The ‘hip-hop is dead’ rhetoric going around in the 2000s rubbed a lot of rappers the wrong way. Artists like Jeezy were leading the charge, wondering how rap could truly be dying if they were at the forefront.
Whole time, that was never how Nas intended it to be received in the first place. “It’s not just a business for rappers; it’s a business for record companies. It’s happening for every form of music. It’s not just hip-hop,” he told Pitchfork in 2006. “Mostly every form of American music is dead. It’s been dead. R&B isn’t really good.”
Still, that didn’t stop fans from running with the narrative and trashing artists like Young Jeezy in the process. Admittedly, it upset him. In a 2009 interview with XXL, he explained that he didn’t find what he was doing all that different from what the greats of the past had done.
Jeezy Admits He Was Upset at Being Looped into the Reason Why Hip-Hop Was Apparently Dead
“The s**t we grew up off, we thought was the s**t; you couldn’t tell me that Pac and Big and UGK, all these n***as wasn’t the s**t. Like, I can’t tell that to my son, the younger people comin’ up. They like f***in’ whoever; that’s they people like that, so to me it’s that transition,” Jeezy told the publication.
“But at the same time you gotta still have a respect for it because Big rapped about f***in’ movin work and gettin’ money and shootin’ n***as and s**t. What’s any different from what I’m saying? That’s how I took it.”
Additionally, the Atlanta legend wanted a bit more thoughtful consideration of his rapping. People may have looked at some of his punchlines at blisteringly direct and simple. However, he felt like he balanced enough cleverness and plainly stated bars to set him apart.
“I think that within the two minutes of sitting down and talking to me that I’m really like a lot smarter than they think. I’m a lot wittier, and I don’t look at it like that. I know who I’m talking to,” Jeezy said.
Jeezy and Nas collaborated on the track ‘My President’ in 2008
“And if I’m talking to a person that understands something in a certain way—most people relate to colors, numbers, whatever it is—you know it’s like slang. It’s like lingo. It’s culture, and with culture you don’t have to say it the correct way or be over your head or over the top to get your point across. So I felt like if I could say “Trap or Die” and the whole hood felt me, like what’s there to be lyrical about? I was lyrical enough. They been reciting that s**t for six years. So what’s your point?”
Truthfully, Jeezy found it more difficult to relay his feelings in a more direct form. Songs like “Word Play” were fun exercises for him. But to really reach someone’s heart was the true form he took pride in.
“You know how hard it is to dig in your head and think about how many metaphoric ways that you can put the same thing together? Like, those words? Those are real words. Those test the hearts of men. Shake used to say that s**t all the time. I’d used to tell him, ‘I don’t wanna touch somebody’s cell phone,’” Jeezy recalled. ” I wanna touch the hearts of men. I don’t wanna be a ringtone rapper…’ Come see me. I’ma give you that motivation.”
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