​Young Jeezy
Sunshine Cinema
Tuesday, November 29

Better than: Combing his Wikipedia page.

Perhaps Young Jeezy's biggest weakness as an artist is the information that's out there about him, or the lack thereof. Four albums and a plethora of mixtapes deep and even ardent fans like myself admittedly know very little about the man behind those guttural trap-rap bangers and deliciously elongated ad-libs, save for a smattering of his legal run-ins and imbroglios with fellow rappers—and, of course, his snowman emblem.

Enter A Hustlerz Ambition: The Documentary, the new biopic narrated by actor Samuel L. Jackson that chronologically recounts how the man born Jay Jenkins evolved into Young Jeezy and available as part of the deluxe edition of Jeezy's forthcoming Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition. The roughly shot film combines interviews with Jeezy (oft-taped Swisher Sweet in hand) and his family and colleagues (Jay-Z, Diddy) with childhood photos and concert footage.

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​Young Jeezy (Thug Motivation 103 listening session)
Quad Recording Studios
Thursday, November 3

Better than: Waiting until December 20.

Young Jeezy's Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition had become the stuff of hip-hop lore over the past few years. A perpetually delayed release date coupled with a glut of mostly underwhelming early singles had people lumping the album in with perpetually-in-limbo relases like Detox and the follow-up to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The deluge of somewhat comparable rappers—most notably Rick Ross—who came up in the interim and the general capriciousness of hip-hop fans didn't help, either.

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The Revolver cover.

​On Thursday Jive Records announced that T-Pain's fourth album rEVOLVEr would be out on December 6. That same day, the rappa ternt sanga's single "5 O'Clock" reached a new Hot 100 peak of No. 25 . The timing wasn't exactly coincidental. The track, on which T-Pain is supported by Lily Allen and Wiz Khalifa, is the sixth single he's released in support of the album, and it has quickly become the most successful to date. But for over two years, he was lobbing one song after another into the marketplace, and each time it would quickly fall off the charts, and Jive would delay the album and start over from scratch.

The press release announcing the album calls "5 O'Clock" the second single from rEVOLVEr, designating "Best Love Song" featuring Chris Brown as the first. Truthfully, they're the sixth and fourth singles, respectively, but they're also the only top 40 hits from the campaign so far—which means everything else that missed will likely be tossed out, or only included as bonus tracks on certain editions of the album.

Not long ago, an album with half a dozen Hot 100 hits would be considered a runaway success. But the bar for singles-chart success to serve as a benchmark for potential album sales has been raised so high in recent years that rEVOLVEr has struggled for two years to find its way into stores, and other albums like it have as well.

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For a generation, the unexpected death of Aaliyah Dana Haughton 10 years ago today remains as significant as the deaths of Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac. This especially rings true for millennial men, who were just realizing girls really didn't have cooties when Aaliyah released her debut, Age Ain't Nothin' But A Number, in 1994. In the years since the plane carrying her and her entourage crashed shortly after taking off, killing everyone on board, the fanboy-like appreciation for Aaliyah has only grown.

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​You guys drank the Kool-Aid, didn't you? Now all you can rave about is Rick Ross. Tsk, tsk. The guy told you himself, in no uncertain terms, that he's caught up in a fantasy. Yeah, he's got a talent for picking huge, cinematic beats, and he strings words together nicely from time to time. Problem is William Leonard Roberts II really thinks he's Big Meech or Larry Hoover. His rap name is derived from "Freeway" Ricky Ross, a convicted drug dealer who tried suing Rozay for copyright infringement. (Real recognize real?) To fortify his movement he scrapped the failed Carol City Cartel drams and recruited some young guns. But his ear for talent isn't as crisp as his ear for beats these days. Meek, Pill... if this is the order of the day, no wonder you clowns think Jeezy fell off.

Sure, Jeezy exaggerates, but he gets to ride with Jay-Z. (Real recognize real, indeed.) Now that Thug Motivation 103's been slated for a September 20 release, the trap will be teeming with addicts returning for a fix. At the sixth-anniversary show for TM101, the same bloggers who'd been crying has-been a few months back were crying tears of joy at Jizzle's return. Before the rest of the world catches the vapors and starts claiming they were "always" Jeezy fans, here are the ten songs that in spite of his waning popularity I never stopped listening to Jay Jenkins.

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Young Jeezy
Highline Ballroom
Monday, July 25

Better than: Listening to Funkmaster Flex break a record live on air.

Yep, Jay-Z did come out to play, and yes, Kanye did put in an appearance, but the biggest draws at Young Jeezy's NYC gig were the secret stars. Despite initially taking the stage with a backing band—presumably because 'Ye doesn't get out of bed these days unless an artist is backed by a quintet in matching tuxes, and because apparently Jay now doesn't do anything that Kanye hasn't already told him is the done thing—it was only when Jeezy's show ditched his musical charges and pared down to rapping over a backing track that proceedings sparked. So Mannie Fresh and Shawty Redd, who held down the best production on Jeezy's Thug Motivation: 101, became the night's biggest motivators, with their sharp, booming drum beats and sinister synths moving the crowd where the band's grooves largely failed.

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​Though Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy is playing it ultra cool regarding "Death Before Dishonor," the "B.M.F."-checking freestyle he released a couple days ago, it seems pretty clear the song was aimed at Rick Ross. (His denial, at MTV, is less than convincing: "That's for anybody. I got n---as in prison behind that sh--. I feel that if you speaking on sh--, you gotta at least know who you talking about." OK!) Ross, for his part, merely expressed confusion...until now, anyway. "The Summas Mine" (hear it at 2DopeBoyz), released earlier today, rides a fantastically annoying Lil Lody beat (think Lex Luger getting murdered by a woodpecker) into its own kind of subliminal sunset:

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​Rick Ross' disconcerting habit of pretending he is other still-living people continues to get him in trouble, both with those people and other people who know those people. Young Jeezy has taken issue with Ross' Black Mafia Family shout-out/misappropriation "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)" -- the "I think I'm Big Meech/Larry Hoover" one -- before; now he's freestyling over it, semi-derisively.

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Well, that's a fun way to enjoy your jail reprieve--jumping onstage in front of many thousands of people to do a "Bedrock/I'm Goin' In" medley with your Young Money all-stars and two of the most famous rappers on the planet. Not that Jay deigned to come out or anything. But this is pretty much why people live in New York! No word yet as to whether or not the Centre Street courthouse, where Weezy has evaded his fate a couple times now, will be open today. Probably not, if Young Money grocery bag-handler Gudda Gudda has anything to say about it. anyway. Update: He goes in Monday.

Also featured: A military helmet modified with Mickey Mouse ears, what may or may not be a huge beaver tail, automatic weapons fire, a blatant visual comment about poorly endowed men, and simulated toplessness--flesh colored top, plus nipple duct tape, which..? For context, Jeezy is in full commando regalia and still looks like he's lounging on the block, compared to everyone else's gear here. The song is still great, too, for whatever that's worth. How did they fuck this record up again? [MTVU]