As violence continues to plague the hip-hop genre, Jeezy has a powerful message. He is no longer after validation from the streets. The “Seen It All” rapper shared his thoughts on street creds when he stopped by The Breakfast Club earlier this week to promote his new Snowfall mixtape.
Jeezy says to reach that headspace, he had to see that the other big names in the industry simply don’t care about how deep in the streets you are.
“I really think that when you start walking in those rooms, and you trying to do business, nobody really care about what you done on the streets, and then as a man you shouldn’t care. Cause what people think about me ain’t none of my spiritual business,” he continued.
The former member of Boyz n da Hood rapper went on to say that after those encounters, he realized that he doesn’t need anyone’s approval to be a real man. That wasn’t all that helped him reach his positive way of thinking.
Some of his new way of thinking also had to do with his brief incarceration in 2014 in Irvine, California, after a man was shot and killed backstage at the Under the Influence of Music tour. Even though no one was charged, he did have to some time behind bars. At that time, he said he was detained longer than usual because he was trying to be an upstanding guy.
Jeezy explained that the situation was one of the times he was looking for validation. The Grammy-award-winning rapper said that he wanted people to know his issue. The unfortunate incident helped him to change his perspective on life as he questioned why as a successful artist on tour with thousands of adoring fans, he found himself in jail.
It also made him question if he would rather feel like a real gangster or throw away his career. It seems to be a genuine turnaround for the Atlanta native, who also expressed similar sentiments in an interview with Hot97.
Jeezy speaking on street creds and why its not important https://t.co/CYJxOw62mS
? @breakfastclubam pic.twitter.com/3zG52UpL7C
— Urban Islandz (@urbanislandz) October 23, 2022
In that interview, he shared about his truce with Freddie Gibbs.
“It’s about communicating and then your ego not leading, and I’m really intentional about making sure that I reconnect with a lot of people, not no Kumbaya, but just like I had love for you, and it was my wrongdoing or me reacting to what you did to me then you know,” he said.
Jeezy attributes miscommunication as the root cause of their beef. His words will surely resonate with his following as he remains one of the most prolific rappers coming out of Atlanta. Since signing to Def Jam Recordings in 2004, he’s gone on to release 13 studio albums, 18 mixtapes, 70 singles, and 28 music videos.
Jeezy is considered one of the pioneers of trap music, along with other Atlanta-based rappers, T.I. and Gucci Mane. The multi-platinum recording artist had come a long way from his Young Jeezy days when he was a well-known former gang associate with numerous run-ins with the law.
These days he’s more known for being an entrepreneur and philanthropist, along with his rapping skills.
