Jeezy talks coming back to the forefront of the music industry, the impact he’s made during his career, and his new and last album ‘TM 104.’
The Atlanta native sat down with Billboard magazine and first opened up about his feelings on his newest music project. “I kept it me, and I kept it solid,” Jeezy told Billboard in an exclusive interview. “All the records that I did, even the ones that didn’t make the album, they were all true to me. It’s what true thug motivation means. Just like everything that I’ve done, I put my heart into it like it was my first album. Like it was my first ad-lib. Like it was my first rodeo.”
The 41-year-old then reflected on his first album, TM 101 and detailed his proudest moment from the album. “Aw man, the proudest moment was just all the trials and tribulations I went through making that project. I was one foot in and one foot out in the music game, and a lot of real-life things were happening for me. My homie was getting indicted, I lost my voice, I had to get surgery, my album got leaked a month before it was supposed to come out. I was going through my survivor’s remorse of being halfway successful and not being in my element anymore, so it was a weird space as far as my mental because it’s somewhere I’ve never been before,” Jeezy explained. He added, “I’m proud for getting it done and the streets for really supporting me. You got your whole life to write your first album and that was my first gift to the world, you know? So that was a proud moment to push through everything that I was going through.”
When it comes to saying his final goodbye, Jeezy says his fans will appreciate his new album’s authenticity and transparency. “I kept it me, and I kept it solid. All the records that I did, even the ones that didn’t make the album, they were all true to me. It’s what true thug motivation means. Just like everything that I’ve done, I put my heart into it like it was my first album. Like it was my first adlib, like it was my first rodeo. I didn’t go into this saying I’ve got millions of records under my belt, or I got other things going on so I can’t focus.”
While Jeezy has collaborated with some of the hottest artists in the game like #JayZ, #Andre3000 and #KanyeWest, he says his dream collab would have been with the late and great #Tupac. I wish I got that Tupac feature, man. But for 104 I didn’t even really play the name game. I reached out to people that I felt would make the records real. Don’t get me wrong, I will never knock nobody’s success. But certain times in your career, people will be like, “Oh, you should put such and such on it because he’s hot right now.” Nope. I’ve played that game so many times, and when I hear the record five years from now I’m like, “Oh shit, I could’ve….” So for me, I just put people who I feel can get the soul off.” The full interview can be read on Billboard.com
