music / Hip-Hop

A 10-Year Anniversary Causes Jeezy To Reflect On His Career

Thug Motivation 101 is almost a decade old.

By Elias Leight
July 21, 2015
A 10-Year Anniversary Causes Jeezy To Reflect On His Career Theo Wargo / Getty Images

Achieving a ten-year anniversary in hip-hop is a cause for celebration. Recently, it's also been an occasion for reflection: earlier this year, Gucci Mane penned an open letter from prison in honor of the tenth anniversary of his Trap House album. Young Jeezy did a similar thing on Instagram today—his major-label debut, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, is about to turn ten as well.

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"They say you have your whole life to make your first album, and they might be right," the MC writes. "Some call it poetry, others call it the ghetto gospel, but the industry calls it 'trap music.'" "I find it odd when people use a negative connotation like 'trap music,'" he continues. "The message (lyrics) clearly states: make it out of your surroundings and be the best man and provider you can be. We call that being a boss where I'm from."

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Read Jeezy's full post below.

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They say you have your whole life to make your first album, and they might be right. Some call it poetry, others call it the ghetto gospel, but the industry calls it "trap music." Go figure. Either way it's the voice of the streets, and we all know that when the streets talk, we listen. I find it odd when people use a negative connotation like "trap music," when the message (lyrics) clearly states: make it out of your surroundings and be the best man and provider you can be. We call that being a boss where I'm from -- a self made individual that refuses to let his environment dictate his or her outcome in life. This body of work you see before you is just that. Every experience, every up, down and close call. All the nights that you prayed you could make it to see another day. All the sacrifices you made for friends and loved ones you lost to the street life. I can't help but to think of all the obstacles I had to dodge and the times I was unsure. But I continued to keep my faith and hustle strong. I kept pushing! When I said that the roaches were in the kitchen, I meant that! So now when I tell you the floors look like bowling balls, I mean that too. You can call it rags to riches, but I like to call it a boy becoming a man and believing in his dreams, goals and expectations. I never thought of "fame" or being accepted in this industry; my only thoughts were to represent and speak for every man, woman and child that was in the struggle and just wanted to make a better way of life, without taking no for an answer. With every song, verse and adlib on this body of work, you can hear that determination, that ambition and that drive in every word. If the album touched you in any way, just know that it was all for you. I'd like to thank my fans and anybody that was a part of my journey. Here I am, 10 years later, doing what I love --motivating the people.

A photo posted by @youngjeezy on

Hip-Hop, Young Jeezy

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A 10-Year Anniversary Causes Jeezy To Reflect On His Career