Jeezy has been a big name in hip-hop since he exploded on the scene in 2005. But just because he’s a superstar, doesn’t me he was safe from being scolded by some of rap’s elder statesmen.
During an appearance on Spotify’s Best Advice Podcast, Jeezy describes being at a video shoot for an E-40 and Snoop Dogg song after a run-in with the law. He told host Kim Taylor Bennett that he was so angry about the incident that he was consumed with thoughts of revenge. After noticing the rapper was off-center, 40 Water and Snoop decided to give him some tough love.
“Snoop Dogg and E-40 they looking at me like I’m crazy. Say ‘you know what? You know what’s the difference between you and Pac?’ and I was just like ‘Whoa.’” he said. “I’m like ‘Okay’ and they just went on to say ‘Yo listen, he never stopped what he was about. He never let up on his people. He never...’ and it was like ‘Yo, you, you better get out here and do what you’re supposed to be doing. Because these people believe you and they riding with you. And you ain’t moving right. And we telling you that. I’m sitting with E-40 and Snoop Dogg and I’m like ‘damn. You don’t get G-checked by the big homies’”
Jeezy went on to praise 40 and Snoop, saying, “And I don’t really think, you know, Snoop and E40 and those guys get enough credit for who they really are, man. Like you know, those guys save lives you know what I’m saying. And, and, and they definitely got me back on the right course but they’ve been through what I’ve been through.”
“Moving right” doesn’t always mean doing what’s best for the people around you. By now, it is well-documented how Jeezy’s career almost ended before it fully started due to damaged vocal cords. Although he had an abundance of money at the time, Jeezy didn’t understand the importance of health insurance. As a result, he had to pay for his entire vocal surgery out of pocket.
“I don’t have insurance and this and in like—and I didn’t it wasn’t nobody around me to be like ‘yo you know if you get sick’ you know I’m thinking I go pay for it, it’s whatever you know what I’m saying,” he said. “I gave them the money for my surgery in a Brown Kroger’s bag.”
It’s moments like this that helped build Jeezy into the mogul he is today. Yet, none of this would be possible without the foundation his mother help build. When speaking about his late mother, Jeezy explained how their rocky relationship made him stronger.
“She talked to me how she talked to me and she handled me how she handled me, and it made me, it just, it made me strong for lack of a better word. So, I’m not quite sure she went about it the right way being an adult. But it made me strong,” he said. “So she made me fearless though. Like you know but I’m very, I’m very in tune to, to, to people’s words and tones you know what I’m saying. And so I’m like you know, I can, I can pick up on the bullshit so that was big for me with her like she taught me that.”
Best Advice premiered on May 6 with two episodes, the other one featuring Charli XCX. Joey Badass, Princess Nokia, and others are slated to join the podcast for future episodes.
You can listen to the episode with Jeezy below.
