Jeezy to Fans Still Stuck in the Past: 'Buy My First Album Again and Again'

Jeezy talks 'Pressure,' Kendrick Lamar, and his current approach to lyrics with the 'Breakfast Club' crew.

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Jeezy's new album Pressure is out today, competing against new releases from Charli XCX and N*E*R*D for your attention. You are strongly advised to put Pressure near the top of your queue, particularly for the hook on "This Is It" and Kendrick Lamar's contributions to "American Dream."

On release day, Jeezy dropped by the Breakfast Club studio to chat about the new album, generational divides in music, Tee Grizzley, Gucci Mane, and much more.

At the top of the interview, Charlamagne asked Jeezy to break down the theme of Pressure. "Motivation," Jeezy said. "For me, I believe sometimes people just get it misconstrued when you go through things, like you can't come out on top." The fact that Jeezy's been in the industry now for nearly two decades also informed the new tracks' lyrical concent, which he said Friday is more "in real time" than any of his previous albums.

"Yeah, we jumping on boats and yachts and living like that, but at the same time, we still going through our own struggles mentally," he said. "It's just, like, look man, everybody got they own battles, but that doesn't mean you can't live the best life."

For listeners who always want artists to maintain the sounds and themes introduced on their breakout releases, Jeezy has a suggestion: Just keep buying his old albums. "People are always going to tell you 'I wanna hear something like your first joint,'" he said at the 2:14 mark in the video up top. "If that's the case, buy my first album again and again. We're not there mentally."

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Later in the interview, Jeezy touched on "American Dream" and his respect for Kendrick and J. Cole as artists. "They both bodied the song," he said around the 31:50 mark. "I was just listening to a song downstairs on Trap or Die 3 where I say 'I'm gonna leave the bars to Kendrick and Cole, I spit that real life.' It was there then, you know what I'm saying? And when I reached out and they sent the verses back, I was like, 'Wow, this is real.' And I feel like we need that for the culture. Everybody can't be saying the same things, having the same message, so I know what they mean to the culture. I watch it."

Catch the full interview up top, then grab Pressure on your preferred streaming service now.

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