A formative experience with his family members changed Jeezy’s hustle.
In a new episode of Maverick Carter’s Mavericks show, the Atlanta rapper and author reminisces on his entrance to the streets, by way of his cousins. Jeezy describes himself as being “infatuated and fascinated by how they were living,” at around the 2:40 minute mark.
Jeezy then explains that he wanted to be accepted by them, but unfortunately, one of them ended up “manipulating” him in a deal gone wrong.
“My loyalty got me in a lot of trouble. I was going to make this play with my older cousin,” Jeezy tells Carter. “He was like, ‘These my people.’ I was like, ‘Let me bring my strap.’ He was like, ‘Nah, you good.’ But it’s big cuz—you trust him like, ‘A’ight cool.’”
“We meet these guys in a semi-trailer truck. I give him the money and he gives me this laundry bag, and this laundry bag has the work in it but it’s covered in a blanket,” Jeezy continues. “I get back to the house, me and my man start to cut this shit open…and it’s sheetrock. This is all my money. I’m broke! I was more hurt than anything because I felt like I had so much respect and admiration for [my cousin].”
Jeezy then says that he thinks his cousin was in on the scam—a deceit that took him from hustling to “thugging” in the streets.
“So along with the trust issues I had before, now I know I can’t even trust the people I respect,” he adds. “So that turned me into a whole ‘nother animal. At first, I wasn’t really thugging; I’m just hustling. Now, I’m thugging.”
Jeezy released his first book, Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe this August, which details his life and successes.
