood and provided the creative push behind the group's self-titled album, a Top Ten Billboard 200 entry released in June 2005. Two years later, the album was expanded and reissued as Come Shop wit' Me, a two-disc set credited to Jenkins' new alias, Young Jeezy. Having set up Corporate Thugz Entertainment (aka CTE) and promoted Cash Money releases, he debuted in 2001 under the name Lil' J with Thuggin' Under the Influence, featuring input from early supporter Kinky B, Shawty Redd, and Lil' Jon. He entered the music industry in his early twenties, following a return to Atlanta with the intent of remaining in the background. But I Don't Forget.īorn in Columbia, South Carolina and raised in Georgia - first in Atlanta, then Hawkinsville and Macon - Jay Wayne Jenkins had an upbringing complicated by gang affiliation and street hustling. Snofall, with DJ Drama, appeared in 2022, followed by the 2023 double-album, I Might Forgive. Jeezy intended to retire after TM104: The Legend of the Snowman (2019), but returned the next year with multiple EPs and a full-length project ,The Recession 2. Four tracks were nominated for Grammys in the Best Rap Performance categories: "Put On" and "Amazing" (both Kanye West collaborations), "Lose My Mind" (assisted by Plies), and "I Do" (a summit with Jay-Z and André 3000). During this period, he accrued well over a dozen gold and platinum singles as the lead or featured artist. Simultaneously a key player in Atlanta's commercial dominance and Def Jam's enduring relevance, Jeezy hit the Top Ten with all eight of his subsequent major-label albums, which included the number one entries The Inspiration (2006), The Recession (2008), and Trap or Die 3 (2016). Only a month after that group crashed the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 with their self-titled album for Bad Boy, the rapper nearly topped the chart with his solo Def Jam debut, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (2005). Trap music trailblazer Jeezy, identifiable by his gruff and energized rhymes written from a uniquely streetwise perspective, emerged from the Atlanta underground as a member of Boyz N da Hood.