Jeezy

A no-nonsense hip-hop artist with a tough delivery that made him a favorite among fans of the genre's Southern style, Young Jeezy enjoyed three No. 1 albums and numerous hit singles, including "Put On" and "Lose My Mind," over the course of a near-two-decade career.

Born Jay Wayne Jenkins in Columbia, South Carolina on September 28, 1977, he was relocated to Atlanta, Georgia to live with relatives after his parents' separation. An unhappy childhood came to a head with a nine-month stint at the Georgia-based Youth Challenge Academy for a narcotics possession charge; Jeezy soon focused his energies on a career in music, first as the head of his own label, Corporate Thugz Entertainment (CTE), and later, with his debut album, Thuggin' Under the Influence (T.U.I.) (2001), which he recorded as Lil J. A two-CD set, Come Shop wit Me (2003), reportedly sold 50,000 copies without major label support, which drew the attention of Bad Boy Records. Jeezy signed with the label and joined its hip-hop ground Boyz N Da Hood. The act's self-titled debut reached No. 1 on the Rap and R&B charts in 2005, but he also sought solo success, and signed with Def Jam to release his major label debut under his own name. Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (2005) performed even better than his group effort, reaching #2 on the Billboard 200, though its singles, "And Then What," with Mannie Fresh, and "Soul Survivor," with Akon, stalled in the middle Top 50 of the singles chart. But the album's success, and popular collaborations with Gucci Mane ("Icy") and Christina Milian ("Say I"), as well as a reunion with Boys N Da Hood for "Dem Boyz," helped to mint Jeezy as a major player in hip-hop. He quickly capitalized on his ascending star by releasing a second solo album, The Inspiration, in 2006. It surpassed its predecessor by topping the albums chart within its first week, and generated two Top 20 singles in "I Luv It" and "Go Getta," with R. Kelly.

Jeezy soon expanded his musical empire to include a new group act, U.S.D.A., which netted a Top 5 album with its debut LP, Cold Summer. His solo career reached a commercial and artistic peak with The Recession (2008), which became his second consecutive No. 1 album, and his first to yield a Grammy nomination with its lead single, "Put On," which featured Kanye West. In 2010, he dropped the "Young" from his moniker to issue "Lose My Mind"; the single, intended as the first release from Thug Motivation 103, would actually signal a period of inactivity for the performer, who spent 2010 recovering from a case of Bell's Palsy. A second single from the impending album, "Ballin'," with Lil Wayne, dropped in 2011 but only reached #57. Thug Motivation 103's release date would move several more times on the calendar before a third single, "F.A.M.E.," with T.I. was issued in the fall of 2011. The album itself would finally see the light of day in December of that year, and shot to No. 3, thanks largely to the singles "I Do," with Andre 3000 and Jay-Z, which netted a Grammy nomination, and "Leave You Alone," with Ne-Yo. A pair of mixtapes - 2012's It's Tha World and Boss Yo Life Up Gang, the latter of which featured collaborations with several CTE artists like Doughboyz Cashout - preceded his fifth studio album, Seen It All: The Autobiography (2014), which featured guest turns by Jay-Z, Future and others. Though it peaked at No. 2, Autobiography soon dropped precipitously down the charts, and its follow-up, a concept album called Church in These Streets (2015), sold even fewer copies.

After contending with several legal issues, including an arrest for possession of an illegal assault rifle in 2014, Jeezy returned to form with Trap or Die. The 2016 album would become his third No. 1 album, but 2017's Pressure again saw decreased sales, and by 2018, Jeezy was claimed that he would retire from music following the release of his alleged final album, Thug Motivation 104: Trust the Process.