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by
28 September, 2014@2:43 pm
2 comments
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Young Jeezy very much falls into the category of “rappers we love to hate.” Entering the game via the Atlanta, GA club scene, Jeezy has always been more style-over-substance, punctuating his rhymes with adlibs that find him laughing at his own jokes (“Ha-Haaaaa!”) and affirming his own claims (“Yeeeeeeah!”, “Thaaaaat’s riiiiight!”). This method saw him quickly ascending to the top of the rap game, with multiple gold and platinum albums under is belt. And just when you thought he’d fallen off, he introduced the larger world to YG and Freddie Gibbs, despite that latter deal not really working out. However John Q. Law couldn’t let him get that far without hitting a bump in the road, as he was arrested for possession of a firearm after police raided his tour bus in Irvine, CA. He was then released on a $1 million bail, and it was discovered that the weapon belonged to his chief of security, who was not even on the bus at the time.


But this event made for good album promotion, happening just before the release of his fifth for Def Jam, Seen It All: The Autobiography. Jeezy has settled comfortably into his groove, and has figured out the formula for success, delivering on exactly what his fans want. He doesn’t go after big name producers, but instead a group of hungry up-and-coming beatsmiths who expertly design this LP. You can’t help but get sucked into the album’s opening track, “1-4 Block,” where Jeezy’s magnetic cadence adds to the sonorous sound of Childish Major’s big bodied beat. The same can be said for the incredible “Holy Ghost,” helmed by Ghostface collaborator Frank Dukes with help from Don Cannon and Lyle LeDuff, a cinematic, brooding beat that really is the highlight of the LP.


Jeezy balances out these heavier tracks with songs that fit well within his more traditional style, on hustler’s anthems like “Enough” and “Me Ok.” Both of these pay homage to his club couch-standing, bottle-popping hits of times past, and the sound of the production meshes well with the rest of the LP, while not sacrificing his core sound. Jeezy has never been guilty of trying to make “singles” about the hot new dance or buzzword of the moment, like many of his neighboring brethren, and that hasn’t changed here. However there are a few commercial attempts that fall flat. Both “Been Getting Money” with Akon and “Beez Like” with Boosie lighten up the otherwise fatalistic sound that carries most of the album, pandering to radio. Perhaps the one of the most expensive songs on the album, “No Tears,” featuring Future and produced by Mike Will Made It, is dead on arrival.


However there are some A-list collaborations here worth taking note of. The Jay Z featured “Seen It All” is trap gold, while the MF Doom-esque beat on “Beautiful” with Rick Ross and Game is gorgeously produced by Black Metaphor. Its solo lead in cut “Win Is A Win,” also knocks.


At the end of the day, Jeezy doesn’t have a lot to say outside of his usual lessons in “thug motivation,” but his undying spirit shows no signs of faltering, and he has produced one of his strongest albums to date on Seen It All: The Autobiography. Yet that still only rates as a 3.5 out of 5. True, he is not the greatest rapper to ever hold a mic, yet he definitely knows how to pick his beats and add his own brand of style to make them shine.

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2 Responses to "Jeezy – “Seen It All: The Autobiography” – @@@1/2 [Review]"
  • killbobby says:

    nah…jeezy just falls in the category of wack rapper just hate…peace

  • Hodges says:

    …and he’s not from Atlanta. Born in SC, raised in Hawkinsville, GA.

  • Comments (2)

    killbobby

    September 29th, 2014 at 10:47 am