As much as it was scrutinized at the time, Jay-Z’s leadership of Def Jam brought about a good period of hip hop. He offered record deals to many street artists who managed to make the transition and Young Jeezy was among them. Jay-Z was hands on with all the new signees, doing songs with them.
Jeezy signed to Def Jam in 2005 and he immediately dropped both his first and second album. His album releases made Jeezy one of the biggest names in the game, right out of the gate. However, over the past five years, Jeezy has only dropped one album, as his focus has been on his label.
The year of 2014 won’t go by without a new Jeezy album, as he told the Wall Street Journal. He is getting back in the studio with Jay-Z and he was supposed to have worked with him on his Magna Carta Holy Grail album. Jeezy said his new album focuses on his life as a businessman and Jay-Z influenced that.
Read excerpts of the interview below:
“It was really a personal record for me, I told J, I love this record so much, it’s so personal for both of us but it’s got to be on my album. It is very much classic Jeezy and Jay Z,” Jeezy told the Journal.
The idea for their track collaboration, which remains untitled, was hatched in Philadelphia in Timberlake’s dressing room. The two spent four straight hours backstage, sorting out everything from beats to lyrics, talking about the similarities in their backgrounds and the song’s overall theme, “which is to stand tall and continue to conquer the world each and every day,” said Jeezy.
“I was just about to go into the studio and I was at this restaurant with Mary J. [Blige] and one of my boys ordered it, I took a shot and that was it,” said Jeezy. At that time, Austin had not met or spoken to Jeezy, and no money had changed hands, he says. “I just gotta be honest with my fans, give them the best,” said Jeezy.
“I told Ken, I don’t want to be a spokesperson, I don’t need your check, I got to keep it real with my fans,” said Jeezy. “That’s what this album is, it’s keeping it real.”
