Young Jeezy – Thug Motivation 103

    During the year-plus of delays that Young Jeezy’s Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition sat on the shelf and got reworked at the Def Jam offices, many rap fans and armchair A&Rs conspired that fellow Southern heavyweight Rick Ross had taken his place in the lane of trap rap. But further inspection proves otherwise: while Ross’ extravagant soundbeds embody the lavish life of rap’s shiny suit era, Jeezy has largely focused on inspiring his listeners to enjoy those riches aside him. On TM103’s strongest moments, the CTE leader continues his penchant for motivational speaking.

    For the most part, Jeezy sticks to his tried and true formula. ”I’ve been through straight hell, so I can see street heaven,” he announces on the album-opening “Waiting,” and he spends the rest of the album navigating such waters with his constituency. Armed with more rumbling, triumphant backdrops from previous collaborators like J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and Drumma Boy (plus a strong album appearance from new crew member Lil Jody, who produced five of the album’s 14 tracks), Jeezy’s throaty growl still sounds right at home while leading his troops through the ATL trenches. He doesn’t falsely boast about still standing on the corner, but he still identifies with them through common denominators of ‘dro, dames, struggle and work ethic. “What I Do (Just Like That)” ably fulfills street anthem requirements, the rags to riches tale of “Everythang” is just as motivational as any of Jeezy’s previous come-up anthems, and “Nothin” applauds listeners who survive through senseless violence in the hood.

    Jeezy briefly ventures outside of his comfort zone, and the results are a pleasant surprise. “Trapped” utilizes a pensive J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League soundbed and a spoken word Jill Scott cameo to convey the cyclical nature of inner-city strife, resulting as one of Jeezy’s clearest signs of growth between albums. Meanwhile, “I Do” enlists Jay-Z and Andre3000 for the trio contemplate commitment after a lifetime of one-night stands and failed relationships. Despite the latter coming five songs after a record which chants “All we do is smoke and fuck” as the chorus, it still comes across as believable.

    TM103’s change-ups occur with its abundance of guest features. While the songs remain solid throughout, several of the cameos end up being more memorable than its star player. This is an unnecessary move for a solo album that took so much time to drop. Despite Lil Jody’s multilayered soundbed and Jeezy’s tone-setting intro verse, “OJ” is highlighted by showstealing bars from Fabolous and Jadakiss. Cameos from Future and 2 Chainz leave “Way Too Gone” and “Supafreak” respectively to similar fate, but the sounds and vibes are still Jeezy-oriented enough to concede. The most egregious example is “Higher Learning,” which plays as any other rap album’s formulaic, requisite weed anthem with its Snoop Dogg and Devin The Dude assistance.

    With the subtitle of Hustlerz Ambition, Jeezy’s latest album may have been as much of a call to arms for himself as it was to his listeners. Thankfully, he gives a worthy addition to the series and continues his reign as one of rap’s best.

    289 thoughts on “Young Jeezy – Thug Motivation 103

    1. Spot on review, 4 stars is about right, even though there is nothing original or clever here there has clearly been a lot of hard work and fine tuning. This is about as good as Jeezy could ever sound in 2011. Worth the wait.

    2. The realist shit of year.. album go soooo hard.. its gonna be in heavy rotation for a long time.. worth the fucking wait..

    3. Jay-Z killed Jeezy on “I Do”, the cameos were the highlight of this album. Childish Gambino got more heat than Jeezy. He do, lol.

    4. So according to DX an album which ended up being as good as it was because of the cameos is better than Watch The Throne Cole World and Ambition????? FUCK OUTTA HERE!

      1. Why does every idiot run to HHDX and say “OMG, ____ GOT ONLY 3.5, AND THIS GOT 4?!”

        It all depends on the audience. Watch the Throne, honestly, was nothing new. I suppose neither was this. If you like that kind of thing, it definitely fits into 3.5-4 category. Jeezy’s entire album is full of bangers, and that’s what he strived for. Way Too Gone, OJ, and Trapped are one of his best songs of all time.

      1. You must have forgot about Undun, The Dreamer/The Believer, Greatest Story Never Told, All 6’s and 7’s, W.A.R. and a few others…..

    5. Jeezy is like a run on sentence. It’s all just one long rhyme.

      You can take any of his lyrics and switch the beats and you wouldn’t know the difference.

    6. “Thankfully, he gives a worthy addition to the series and continues his reign as one of raps best.”

      Jeezy. One of raps best.

      I just spit my beer out on my keyboard.

      Thanks.

    7. how come the eminem gibbs track wasnt on the album not even the deluxe version? album is okay but lot of the traks sound similar need to listen to it a couple times to get into im guessing jada and fab are immense a mixtape or album with them 2 on it would be dope

    8. About at the midway point…. It’s ok. Production is better than Recession, but it’s still underwhelming. None of the songs are really about anything.

    9. this album is way better than i expected. Thought Jeezy lost his motivation but obviously he still got it. 101 is a classic and one of the greatest albums ever made. 102 was his second best. Recession was boring and this one is up there with 102. trap or die biatches

    10. btw, this album is for the streets n real peeps doin it. It aint gettin radio play and listen from you britneey speers or justin bieber fans. Trap music biatches

      1. U crazy, I like the album but it’s not better then Trap or Die 2 nor Real is Back 1. If he puts Real Back intro, Win and Flexin it’s a classic album. Shake Life was my ish and where’s the joint with em on hook! His A&R did a so-so job for 103

      2. I was thinking the same. The album is like 7/10. With all the dope mixtpe shit he could have had like 3 albums on the shelf. Jeezy stop wasting checks

    11. Doesn’t disappoint at all. Jeezy brought the heat as usual. As the guy “Tru” said, “Can’t comapre with Common or Roots Lp’s cuz this is different kind of rap ;P”. He hit the nail on the head with that comment. There are different types of hip hop [alternative hip-hop(Blu, MF DOOM, etc.), old school hip-hop (KRS, Kool G Rap, etc.), crunk (Soulja Boy, Lil Jon, etc.), chopped and screwed (DJ Screw, etc.) hyphy (Keak Da Sneak, E40, etc.), mainstream (Jay-Z, Eminem, 50, etc.), jazz hip-hop (ATCQ, De La Soul, etc.), underground (Tech N9ne [maybe not so much any more lol], Apathy, Reks, etc.)] As far as TRAP music goes, this is the best it is gets.

    12. I think it’s only right to mention Warren G… he’s produced a sick track here, aswell as the opening track to Styles P’s latest album… and he layed down a smooth verse on that 9th wonder album. He’s getting royally slept on.

      1. Warren G has been slept on since 94 when “Regulate” came out. It did go platinum though. At least he has THAT kind of recognition, but still, you’re 110% right. Warren G is a pioneer and a living legend.

    13. YOOO! This nigga jeezy let me down this album is TRASH is has NO tracks by Shawty Redd & we alllllll know that is jeezy’s go to producer! it has NO songs with USDA if not them what happened to his main man Slick Pulla! He got 211 over there he has Boo over there & Slick pulla fuck everyone else he pose to have had pulled a no limit move & just have his artist on his album! Lil lody is NOT that good that u don’t put shawty redd on ur album. the nigga jeezy done fucked all the way up on this one….ROSS album will be better than TM:103. Damn Snowman what the fuck r u doing!!!!!!

    14. Its funny cuz as I was reading the comments on other pages and people were commenting and mostly saying “jeezy need to switch it up” and now since he has people want his old shut back seriously people how much hate are you guna give this guy. The album was dope and I went and bought it last night. 5/5

    15. Man I used to have nothing . Now I almost got everythang . thats why I come they stunting. Now the whole world gonna know my name(now that’s some motivational shit cuz) if u getting money

    16. Man I used to have nothing . Now I almost got everythang . thats why I come thru stunting. Now the whole world gonna know my name(now that’s some motivational shit cuz) only if u getting money. Broke bastards hate it haaahaaa

    17. Trap Or Die 2 >>> TM103

      Still a solid album tho, but if he would have released TOD2 as TM103 it would have been a classic and probably would have even got a 4.5

      1. That mixtape was straight trash not a single hot song on it. I love Jeezy and got all his mixtapes but that shit was TRASH.

    18. Maaan, all those features and not 1 song had my nigga justin bieber on it?! Jeezy prolly couldn’t afford it..He need a rap supastar like Bieber on this junt tho. Nd if u dont agree than ur just not a belieber. It needs that flavor…that….that SWAG!! Justin biebers got swag at 100 thousand nd climbin baby!! Yeah SWAG!! Bieber swag. SWAG!! Bieber fever all da way!! Swag

      BIEber swag!!!

    19. Man Jeezy needs to drop J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. All there beats sound exactly the same unless they sample. Plus that big head corn row fat ass Colione has no talent. He rides on the back of the other guys. Watch there videos they post on youtube. His arrogant fat ass will put his big fucking nose in the camera and act like he is mozart. But u never see him play 1 note. He punches notes in on piano roll in logic. anybody can do it. Go to apple store and see yourself. ask sales man 2 show u logic. Then u can produce 2.

    20. why 4 stars? Shit sounds the same as his other albums same beats, same flow only the lyrics changed a bit.

      3 stars is more then enough!!!!!

    21. “For the most part, Jeezy sticks to his tried and true formula” This says it all.

      How can you listen to this boring shit when Common dropped the hottest album of the year.

    22. Young Jeezy just put himself back in the top 5 rappers, but to be honest he never left. Yea he made us wait awhile but he acknowlegded he have by his first song. Lots of features but all of them come. This album is a CLASSIC and a MUST HAVE

    23. alright…obviously the word “classic” an the phrase “album of the year” is thrown around way too much these days. Also everybody bitchin about how this might or might not be album of the year or how ya’ll need to listen to real rap so check out commons new album for that or what not. just stop. Yes common’s dope but so is jeezy, why does everybody gotta be a one track minded hip hop fan… whay can’t you just enjoy a lil bit of everything me personally i like Jeezy, Lupe, Ice Cube, Jay Rock, J. Cole, Slaughterhouse, Eminem, Jay Z, Nas, Game, Snoop, Jadakiss etc. ya’ll get my point, just enjoy the music.. TM:103 4/5..CHuuuuch!

    24. jeezy isnt killing ross. hows that? when ross had jeezys album pushed back for 3 years? jeezys last album was 2008. n we all seen that def jam payd ross to lay back. how comes all of a sudden ross stoppd droppin shit consistently?? wait till ross new mixtape drops n god forgives i dont

    25. You fuck ass niggas always hating on Jizzle he is the most consistant rapper and the realest rapper EVER “fuck you haters id kill em all if I could” haha …Rick ross???? The worst rapper ever yall.gunna compare the 2 what the fuck are u dudes.listening to he’s fucking garbo go listen to lil Wayne or Jay z u fucking industry niggas CTE USDA OVER EVERY THING

    26. Somebody tell whoeva wrote dis shit dat itz Lil Lody not Lil Jody…who da fuck iz Lil Jody? Nigga itz Lil Lody, North Memphis all day errday my nigga

    27. This album is not near 4 stars let alone 5 .
      it doesnt go deep enough , its just him rappin about his money and cars and bitches most of the album . there is a couple songs that i can vibe to but thats it .

      3 stars is enough

    28. what a way to close out the year young you’ve dropped nothing but hot shit this is yo year man i’m proud thanks for representing nigga

    29. Deluxe CD is 4/5, standard is 3/5. Real talk get the deluxe addition. If he would have put every song that on the deluxe addition(the four tracks) to the standard and took out that out of place I Do song, that wack neyo song, and OJ..then I would give the standard a 4/5.

    30. I needed this shit it’s like I can go harder at
      All the shit I do now i Can’t wait to see what else I hear from him this year stay eight 732 down

    31. Expected more. Just heard the same old same old, and the formula was so repetitive that the album has trouble capturing attention for the entire track listing.

    32. People have got to understand what type of cats Jeezy makes music for, and it does not include your suburb ass allowance/week ass n*ggas.

    33. LOOOOOL YOU KNOW DX, I REALLY THOUGHT YOU WERE A SERIOUS WEBSITE, NOT ONE OF THESE SUCKERS.

      REALLY, you always put underground and mainstream, and for that I respect you. Thanks to you, i discovered so much rappers.

      But please !!!! 4 stars for that shit ? LOOOOL yes . Reign as one rap’s best.

      You gotta be kidding me… 2.5 / 5. Too repetitive, same subjects, such a boring flow yessss…

    34. His choruses are weak. TM101 still best… Songs I liked (so far) are Waiting, What I Do, Everythang. Just finished listening to I Do.

    35. Hot album 4 the streets…some cant identify so expect the hate…. common and the roots totally different styles, but yet tight

    36. “Young” keep his music on one level and thats to motivate. I feel like he can become more of an icon then just a motivator. Much respect keep speaking the truth and maybe you can be a governor or mayor… Know what mean.

    37. 4/5????? same as section 80.????? fck outta here this shit is weak i expected more from jeezy we waited 3 years for this filth??? no replay value!!

    38. When you get past the concept he picked out great beats I dont see anything special. I’d rather ride around listening the last laugh mixtape.

    39. cuz I dont like at you the same no mo’ my nigga, it’ll never be the same no mo’ my nigga, I dont wanna play the game no mo’ my nigga, it’ll never be the same no mo’ my nigga

      some real, and deep shit
      TM 103

    40. How the hell this shitty cd got four stars?
      Listened it, and I’m wondering if this is really the same guy, who released The Recession.

      Boring beats and something is missing.

      1. you must not know music if your willing to make such statement….you should go on youtube n start listenin to justin bieber

    41. LMAO @ fools calling this trash “album of the year”. That’s impossible because this album isn’t titled “PL3DGE”.

      It’s amazing how a crack peddler in a trailer park has fooled so many into thinking he was some big time dope dealer.

      Jeezy’s music isn’t motivating…..it glamorizes stupidity. Talking about your trials and tribulations while selling drugs and making something of yourself in spite of it is not the same as calling yourself “the snowman” as if to show that you are proud of what you supposedly did and then bragging about your activities in the streets.

      Too many of you fools are lookin up to the wrong street dude. some of y’all need to listen Killer Mike’s “That’s Life 2”.

      1. Nigga’s need haters! All they do is make a muthafucker better! That nigga must be doing something right because his name is in your fuck’in mouth.

      1. I second that… Dudes terrible. How many times can you repeat yourself and get away with it. We are fans, not alzheimer’s patients. He has the lyrical dexterity of a guinea pig. Album if the year? Jeezy couldn’t even read the lyrics to Section.80 or Undun, never mind write them…. Fuck outta here.

        And why is it always “hatin” when someone has no talent?

    42. Say what you want, its repetitive, lame, whatever, the shit still go hard. Im definantly one motivated ass nigga when i listen to this

    43. Its one of the highest rated albums for a reason, 2/3rds of voters gave it a 5 for a reason,DX gave it 4 stars for a reason, and ive seen some other much more solid projects given less from DX, its pretty legit my dude.

    44. This album is no tm 101 but jeezy has grown up since then so it’s not gonna be the same as older albums. Get ya minds right

    45. This is rick ross track lift.

      Track 1 Roast Beef with letuce
      Track 2 BMF ( Big mac and fries)
      Track 3 Real niggaz eat real cheese
      track 4.Jeezy outsold me but ima BAWSE.
      track 5. Hungry for more than You ( lloyd Banks Diss)
      track 6.Happy Meal
      track 7. OH BEAST
      track 8.Massive Tits
      tracks9.Can’t See my Dick
      track 10.Everyday I am Hungry
      track 11. I’m not fat feat. Rosey O’Donald

      1. Hahaha …Wayne, Ross, Soulja Boy, Jeezy and so one are all studio gangsters, autotune fags, just a few fake ass rappers!

      2. Okay i will say that Jeezy is not that bad, as the other guys i counted…BUT compare him with Young Buck. For me Buck keepin’ it realer!

    46. Would have been nice if Shawty Red produced the first song like he did on TM 101 & 102. Overall isht is banging.

    47. This album is mediocre. Rick Ross is better than Jeezy at this point. IDK why ppl hate on Ricky, oh yeah that’s right it’s because he’s making money. Jeezy is just screaming into a mic (maybe that’s why he tore his vocal chords). Jeezy will remain well respected. But let’s be real the man “fell off”. The game in general is so weak that people won’t want to admit it or can’t realize it due to the lack of competition. The problem with hip hop today is that there are few rappers that other rappers want to impress in the game. It your vocab is that of a 3rd grader, than by all means blast this album in your car!!

      1. Hold up dog, Rick Ross is not better than Jeezy. All of Rick Ross material sound the same. Dude has no versatility at all. Listening to a Rick Ross album is like listening to one long 40min song and that’s the truth!

      2. I can Guarantee that I know more about hip hop than any of you suckers that just replied. Really Jeezy fell off. Point Blank period. TM103 sucks. I listened to it 10x and I have the same opinion. better rappers than Jeezy

        HOVA (King of hip hop like it or not)
        J Cole
        Wale
        Nas
        Fred The Godson
        Los (not Fab) from B-more
        FAb
        Common
        Lil Wayne
        Action Bronson
        Rick Ross
        Eminem
        Joel Ortiz
        Joe Budden (most underated)
        Talib
        and these are artist with recent projects

      3. Why don’t you use spell check use Microsoft Word Anonymous< ? This album sucks Yeaaaahhhh (Jeezzy voice) ,and I'm a big fan of TM101 & TM102.

      4. wrong wrong wrong Rick Ross is a fake when he first started he was claming shit that he wont even apart of where they do that at and no one’s hating on Ricky but it’s alot of YALL HATING on JEEZY as jeezy said this one’s for you FUCK NIGGAS haha YALL really need to get some nuts about yourself if you dont like jeezy you a lame stright like that

    48. This music is good for workin out or ridin around anyone who hates it just does it for to be hating. I wouldnt call it hip hop or album of the year..just some good shit to pump when u drunk or gettin crunk

    49. Great album, if you include the deluxe edition, it’s top 10 material. If just the standard album it drops just outside of the top 10, but still top 15 imo.

    50. This is One of the worst rap albums of all time. Wayne set the bar 2 high when he dropped tha carter IV. Jezzy fell off

      1. But you outta all pissed me off the worst wayne set the bar to high really you dont even believe that wayne an jeezy aint even in the same catagory cause wayne fake jeezy not what nigga you know goes to footlocker an tell them give me every shoe on the wall in a size 10 jeezy did before he was even sign so who set the bar now

      1. Jeezy aint garbage man.. listen to his shit. And i mean really listen to it before you dog it. I listen to Nas and Mos Def and Common and theyre great rappers in their own right but Jeezy has his own style that alot of people relate to. Alot of his lyrics are sick as fuck if you quit comparing him to Nas and respect him for what he does. Nas is on another level. But if you want that gutter head boppin trap music.. no one does it better than my nigga Jeezy. Respect to all Artists…..except Soulja Boi cause hes garbage.

    51. Young jeezzy is the worst rapper.His rhymes has no whit no complexity and his voice sounds like shit i cant name on song this nigga did that i truly liked.
      And btw is this guy rapping he sound the same in all his songs,which basically talking through the songs worst rapper ever,even soulja boy better than this clown.

      1. Listen at yourself you sound like a clown young jeezy is one of the realest in it an how dear you try to compare soulja boy to jeezy they not even in the same catagory soulja boy is the type of person who go bankrupt for a girl jeezy just drop her

    52. I’ve been fukking with this Hip Hop thing for a long time. I’ve done it all from Jay Z & Eminem front row in Detroit to Eric B/Rakim, Big Daddy Kane & E.U. at the Capital Center in Maryland to DJ AM at Rain in the Palms. Jeezy is a raw ass artist. TM 103 is the shyt. Y’all talking about Jeezy fell off you crazy. I’m from the D(etroit) with Georgia roots. I take nothing from Wale, Cole or any other young guns doing they thang but don’t diss The Snowman. He’s hot as ever!

    53. This is for all you people hating on young jeezy. jezzy said when he first started he was doing for him and niggas like him guess what he do it for now him and niggas like him take a nap haters

    54. everytime i hear “i do” i close my eyes and sway side to side..throwing up bloods and YMCMB!..we running the world baby! lets go! 2012!

    55. “Man these mothafuckas hatin to hate that’s what I hate knowing deep down way in they soul they know Im great mothafuckas acting like I ain’t do it like I aint done it the Michael Jackson of my lane and bitch I run it”-Jeezy Thats real talk

    56. Whoever is saying rick ross is the king of trap music, the guy is absolute fucking garbage. I can literally name 50 rappers better than him, and im serious about that, ross has absolutely no skill, rhyming ability, his flow sucks, has no versatily in flow or content, no storytelling ability, the guy is just completely awful. I’m not gonna say Jeezy is the best rapper out there cuz he’s not, but he is 50 times better than ross could ever dream of, only reason ross is popular is cuz of the beats and the features, a song by himself is complete ass!

    57. rick ross has more lyrics than jeezy. his beat selection is better than jeezys. his adlibs better than jeezys his flow is better than jeezys. swag better than jeezys. its like no competition. jeezy fell off big time stop being stans.

      1. LOL @ Knows more cops than Jeezy. Ross spends too much time behind his ghost writers. He’s a real terrible ‘MC’. MMG in general is pretty terrible. Jeezy doesn’t have the most intelligent lyrics in the game, but he raps what he knows and at least writes his own shit. Also, if you can think of a rapper that writes a better hook, present him/her.

    58. you guys can talk all the crap rick ross is fat idiot who thinks hes good when he aint this guy make good ass beats so shut up. why you watchin the video if you don’t like it?

    59. Overrated rapper, simple lyrics, garbage beats, fucked up hooks, this nigga is very lucky to have the niggas around him to set his shit up.

    60. This is a dope album…..but its not quite as good as the Recession. LETS GET IT! Its one of 2011’s hottest albums

    61. TM 103 KEEP DOING WHAT YOU DO WE ROCKING WITH YOU TILL DA WHEELS FALL OFF PIMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR WOW IT SHOULD BE TRIPLE PLATINUM…….GOOD MUSIC DIFFERENT SOUND AUTHENTIC GREAT STORIES, REALEST SONGS……….TM 103 HUSTLERS AMBITION!!!!! SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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