Listen to Young Jeezy on Batanga

Atlanta-based rapper Young Jeezy (formally known as Lil' J) is hot hip hop property at the moment. Initially deciding that he wanted a behind the scenes role in the music industry as a businessman, starting out as the CEO of Corporate Thug Entertainment, before taking to the microphone to spit lyrics himself. He began his rap career on the mixtape circuit, the path that launched thousands of rappers before him. Soon word of Jeezy was spreading way beyond ATL, with the mixtapes generating such a buzz that over 100,000 thousand of his mixtapes were sold in a year, and he won over fans including hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs and rap star Fabolous. Jeezy was formally a member of the rap group Boyz In Da Hood (who are signed to Diddy's Bad Boy Records label)– and was only signed to work on one album. He soon came to the attention of legendary record label Def Jam, who didn't pass up the opportunity to sign Jeezy as a solo artist. With the release of his album "Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101", the buzz surrounding the South Carolina-born rapper grow much stronger, making him a regular on music TV and radio channels, and his picture frequently gracing all the major black music magazines. The release's appeal was booted by guest appearances from Young Buck, T.I, Mannie Fresh, Bun B and Lil' Scrappy. The Platinum-selling album's tracks include "Let Me Talk To 'Em", which features Jeezy saying sorry for all the things he's done wrong in his life, the lead single "And The What" and "Soul Survivor" which featured "Lonely" singer Akon His follow-up album will be Jeezy Da Snowman. Jeezy has spoken out about his success, saying its because of his realness and versatility: "I'm a real n**** so I can relate more to a lot of cats. I don't just do music for the clubs, I do music for the struggle. I do music for everyday n****, the kids who ain't got no sense of direction. I'm trying to restore some of the morals back into the game, as far as the street." His success is also due to keeping his music street, and not too commercial. Like many hip hop stars, like Nelly and Eve, Young Jeezy has also made moves into the fashion industry. He has produced a popular, affordable range of t-shirts called Snowman. It's named after Jeezy's nickname, because of his past as a drug dealer ('snow' is a slang term for cocaine). Jeezy says his t-shirt line "symbolizes a young hustler" and says Snowman represents the "ultimate hustler". "If a cat goes and gets fresh, hits the club or goes to an event and he has a Snowman shirt on, it's almost like a white tee. Everybody can't afford the Gucci and everything." Young Jeezy is one artist for which you can definitely believe the hype.