Release Date: December 20th, 2011
With every pair of Beats that are bought, a little piece of Detox dies with them. While Dre continues to dominate the ears of teens, young adults and the NBA with headgear instead of his own beats, the chances the world ever gets to hear his long-awaited third album grow slimmer and slimmer. It was starting to appear that Young Jeezy was heading the route of Detox with his latest album Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition. The album’s first single, “Lose My Mind” was already echoing through clubs in the summer of 2010 and was expected to be followed shortly by the ATLien’s latest LP.
After The Recession, which included the anthem “Black President,” the No. 1 single “Love in This Club” and a Grammy nomination for the Kanye West collaboration “Put On,” the music world first heard rumblings of its follow-up as early as 2009, with an expected 2010 release. The album started to materialize gradually throughout 2011, and track after track, along with a star-studded guest list, were leaked to blogs building the anticipation. Finally, in September, a release date was set and the Detox comparisons could die. But would it be worth the wait?
Jeezy addresses the long-suffering delay on the album’s opening tack, aptly titled “Waiting.” “You know the world is waiting, waiting on 103. … They waiting, they waiting, they waiting, they waiting,” he chants over an introductory beat. He sounds as if he got as fed up with the wait as his fans did.
This album finds Jeezy in a more subtle, laid-back groove for the most part, with the obvious exceptions being club bangers like the aforementioned “Lose My Mind” and “Ballin’.” He gets introspective with the recently freed T.I. addressing the burdens that come with popularity on “F.A.M.E.,” drinks the night away with Fabolous and Jadakiss on “OJ” and gets “Trapped” with Jill Scott.
The album’s highlight and most anticipated track is the smooth ode to the ladies in his life, “I Do,” a drunken, stumbling adventure around a club filled with marriage material. Jay-Z swoops in for a few bars of his own, breezing through the beat with his unparalleled lyrical ability and absolute control of his words. The hidden jewel is another verse from the comeback tour of 3 stacks André Benjamin. This beat was tailor-made for 3000 as he waxes poetically to the women where other men fail. “Let’s put a baby butterfly in your lil’ cocoon and maybe 2030 our baby, she’ll be nerdy make the whole club swoon.”
Jeezy’s always been in the grey area when it comes to lyricists. He’s never been the most versatile wordsmith, but he’s always been able to find his lane and stay in it exceptionally well. No one is going to put him in Jay and 3000’s class in that regard, but Jeezy holds his own by doing what he does best—being Jeezy. And he definitely does Jeezy on this album, a solid effort that was definitely worth the wait. Hear that, Doc?
Young Jeezy – Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition tracklist:
- “Waiting”
- “What I Do (Just Like That)”
- “OJ” (featuring Fabolous and Jadakiss)
- “Nothing”
- “Way Too Gone” (featuring Future)
- “Supafreak” (featuring 2 Chains)
- “All We Do”
- “Leave You Alone” (featuring Ne-Yo)
- “Everythang”
- “Trapped” (featuring Jill Scott)
- “F.A.M.E.” (featuring T.I.)
- “I Do” (featuring Jay-Z and André 3000)
- “Higher Learning” (featuring Snoop Dogg, Devin The Dude and Mitchelle’l)
- “This One’s for You” (featuring Trick Daddy)
