Many artists claim to be down with politics (or their own version of the occult) but Jeezy really stays in the tune with the polls and the people. Back in 2008, his single “My President” was really instrumental in raising awareness of President Obama’s campaign and the need to vote within the inner-city.
Fast forward to the present day and the country is facing a perceivably easy choice in picking the next commander-in-chief but until November 8, we can’t be so sure. Jeezy is currently on the Trap or Die 3 campaign stroll himself — hitting The Daily Show, The Real, FS1: Undisputed and the Facebook offices — and found time to make it to the DXHQ for a conversation that’s free of fluff and jive.
Over the course of the interview, The Snowman, now eight years wiser from the last time he had to seriously worry about a presidential election, touches on why Hillary Clinton is a better choice without any theatrical praise, his long-running stint on Def Jam, the new album and his thoughts on new-era trap.
Let’s get it!
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#FDT
HipHopDX: Depending who you ask, [the album] The Recession — may be a classic album or the best album of 2008. So how deflating is it for you to this presidential election? With “My President,” you were a big part of that epic Obama campaign for a lot of people who probably never even voted for. So how deflating is it for you now with the political sphere, with the narrative being I guess, “worse or worse-r”?
Jeezy: The obstacles are definitely different. Even with Obama, I just felt like he was the guy for the job and he really wanted to do it, so at least with the maintaining…
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I heard someone the other night talking about Obamacare. I just happened to be sitting somewhere in a bar setting and I was just listening. And it’s crazy to see how they looked at it. They looked at it like it was a bad thing but he tried to do something. It didn’t work — from what I’m getting but that’s still cool because he fixed other things in other areas.
When you look at what’s going on now with Donald Trump and all these people, it’s like, “What are your intentions? What’s your ulterior motive? How are you going to help us make us better?” When you say “Make America Great Again,” that sounds like a Burger King commercial to me. I feel like you’re trying to sell me something. I feel like you’re trying to play on my intelligence. And those type of people are very smart. They’re geniuses when it comes to playing on people’s intelligence — because they’re businessmen! And to be a businessman, you have to be able to step on the next man to get up. And he clearly has no problem doing it. And everything he’s done thus far has shown me he’s not presidential. How would other countries look at our country just knowing that guy, our commander-in-chief with all the things that he’s said and done … what kind of example would be setting for ourselves?
The same thing with Hillary. I look at it two ways: She has resources. She’s able to talk to people he probably couldn’t get on the phone; world leaders, different things. She has Bill [Clinto] in her corner. He did a pretty good job when he was in pocket; he got caught up in a couple things — hey, we all do sometimes. But, Obama didn’t, by the way.
It just opens the gate to say, if she does pull this off, that women can do anything in the world possibly. That’s the same way we felt as black men when Obama got in office. I just think when it comes to our communities, our neighborhoods, our cities and all the eternal problems we got, we have to fix that as a people. I’m not about to sit back and wait on Trump to fix my city. Ain’t no fuckin’ way. Clearly, his agenda is money. He’s not bullshittin’…”I took some short cuts with my taxes” — why wouldn’t he?
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“I think that people who have so much to say but don’t get out and vote, if [Trump] happens to pull this off, that’s all our fault!”
By the way, just with the comments he’s said and the things he’s done, I don’t see how nobody don’t see through that. It’s almost like he say that shit and be like, “I can’t believe they haven’t fired me yet!”
Snow Season Returns With Trap Or Die 3
A little over ten years ago, Jeezy flooded the Atlanta streets with his classic mixtape Trap or Die and emerged with a Noah’s Ark wealth of notoriety. Come tomorrow, October 28, he’s poised to do it all again with his Trap or Die 3, now a full-fledged studio album. The upcoming project features vocal contributions from Lil Wayne, Yo Gotti, French Montana, Chris Brown, Plies and the late Bankroll Fresh as well as beats from Shawty Redd and D. Rich.
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However, things have changed in the rap game and music since then.
Jeezy Offers Up His Opinion On 2K16 “Trap”
DX: You speak of ghetto Hip Hop. In 2016, what’s your take on the definition of trap these days? Nowadays, trap can be EDM, bouncy or something that’s not associated with anything you come from?
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Jeezy: I think it’s very commercialized. Just like where I see those commercials where they have people throwing money. Like [State Farm] commercials. I saw a commercial the other day where they had Chris Paul with all the gold chains [Damian Lillard and Kevin Love’s “Dropping Dimes”] and making a mockery out of it. I think they think the things we really do is really funny.
But they have no idea that same money that you’re emulating somebody throwing, someone really took some penitentiary chances for it and got some real time or probably ain’t even here no more because of that.
“I think that’s why it’s so important for me to come back and do what I’m doing because they gotta know it’s for real. This is a way of life.”
We really come from this; this is really our sound. It’s like the old slave folk, the songs they used to sing. It was something we just understood, nobody else was supposed to understand it. So when I hear the EDM and all that stuff — I get it but nah. There was no way you was about to be in my neighborhood listening to this shit [Laughs]. People get shot, robbed, stabbed — I get it but it’s not us.
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I like EDM but I don’t know why they got to associate trap with EDM. But I think it’s so commercialized now because it seems like an easy win. “I do trap music.” You get some cool beats and say some cool stuff but is it in the hearts of women, men and children? Can people live and die by this? Is this going to get people through some tough times? Does it have adversity anywhere in it? Does this make me more focused? Does this make me more determined? I don’t know [Laughs].
That’s the shit I’m on! What we doing? When I listen to something … I don’t want to go watch a movie and feel like I got cheated out of my money. The popcorn was better than the movie, that’s not cool.
DX: Whoa!
Jeezy: Right? [Laughs] That’s not it!
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Words from the Thug Motivator, ladies and gents.
Why Jeezy Isn’t A Black Republican
Jeezy: I’ve always been the one to help, been the one on the front lines. That’s my personality. I was taught to give someone your last; the shirt off your back — literally. Like I grew up in a trailer that wasn’t bigger than this room. Just having to deal with that real poverty and being stricken with it, it’s always in the back of your head. So no matter how well you sleep at night or how good you’re living, you can’t forget where you came from. I see some stuff sometimes like nobody’s trying to help?
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So to me, I always felt like the Democrats … at least their motive was they cared about the people. At least that’s what it came across to me. Republicans, in my opinion, it’s clearly about money.
“Of course I want my taxes to be better but shit, I ain’t never had nothing anyways, so what I care?”
When I hear people talking about “their tax cuts,” that don’t seem like the problem to me! Maybe it’s something that I don’t know but at the end of the day, it’s all about the people. There’s people out here trying to figure it out. And it ain’t like they’re not trying. They don’t have a lot of options or opportunities. Technology is taking away a lot of jobs. OK, let’s train some people that will do different jobs. Give them another skill set. That’s what it’s all about — to me!
And that’s how the Democrats come across to me. I never heard that out of the Republican party’s mouth. It’s always some shit about some money and how we gonna make more money and then flip that and make more money [Laughs]. They clearly want that paper. I get it.
Def Jam Lifer
Watch Jeezy explain his Def Jam longevity up above.
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Pre-orderTrap or Die 3on iTunes here.
