travel auction: Young Jeezy Refused To 'Rush Greatness' Making TM 103

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Young Jeezy Refused To 'Rush Greatness' Making TM 103

'I just wanted to deliver something that was worth the wait, and that's what I feel like I done,' Jeezy tells 'Rapfix Live' about upcoming release.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway

Young Jeezy
Photo: Getty Images

It's not that Young Jeezy pulled a disappearing act since his 2008 LP The Recession. The Snowman has dropped a number of singles and mixtapes since then, but those releases haven't satisfied the thirst for his upcoming TM 103: Hustlerz Ambition. Jeezy's long-awaited album has been three years in the making, but the ATL trap star promises it will be worth the wait.

"I ain't the one for making excuses. I was always taught as a youngin by the OGs that you can't take your problems and make them somebody else's if you promised them something," Jeezy said about his album delay on Wednesday's "RapFix Live." "I went through a lot of trials and tribs and different things, but I gotta take that and endure that."

Jeezy didn't clarify what those problems were, but he told MTV News' Sway Calloway that he had some real distractions that could've cost him everything. Still, the Snowman made no excuses — after all, he considers himself a mascot for the streets and one of the hood's chief motivators.

"I was dedicated every day. I put out a few mixtapes because I wanted them to know that I wasn't being lax, or I wasn't comfortable," he said. "The Real is Back 1 and 2, Trap or Die 2: By Any Means Necessary, The Last Laugh, all of that was an effort to show them that I'm really working, and I was working on the album as well."

In addition to all the free music he delivered his fans since 2008's Recession, Jeezy also joined Lil Wayne on his America's Most Wanted Tour and Jay-Z on his Blueprint 3 Tour.

Ultimately, the "Put On" rapper just wanted to make TM 103 a quality album. "I just wanted to deliver something that was worth the wait, and that's what I feel like I've done," he said.

The album is due out December 20, but a number of tracks already have been released, including the rambunctious "Lose My Mind" featuring Plies and the soul-bearing "F.A.M.E." with T.I. Last month, Jeezy leaked "I Do," a metaphoric song featuring Jay-Z and Andre 3000 that talks about hustling in the streets and marriage in the same breath. Then Thursday (December 1), the Snowman leaked another track, the Eminem- and Freddie Gibbs-featuring "Talk to Me."

The slow-rolling jam finds Jeezy rapping about his inner-most feelings, while Em eerily sings, "Somebody better explain why my ears are ringing so loud/ If someone's got something to say, grow some balls and say it to my face," on the song's hook.

It might have taken a few years to finish the album, but Young Jeezy said that doesn't matter. "I feel like it wasn't time. I felt like I was being rushed, and one thing I was taught is you don't rush greatness," he said. "I don't care about no radio or no label or no date or no deadlines or no quotas — this is for my people."

Are you awaiting TM 103: Hustlerz Ambition? Tell us in the comments below!

Related Videos