Album Preview: Young Jeezy's "Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition"

Last week in New York City, Young Jeezy held a private listening session in Quad Studios where he played his endlessly delayed finally forthcoming album, Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition.

Over the past 18 months, Jeezy has come under scrutiny amidst allegations that he’s gone into a creative slump that found him releasing a series of poorly received mixtapes and singles. But after dropping tracks like “Win” and “.38,” it seems like Jeezy has got his old swag back—and he’s determined to drop his fourth album on December 20.

Complex was in the building along with Mr. Trap or Die himself and heard most of Jizzle’s fourth album (for some reason, he didn’t play or even mention that the album had an Eminem feature). Hear our thoughts.

Written by Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin)

Complex says: Whirling whistles and a sound not unlike the X-Files theme song build up this track as Jeezy chants “wait” before declaring, “I come to motivate.” On the verses he claims he’s “still talking real shit” and, “Bitch I’m Jeezy, the one you been waiting on.”

At the very least, the song reveals Jeezy’s level of self-awareness as he seems to have realized that the constant pushbacks of TM103 have become something of a running joke in hip-hop. During the session, Jeezy even got a good laugh out of the crowd when he joked with reporters saying, “I know [this album] took a long time but...we’ll talk about that later.”

Complex says: Jeezy’s got an automatic as he rides out to this J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League–produced track featuring Jill Scott. Jeezy explained that TM103 would be released in a deluxe edition bundled with a movie about Jeezy’s life. He went on to say that this album was the soundtrack to his life. Honestly, this song sounds pretty much like most of Jeezy’s songs about the trap—mixed with a slight R&B twist.

Complex says: Two guys on Def Jam’s roster East Coast spitters Jadakiss and Fabolous bring the heat on this surely quotable track. “We killing that white bitch, OJ!” says Jeezy on the hook. This is straight ridah music with piano loops that only add to its menacing demeanor. Jada rhymes about having $1.5 million stashed in his king-sized mattress while Fab hopes that if you’re sleeping on him, you die in your sleep.

Complex says: Jeezy uses this track to throw shots at all his fake friends who feel like they’re owed something because Jeezy is successful but Jizzle assures everyone he doesn’t owe them nothing. Conceptually, the song reminds us of Jay-Z’s “Success.” Though we don’t believe for one second that guys like Jigga or Jeezy really had more fun when they were “piss poor” as opposed to filthy rich, it does seem like things were a lot simpler several million dollars ago.

Complex says: Isn’t it convenient how every Def Jam rapper’s favorite R&B singer is always Ne-Yo? The only man in the world with a receding hairline more embarrassing than Lebron’s pops up on this track and delivers the inevitable “R&B hook on a gangsta rap record that panders to the ladies” kinda song.

During the session, Irv Gotti—who recently pleaded his case to be named the next President of Def Jam on MTV’s Rap Fix—was in the building. Gotti made his career teaming up with Ja Rule and making “R&B hook on a gangsta rap record that panders to the ladies” kinda songs and he flipped out when he heard the record and started screaming, “Talk to ’em Jizzle!” His infectious energy lead to the song being played twice and a young lady in the room could be heard remarking, “That’s my favorite so far.” Mission accomplished?

Complex says: Over a Lex Luger beat (or maybe it’s a Lex Luger knock-off?) Jeezy puts down a hook that's as unforgettable as they come. Seems he's been getting down with a young lady and all they do is, “Smoke and fuck, smoke and fuck, smoke and fuck.” Rinse and repeat the hook a few times and Jeezy’s got himself a winner. And considering the way Jizzle describes shorty, “Our convos deep, she intellectual/She got turned out in school, she bisexual,” he’s got himself a freak. Sounds like a Win/Win.

Complex says: By now, the album has settled into a groove but the beats don’t really distinguish themselves. That’s especially true on “Superfreak,” which could have conceivably fit on Jeezy’s TM102. Young sticks to his well-honed rhyme style of repeating a phrase—in this case “super”—as he spits, “Super week, I’m super geeked, it's super cheap, she a super freak.” This one just sounds super old.

Complex says: Yup, a song that’s nearly two years old still made this album. Still, it’s an excellent record that goes hard. If you think back to when this song first came out, you remember the time when it all seemed so routine. Jeezy had another street-certified banger, he was about to drop another huge album, and the good times would just keep rolling.

But then those million-and-one setbacks led to discussions of “What’s wrong with Jeezy?” (Some speculated that the delays were due to label politics, but the most popular/intriguing theory remains “Rozay totally took his lane.”) The end result? An album that’s “highly anticipated,” but not for the usual reasons.

Complex says: If Rick Ross has made a career out of stealing Lil B’s swag name-dropping famous people (Big Meech, Tupac, MC Hammer) in his hooks, Jeezy is trying to make one out of chanting words like “Win” or phrases like “Smoke and fuck.” However, hearing Jeezy chant “win,” it sounds like he’s trying to use the power of positive thinking to get his buzz popping again. “God damn, Young, nigga where that album at?/Niggas talking like he fell off/Just imagine that.” Is it really that hard to imagine?

Complex says: More street shit. This song has been out for a while but hasn’t really made a dent. It doesn’t sound bad in the context of the album though—just kind of meshes with everything else.

Complex says: Oh really? You made a weed-smoking song and invited Snoop and Devin The Dude? Didn’t see that coming. Still, Snoop does come across as more engaged and focused than usual with an extra-buttery flow (he’s usually on auto-pilot for features like this). Meanwhile, Jeezy drops yet another one of his classic food references, claiming, “I do it for the tiramisu.”

Complex says: “I used to have nothing, now I got a whole lot of everything,” Jeezy explains on the track. You can either consider this a companion piece to “Nothing,” or the same song from a more positive perspective. Like Black Sheep said, the choice is yours.

Complex says: Jizzle assures us that making rap hits is what he does and after so many hits, who's really going to doubt his claim? But with quotables like, “She a known alcoholic, she shallow like a toilet,” maybe making laugh-out-loud lines is what he does best.

Complex says: This much-ballyhooed collabo is likely to remind listeners of UGK’s classic “International Players Anthem” thanks to the “I dooo” on the hook, the memorable 3 Stacks verse, and the marriage theme. Unfortunately, Jay’s verse is nowhere near as compelling as some of his rhymes on Watch The Throne or even his verse on “Mr. Nice Watch.”