The School of Greatness - Jeezy: Escaping the Streets, Building a Music Empire & Manifesting Lessons from Jay Z, Kanye West & Rihanna! EP 1480

Episode Date: August 7, 2023

The Summit of Greatness is back! Buy your tickets today – summitofgreatness.com – With more than a dozen RIAA gold, platinum, and multi-platinum hits to his credit, JEEZY, the Atlanta pioneer of hip-hop’s dominant trap genre, has amassed over 6.5 billion catalog streams, and over 960 million YouTube channel views. 2020 marked the 15th anniversary of Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, his seminal RIAA platinum Def Jam label debut LP. It entered the Rap and R&B charts at #1 (#2 on the pop side), and immortalized trap music with the double-platinum #1 hit “Soul Survivor” featuring Akon.In this episode you will learn,Overcoming self-doubt and finding one's unique voice as an aspiring artist.Maintaining courage to share unique ideas despite the fear of judgment and criticism.Drawing parallels between creative expression in art and innovation in business.Embracing failure as a natural part of the creative process and learning from it.The power of collaboration with other artists in pushing creative boundaries.Buy Jeezy’s book: https://amzn.to/3Ku4WdIFor more information go to www.lewishowes.com/1480For more Greatness text PODCAST to [phone]Want more School of Greatness episodes like this one?Bruce Lipton on Manifestation: https://link.chtbl.com/1312-podJoe Dispenza on the Law of Attraction: https://link.chtbl.com/1312-pod

Calling all conscious achievers who are seeking more community and connection, I've got an invitation for you. Join me at this year's Summit of Greatness this September 7th through 9th in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio to unleash your true greatness. This is the one time a year that I gather the greatness community together in person for a powerful transformative weekend. People come from all over the world and you can expect to hear from inspiring speakers like Inky Johnson, Jaspreet Singh, Vanessa Van Edwards, Jen Sincero, and many more. You'll also be able to

dance your heart out to live music, get your body moving with group workouts, and connect with others at our evening socials. So if you're ready to learn, heal, and grow alongside other incredible individuals in the greatness community, then you can learn more at lewishouse.com slash summit 2023. Make sure to grab your ticket, invite your friends, and I'll see you there. The new rich is peace, you know, because you can put somebody in the rose forest he's still gonna have the same problems he's gonna have those problems in the rose forest and i think once you become in this place where you just said peace with who you are i had to work so hard and do so much work on myself just to even get a taste of that welcome to the school of greatness my name

is lewis howes a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. Welcome back everyone to the School of Greatness. Very excited about our guest. We have the inspiring Jay Jeezy Jenkins in the house.

My man. How you feeling? Good to see you, man. Excited about this. We've connected on social media for a while. You have an amazing new book out called Adversity for Sale that everyone needs to get. But you've been on the scene for a while, a couple of decades. You've been in the music scene, multi-platinum award-winning, all the different things that have happened for the

success that the world has seen. But what I think is interesting is most people we were just talking about don't see the darkness and don't see the failures necessarily. They see the money, they see maybe the success, they see who you're working with, all the talented people you get to collaborate with. But I don't think everyone gets to know about the adversity that got you to where you're at and actually how it's the failures that give us the most information on how to be successful. We're talking about your younger years where you went through different adversity, grew up, your parents were separated, you're in and out of bootcamp-style institutions,

and you had some darkness early on. Yeah, a lot of it. Now, were you successful before in terms of the music world? Were you doing music and having stuff out there before a lot of the darkness came? Oh, no. music world were you doing music and having stuff out there before a lot of the darkness came or no um let me give you a little history so uh my father was in the military uh-huh um my my mother my father married young i have a sister my older brother. And me and my family were abroad. So I lived in Japan. And Hawaii too, right?

Hawaii, yeah. So that was the beginning. My parents got divorced because, you know, my mom was, you know, my mom was a little spicy at the time, you know what I mean? My dad was how he was. And I don't think they can put it together because I don't think there was therapy or all those things back then that I know of. And I don't think they can put it together because I don't think there was therapy, all those things back then that I know of.

And they just divorced. And it was like one day we was living this life. And the next day I was back in the hood with my grandmother, living with my grandmother. And then I tried to live with my grandmother for a while. And there was a lot of people in the house. So I ended up moving with my mother. And when I moved with my mother, it was really a little dysfunctional because I looked just like my father. She didn't like your father.

No. So she didn't like you. No, at all. And so we just kept bumping heads. And one day I was supposed to go to school, and this is around the time I was getting in the streets, and I was just like, I ain't going. And she was like, oh, you ain't going to school and I'll never forget it we got this being the biggest argument

we ever had and I looked up and she had her she had a little 25 it was like a chrome with a a little pearl handle she put it in my face she said you're gonna go to school you're gonna she said you got out of school you're gonna go I just remember- She put the gun in your face? Yes. I looked at her. Your mom? Yes. How old were you? Maybe about 14, 15.

Holy cow. Yeah, maybe about 14, 15. I couldn't have been 16. I just wanted to make sure I get the time. Sure. So she puts the gun right in your face, closer. Yep. Tells me, you're going to go to school, you're going to die today.

Oh my gosh, man. And I believed her, too, though. My mom wasn't in the play with it. Like, she was serious. She was serious business. And I knew what it was. I was out of control. By this time, I'm 13, 14 years old. I'm selling drugs. I'm, you know, I'm into a lot of things that kids shouldn't be into, right? But because this is where I felt like I had a place, you know, because they treated me different.

You felt more accepted there. Yeah, yeah. On the streets. Yeah, in the streets. That at home. Right. Really? And so when I left her, I went back to stay with my grandmother.

And that's why I say I relate to you on the sofa thing. I slept on the sofa a lot of nights. Your whole childhood. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Years, you know. And the thing about my grandmother, she kind of let me do say I relate to you on the sofa thing. I slept on the sofa a lot of nights. Your whole childhood. Yeah, yeah. And the thing about my grandmother, she kind of let me do what I wanted to do because there were so many grandkids in the house. She didn't really have any controls.

I would go out, stay out as long as I wanted to, and come in. So I was able to start building my foundation to be what I was becoming, if you will, because I didn't have any restraints. Right. It was game on. That's not a good thing. You know what's crazy?

I say that all the time because my grandmother lived right across the street from this basketball court, right? And every Sunday, everybody would come to this court from all the towns around, and they would play basketball, and it'd be like all the hustlers and all the cars and, you know, all the women. And you just like and I used to be so tired because I was up hustling all night that I used to sleep on the sofa. So I would be asleep while they're playing ball. Right. But I would listen to everything, the conversations and everything I could hear because I had FOMO. I don't want to miss out. Sure.

And that was like my thing, just laying on that sofa and just listening to everything. And then one day I was just like, man, you know, I can't wait till I can pull up in front of this park in a yellow Testa Rosta and hop out and be this big guy and all that. And the crazy thing, that was my vision then. You know, of course it wasn't a big vision. That was the dream. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There you go. And I ended up doing that. But my grandmother passed before she got a chance to see it. vision then you know of course it wasn't a big vision that was the dream yeah there you go and um

i ended up doing that but my grandmother passed before she got a man so my point in case is everything that she thought that was gonna you know send me to prison and get me killed actually gave me the foundation to be who i was and that's why i relate when you're saying about your brother yeah it's like you have to go through things to start to understand why you're here. And for me, it was like, I can do this. But it was a real game because it's like, this ain't Pac-Man or something you play because if you lose, you know, it's death of jail. Yeah, man.

So now I'm picking up skills because what do you have to have if the consequences are dire? Now I got discipline. Wow. You know, I'm picking up skills because what do you have to have if the consequences are dire? Now I got discipline. Wow. You know, I'm smart. I'm thinking things out and problem solving. You learned this from the streets.

Yeah. What were the three most powerful skills you learned hustling in the streets that you still use today? Oh, sure. Discipline is real. Like, it's like you can do anything in the world with discipline and if you don't have it the world can do anything to you you know discipline is key um the second one i was thinking would be it's problem solving like it can be chaotic i'm the calmest person in the room and in my head i'm already putting together. I'm gonna solve the problem

right and the second thing would become the third thing would be Understanding that You don't need anything to make something right? You just got to have the drive to do it You've done say yes. It's like you don't need a product To make money right you just need an idea and the drive to get it across right yeah and i learned that in the streets like really quick you know because if your personality is good are you a good person people will do things

for you that they wouldn't do for somebody that they feel like might try to take advantage of a rob or wow take something it's almost like i I really like you. I want to help you. But could you fully trust everyone or anyone in the streets as a 16, 18-year-old kid? I'm going to tell you something real. I ain't never trusted nobody in my life. Even today? No.

Today you don't trust anyone? No. Not even your wife or kids? My wife, but nobody I know. Wow. But let me say this, from my from your past okay but what i had to learn and earn was to get only quality people around yes because i just kind of brought what i had with me to the table. And everybody got the proper etiquette. Sure, sure.

So it was like, it wasn't the right table. Right. And as I started to lose people on one front, I had this very dark space where I was trying to figure out who I was because these are the people that made me feel like this is my support system. They accepted you on the streets. They were there for you when you were struggling, when your parents weren't there. Right. So this is like- system they accepted you on the streets they were there for you when you were struggling when your parents weren't there right so this is like they brought you in this is my support system man that's so tough right and then now i'm getting to this space where i'm

making different decisions and my support system is like and then by the way my support system is not like it's almost like having a pack of wild wolves you know i'm saying i'm gonna be honest like yeah man feed them every day. And then when the food starts slowing down, they start looking at you. They get hungry. You know what I'm saying? So now I'm having to navigate this,

and I'm having to separate myself, so to speak. But as I'm separating myself, I'm losing my power. How so? Because I don't have control over anything else. I got control over the streets. I'm not in corporate America yet. I can't make any decisions or no moves. I'm not over here.

I'm nobody. How old are you at this time? This is actually after I put out my second album. Okay. You know what I'm saying? And I just started to see things happen. And I talk a lot about it in the book. This was my...

You graded what you do right and you know all these people in this community so you got resources but if i just took you and put you in the white house you might be a little like what do i know right so it was a lot of that and um as i started to transition so you brought your crew with you as you started to do music correct right you started i didn't really have a choice. Yeah, that was all you knew? Well, no, because I was still doing what I wasn't supposed to be doing. Oh, you were still on the street.

This is my corporation. While you were trying to be credible. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So this is my company, right? This is how the bills are being paid. Sure. This is how we're staying afloat.

This is how I'm paying for the music. Yeah, yeah. Everything is here. But once I go like, okay, this ain't really working, I got to lean more towards the music. And I'll never forget, I went cold turkey. I just kind of, one of my friends said something to me about it and I'm like, you know what? I don't want to go to prison because I'm not prison type. I'm keeping it real.

It just ain't. I'm too fly of a guy for that. I ain't got time to be wasting my time. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I didn't want to get killed because it was like, you know, I was losing, you know, 30, 40, 50 friends a year. Like clockwork. Really? Yeah.

Still to this day. Right now. Right now. Wow. I just lost three people that I know that I'm affiliated with. So I lost three people in the last two days. two days do you know anyone who can be successful doing hustling the streets right while staying alive not not going to prison after 10 20 30 years and feeling peace in their heart no the way people do it for so long i get it when you're like a teenager and there's you know

you're getting you're getting brought up in it, but why keep doing it? Because in their eyes, that's the closest they ever been to success. In my eyes, that's the closest I've been to success. I paid for my, just to put an understanding of it,

like this room we in, right before my mom kicked me out, I bought a trailer, a double-wide or a single-wide trailer as big as this room we in, right before my mom kicked me out, I bought a trailer, a single-wide trailer, as big as this room. That's as big as it was. Me and my mom, my sister stayed in a space like this for years until she kicked me out. That I paid $3,500 for.

Wow. When you think I got the $3,500? The streets. Right. So just like, how is that not success? That's how you made it, yeah, yeah. How is that not success, right? I'm doing something for my family. I'm doing something success? Right? I'm doing this stuff for my family.

I'm doing this stuff for my mom. I'm not even thinking about the consequences. Right. Right? I'm not thinking about what could happen. I need to eat now. Right? But when you, but let's say, you know, for those that stay in that game for five, ten

years and they see three to five, ten friends a year die or go to jail every year. What's the motivation for saying, oh, it's not going to be me. I'm going to be fine. Or I can outsmart the law or outsmart the bullets. Okay. So that's why I'm doing what I'm doing. Because I'm the one. Yeah.

I'm the only one that made it from what I know, right? And that's why I'm telling my story because I had to make a lot of decisions that weren't favorable, that wasn't cool, that wasn't like what you're supposed to do when you're in my position. I had to go against the grain, and that's when I realized that I'm a disruptor and I'm a visionary because I see, I can tell you in 10 years what I want to go against the grain and that's when I realized that I'm a disruptor and I'm a visionary because I see I could tell you in 10 years when I want to be like and when I continue in 20 years where I want to live at you know I mean I can see it right and then I can tell you what I'm not

scared to go up against to get there right and that's why I wrote the book because this success is, it's like we equate success with money. And I don't care how much it is. You know what I'm saying? If I got more than I had yesterday, I'm successful. Yeah. But that's, that's not the truth.

What is success for you? Success to me is peace. It's peace of mind. It's, it's being able to get up every day and live your life to the fullest with making memories,

doing things that you love to do without having to be told what to do because you are in that and you put yourself in a position where you're able to go do something that you actually love. And it has purpose for you right because this this book and what i do is because a lot of people get caught up in the jesus like the rap i ain't never been a rapper really no i'm him i ain't his mother his daddy's brother his cousin i'm him i'm the guy who

walked out of the streets and so all these kids in this generation coming up that you can be far from, I'm going to leave the back door open for you. You just got to get in there. That's the first part. You got to be disciplined to make those decisions. Right? But that's not where the game starts. Or as it starts, now you got to stay alive. Now you got to stay

free. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, man. Because you see what's going on with culture and entertainment. These kids are going to jail like it's nothing they're dying like it's like like like they're in vietnam or something you feel what i'm saying so that's my purpose and why i'm here and why i tell my story because i had to make some painful decisions to get here and i'm still thriving and trying to get to the next level but this is bigger bigger than me because I'm going to have to sit down with somebody one day and tell them, hey, man, you know, you might want to try it this way.

You know, because it's been so many calls where I've had some kids, I wouldn't call them kids, but young guys that I really respected and I would go talk to them about certain things. And they'd be like, yeah, I could see that. And then next week they're gone.

They don't take it. They don't listen to you. They don't take action. Well, the thing is, you have I can see that. And then next week, they're gone. They don't take it. They don't listen to you. They don't take action. Well, the thing is, you have to package it right. You feel what I'm saying? Because if I'm coming to you and I'm looking

clean and buttoned up, I don't look like one of you because you know how I used to look. You know how I used to be. You know what used to be around me. Yeah.

You know, you respected what was around me because you felt like I was leading men that you respect. Now that that's no longer around, you kind of second guess what I'm saying because that ain't the idea you got for yourself. Until you start to get in that place where you start to get things that you actually really care about. Kids, wife, family, career.

You know what I'm saying? Sure. And now you're like, oh, what do I do? Because now you have to start making those. And the thing is, you have to start making those and the thing is you have to evolve if you don't evolve even in the streets i knew that going in it's just like i'm not staying here i just need this to be you know the vessel because music is my talent which i stumble on but business has always been my passion i always always saw myself with a plain Jane watch,

wedding band, three-piece suit. Really? Yeah, that's me. That's who I am. Clean cut, good skin. Smelling good. Right, that's me. And that's what I strive for.

Wow. So I was never caught up in the stigma of the streets. Like I understood it, but I understood what it was too. You know what I mean? So I'm like, I can't up in the stigma of the streets. Like I understood it, but I understood what it was too. You know what I mean? So I'm like, I can't come from the streets and walk straight into the boardroom. So how do I get there?

And then I started to map out this plan. The plan was to go from where I was, to figure some things out, to establish myself, establish my credibility. And then starting to get into this music. I started as a CEO at first. I spent a lot of money. That didn't work.

My artists went to jail. One of them got killed. And now I'm stuck with all this studio equipment. I'm like, I got to do it myself. I do it myself. It takes me 10 years to build it. Boom, now I'm a success. But then I got all these bad things that are coming with me because now nobody ever cut the water off. You know what I mean? So now I got to start transitioning that. But this is the thing. They don't understand. I already got a vision. I'm already going where I'm going. You know what I'm saying? I i'm going there so as you start to get closer to where you're going people start to fall back and they're like i don't really like what he's doing anymore i don't like the music he's listening to why is he eating clean food what are we doing

right okay so it's that and and and the thing is you know i think the sad part about it is you know everybody's supposed to have their own vision and my vision and your vision is supposed to align so we can get to where we're going together

whatever I can do to help you like we talked about earlier and whatever you can do to help me that's when the vision's aligned when everybody's just kind of walking behind you

just to see where you gotta go and they're not knowing you're going there as you get closer to it they go I don't I don't I wanna be over here

this is where I'm good at but I'm like we can be good here today but I don't, I don't, I want to be over here. This is what I'm good at. But I'm like, we can be good here today, but I don't know about tomorrow. Right. Right. And that's what happens when you have people that get into the streets and stay in it. They don't have a vision. They just, they just needed what they needed right then. And as you get more comfortable with getting what you get, then you get this thing.

And I talk about in the book, this mindset of, I'm glad it ain't me. So you hear about somebody getting murdered, I'm glad it ain't me. You hear about somebody going to prison, I'm glad it ain't me. But the whole time you rolling the dice, it could be you any moment. Yes. Tomorrow. Wow. You know, and I'm not trying to paint it like this dark cloud because I learned so much in the streets. Like I give the streets everything. And I mean that, to paint it like this dark cloud because I learned so much in the streets.

Like, I give the streets everything. And I mean that. Like, even to this day when I'm out and I see people. And you got to understand, like, by far, I'm not the biggest rap star. I'm not the biggest. But in the streets, I'm everything. Yeah. I'm everything.

Today. It don't get no bigger. Really? Because they all, either their fathers knew knew me the older brother that's in prison the cousin from the block that somebody got a cheesy story about why they love me wow it's almost like bob marley you go to jamaica seven mile where he's from everybody's gonna tell you a story about bob how he helped him fight the bully at school how he helped somebody jump their call how he gave somebody bail money,

how he paid for kids Christmas. That's who I am. Wow. And I've been that. And like for me, you know, that's what it's about. And throughout the streets, the streets taught me about integrity, right? And that's like the big one to me

because it's almost like if you ain't a man of your word, you're not a man. You know what I'm saying? And it's like, you want to keep your word when you play with people that are just as dangerous as you are. Absolutely. They're not gonna play.

You know, right. They're not gonna play around. I'm trying to tell you. Break your word, they're gonna break you. Right. So you mentioned, you mentioned your, I mean, I shouldn't be laughing about this,

but it's just kind of crazy to think about. You mentioned your mom put I shouldn't be laughing about this, but it's just kind of crazy to think about. You mentioned your mom put a gun in your face when you were 14, 15. How many times have you had a gun in your face since then? I got pretty slick after that. I got pretty good at seeing the energy. Escaping it. Yeah, not putting yourself in it.

And I was telling somebody this other day, I think in my mind, I just built up this superpower of just not getting caught up in that. Really? Yeah, I've just been so good at that. You know what I'm saying? Like, my whole life, like,

people will tell you right now, I still move militant. Like, I moved militant before Barack Obama. Really? Oh, yes. Because I'm not exempt to anything. I'm not. You know, we just lost Nipsey Hussle. We just lost this one out yes. Because I'm not exempt to anything. I'm not. We just lost

the MC Hustle. We just lost this one now. Like, you're not exempt. Even if you've had a good track record for a certain amount of time and even if you're being an integrity

to the right things and being of service. One thing about it, if you have a chopper with a goose mud, you still have a chopper with a goose mud. You know what I'm saying?

Wow. It doesn't go away. The people don't go away. Something from 10, 20 years ago might still catch up to you. Absolutely. Really? Yeah. It's real.

And I don't mean it in the sense of, you're still dealing with individuals. You're dealing with people. Emotions. Yeah, you're dealing with- People holding on to stuff. And people see you moving differently, right? And they see you enjoying your life. And they think, oh, I should be getting peace.

Right. Or not even just that. Or just like, oh, he ain't the way he used to be. Therefore he's not, you know, or he thinks he's better than her or whatever. Right. And, and, and just jealousy. Wow. My culture is, is, is the real deal. Really? Oh yeah. You can lose your life about that easy. I mean, that's nothing. Even if you didn't do anything to someone, but just that you, you came from somewhere, you made it and they didn't. The crazy crazy thing you ain't got to even make it you just gotta be there when the energy's off and they're jealous and they're mad they'll be upset they got nothing to lose that's it

and i got nothing to prove right right so i know better and i think that you know i carry those and I think that you know I carry those list of rules and morals as I continue to navigate the world and I think people that are around me don't understand why I still think that way. Wow. You know what I'm saying but I just know better and it's not like I'm

scared or worried but I'm not gonna go nowhere I shouldn't be I'm not gonna hang around I ain't going to Roscoe's I'll tell you that I'm not doing that Wow man. I'm I'll tell you that. Two AM Roscoe's, you're not jumping in? I'm not doing that. Wow, man. I'm missing my assistant, you know? So you're very intentional.

And mindful about your environment, people you're surrounding with. And that came with not trusting anyone. Wow. You know what I'm saying? Because I couldn't. You know, and people around me might look at you, and might tell you if they sat down with you, like, that's not true because this.

It's like, nah, I didn't. I know how to play the game. I love you. I still love you. Right. But I know what you're capable of. Right. And at the same time, yeah, I know what's going on with the dynamic. You see me moving in a different direction. You don't like that. You're never going to like that. How could you possibly like that? You know what I'm saying? So now it's like the love I have for you. I can't allow that to let, you know, me be vulnerable in a certain sense. I know it sounds like, you know, but it's life. How do you have peace, inner peace, emotional peace and self-belief and self-confidence while also knowing that people that you grew up with or you're losing friends to death or jail

and still happening today, how do you feel peace, calm, and confident? What? Running a business, running your life, traveling with your wife, whatever it might be, how do you feel those things? I feel peace because I know that when it's all said and done, my kids going to know that their father was a great man.

I feel peace in knowing that there's no better husband in the world than me. You know what I'm saying? I'm that guy. You know what I'm saying? Because this is something I strive for. I wanted these things. I know that when it comes down to my culture, there's nobody that's realer than me because I'm not a rapper.

Like, I'm not, I'm a prophet in my mind. I mean, I'm here to share what I've learned and to share what I know and hoping that it can change lives. Wow. Right, and save lives because that's the only thing I can do at this point.

You can give me a billion dollars, I'm going to live the same life. Of course, I want it. Right, right, right. I want more people, but I'm going to still be the same person. And for me,

it's like I get peace in knowing that I got good friends now and I can build with. You know, I just had my homie lost one of his nephews and the other one lost his cousin

and but it was a time where as black men we couldn't even talk to each other about how we felt i'm in a circle of people now i could tell them like man i'm man i don't know how and we all come together right we talk about this and i ain't judging you yeah it didn't used to be like that i tried to keep all my feelings and everything that I was feeling balled up inside and deal with it myself, which caused me to go outside of my comfort zone to find the answers, which was a great thing. But now I can call one of my brothers or somebody and say, hey, look, man, well, my man,

I finally, his nephew died, and the next day my other man's cousin died. And it's just like, now I gotta make these calls. But the calls are like, they're intentional. Hey, bro, if you need to process this, you need to just sit down. You want to smoke a cigar, let's just talk. And that's a different type of piece. Because now I got an outlet.

And then what gives me peace is I started getting mentors. Whether it was my, because I had- Did TD mentor yours? And Bishop Jakes is a mentor? Yeah, Bishop Jakes is one of my mentors. John Maxwell. Oh, yeah. I just had John on.

He's great. Robert Green. Robert's amazing. Tony Robbins. Yeah, man. You name it. You know, these are my, this is my circle.

It's me now. Wow. And for me, it's like, these are people that I can reach out to to to even help me process stuff I need to process for the people that I love. Wow. I want to help. Right. Because now we all got this. You know what I'm saying? Sure. It's not just mine. Right. And what brings me peace is knowing that, you know, my decisions can change lives right because my decisions have took lives meaning like i've been a part of things wow you know but now it's not like i just turned this new leaf and

i'm just in a different space it's like this is who i am this is who i was evolving to be i just had to go through the fire wow right just to understand because i can't look at you with a straight face and go i wouldn't do that i don't think that's good. And I never did it. I'm going to be like, yo, man, like, I've been there. And that's why when my brothers come to me, if they're going through something or whatever, I can sit down and have an intentional conversation about, you know, processing it and understanding where we at.

And then we can, and here's that street sense kicks in again. Oh, you ever thought about this? You should sit down with such and such and y'all figure that out. Sure, sure. And that's how it works. How old were you when you started to be able to open up and have these types of conversations about your emotions, about your feelings, about your thoughts,

as opposed to just with yourself? Because I never spoke about any of my emotions until I was about 10 years ago when I hit 30. So when I started to process and heal and be able to talk about these things, I was like, no one could ever know this stuff. I would say when I was 40. Really?

Yeah, it's less than five years ago. Wow. That's when you started to be able to say, all right, let me start processing or opening up. Well, what happened was I was living in Malibu, and my music was changing. Louis Farrakhan hit me, Brother Farrakhan. He was like, Jeezy, Brother Jeezy,

your music is changing. The enemy is coming. I'm just like, my enemy is in my neighborhood. He ain't coming where I'm at. I'm in Malibu. He's like, I'm just telling you. Get off the phone with him. Next week, I'm on tour with Wiz Khalifa.

Young man gets killed by my tour bus and they locked me and my crew up. So now I'm sitting in L.A. County jail, $10 million in bail. You know what I'm saying?

Because there's 10 people on the bus. Oh, I didn't do anything. First time in my life I didn't do anything. And I'm sitting there. You're on the bus. Actually, I got off the bus. Oh, wow.

And went to a hotel room. And then I came- But it was your bus. Got on the bus the next morning. They followed us to the next venue. Oh, man. That's where they got me at. Holy cow.

And now I'm sitting in jail, 10 people in jail, million dollars a piece, $10 million. And my team came to get me out the first day, right? And I go, I can't leave them in L.A., in jail. I cannot. You know what I'm saying? So let me figure out how to get everybody out, and then we'll get out together. So I got everybody out on bail

because we still had to go to court. I had to pay for all that. Wow. Flying everybody back and forth, fear the court, whatever. Shout out to my lawyer, Blair. Blair Brad, she killed it. But the thing was, that one last time,

I was depending on the people that was my people to make sure that my family and my people was straight. And when I got home, when I finally got out, nobody did anything. Really? And I was, cause I've been the bad for everybody. I don't pay for things that ain't got nothing to do it ain't even my business right and i was just so devastated because i'm

like yo what if i what if this would have been it what if i would have passed like you're not gonna make sure my kids agree i'm not gonna check on my daughter's mother y'all gonna do these things and it's just like i've done that for y'all right and i'm not pointing any fingers i'm just saying like i know what i would do, right? And that's when I started to learn I can't put my expectations on anybody, right?

Right? So now, I got to do what's best for me because now I feel like I'm all alone. Wow. So I was it.

I cut everything and then that's when I went on my mission to just start and one of my business partners, we used to always just sit down and talk, have a bottle of wine,

smoke a cigar, and he's like, what do you want to do? I was was like i want to do real estate and it just went to real estate i started real estate that did well for me i want to do spirit so this is all what we did so i'm like why don't i just do that in life yeah so i robin green i call robin green we go to the la athletic club yeah i have tea i asked him seven questions and he started giving me this game john maxwell who came to marry me and my wife. Wow. You know, in my backyard.

That's amazing. Right. One of my best friends and me and John talking, he gives me this insight, and I just started to move towards the light. You know what I'm saying? Because I just wanted to get a different perspective because I didn't have anybody around me to give me their perspective. And T.D. Jakes, same thing.

And I'm not just saying it because these are established people. These are men that have done well in their lives and their community. And their relationships. And their relationships. They want to share something with me that I didn't have any access to. Wow.

And that's what made me start to open up and start to understand and start to be at peace and start to do all these things because now i know it's okay holy cow so before five years ago when you would face a challenge or adversity let me say this too though i met my wife on set when i went to do her show uh because she works in television to promote an album I was working on. And I told my publicist, I said, "'Yo, I'm gonna marry that woman." But I knew that I had to do some work on myself.

Sure, sure. So this is the five years that I would've got myself together. One year that I came back and I was like, "'Yo, I'm actually ready for you." Like, wait. Holy cow. Yeah. So you met her right around that time,

five years ago or whatever. Wow. So this is fascinating because did you kind of let go of all those people in your your life around that time that was i mean i want to say let go because it wasn't that easy but i just think we we grew apart yeah and things just started to happen differently they didn't want to go on the same path as you yeah so naturally they're not going to be spending as much time with you. Yeah, and then it just, you know, it got a little crazy for a while. Imagine, man.

People don't like watching someone else change and doing things differently, especially if you've known for a long time. Right. And you're used to doing certain things with them. Well, they want you to be the old you because it makes them be uncomfortable with you. The new you makes people be uncomfortable.

And for me, I just kind of felt like, the hardest decision I've ever made in my life like the hardest decision i've made in my life hardest decision i've ever made in my life and i made some artists what was was to walk alone hardest decision i've ever made in my life it was like i meant for the first how a third motivation came in for the first three albums up until my album the recession For the first three albums up until my album, The Recession, I had so much survivor's remorse and I was so like in a bad place. Like I was drinking like you wouldn't believe. Really?

Oh, my God. I was 260 pounds. Skin was bad. I was just like, you know, because I thought I was going to prison. The whole time I'm just because everybody around me started to get indicted. So I'm like just waiting. It's coming. Like if me and you hanging out and you get indicted,

I'm like, they got Louis. That's my man. Right. Right. And it was just like the whole thing. So a lot of the music and why I was so, so strong and direct was because I just wanted to be heard in my mind. I'm just like,

like I'm going to be gone. So this is my only chance. So I really focused on the music, put everything in the music. Cause I was just like, I'm going to be gone, so this is my only chance. So I really focused on the music, put everything in the music, because I was just like, I just want to leave this behind if I'm not going to make it out this. And I was in such a, and this is the thing, I didn't have the verbiage for all these things I was going through. The language.

You didn't have it communicated yet. I didn't know what depression was. I didn't know what anxiety was. Like, I didn't know these things. I didn't have no, well, you think I can go to the next room with one of my homeboys and be like, I'm feeling crazy. I think it's anxiety.

You're like, yo, man. Drink this, smoke this. Hey, chill out, bro. You bugger. And on top of paranoia. On top of paranoia. One of the cops coming in, one of the someone come with a gun.

Everybody I would see, I would just think, you know, that the agents did this and that. Really? All these things were going on. I'm trying to make music. And I was just so depressed. I was just drinking so much and i i was like waiting waiting to the day like i would just go to sleep sometimes and be like okay if it's a day i'm prepared and they mind you the

whole time this is going on because i'm i'm built the way that i'm built, I'm distancing myself farther away from my family, my sisters, my cousins, my dad, my mom at a time before she passed because I'm preparing, right? Wow. Because if I go, I don't want to be like, I can't be a weak link. Wow. You know, because I miss the outside of my mom, my family. So I'm mentally distancing myself from them because I don't want that to affect me if I got to go to prison.

Holy cow. All that's going on. And it was one day I'll never forget. I started to work on The Recession, and I was dealing with this young lady, and we had this breakup. It was public. She was a public person. We had a breakup.

And I just went in the studio the same night, and I didn't come out until the recession and what i was doing was i was um i was reading reading books this is something new for me what year is this this is oh oh wait eight okay oh seven going to oh eight right reading books i was watching the news i was working out now i'm in the gym i mean i don't know how to work out because i don't like to be told what to do. So I didn't want to go to training. So now I'm YouTubing videos. You know what I'm saying?

You know, YouTube was my best friend. And I learned how to eat clean, you know, how to stay hydrated. I wasn't drinking water for like, I would go months without water. Oh, my gosh, man. Yeah. It was Cristal. Oh, my gosh, man. Cristal and Waffle House.

That was it. That was my diet. And I was like that. Oh my gosh, Chris telling Waffle House That was yeah, that was my dad and I was like there and I lost 60 pounds And I wrote the recession which was one of the best Alms in in my opinion than I've ever written my life because it was dealing with politics the world of things were going on I wrote my president is black before Barack Obama Wowama wow right this is before he won this was like six months before he won and then he won so that made that song really crazy i had put on with kanye west this is the first verse that he did since his mom passed and now i'm going to do shows and when i used to do my shows he should be like all the gangsters and gang members and the drug

dealers in the front row now i'm down i'm I'm like 190, 185, right? And I'm doing shows and it's all women in the front. Really? Yeah, and I go do my first show on the Recessing tour. They think they're looking at us, sure. Right, yeah. And I'm doing the show and I come out on stage and all sorts of stuff start flying on the stage.

I'm looking at my security guard like, yo, what you gonna do with this? He said, boss. I said, what's going on? He said, it's bras and stuff. I stuff start flying on the stage. I'm looking at my security guard like, yo, what you going to do with this? He said, boss. I said, what's going on? He said, it's bras and stuff. I was like, oh my God. Panties and bras. Right.

You know what I mean? And from that standpoint on, I was like, oh, I can be better. I can look better. I can be better. And this is when I came into stardom. This is when I gave myself. Yeah, this is the first time. My third album was the first time in my whole career where I said, you are a bonafide star. You have to go out here and you got to do what you got to do. And you can't worry about your past. You have to be what you've become. And that's when I fell into like cheesy.

like I was worthy and then really yeah because before then I'm like I'm thinking it's a fluke you know I'm like huh you know I'm selling a few records but it ain't the type of money I'm used to let's talk about that I'm saying and how long was it really gonna last you know what I'm saying and you're not even really an artist so you know you can write a hit album and be talented and can't write another one. Right. A lot of people do that. Right. So now I'm starting to process that because I'm like, okay, I got one. What happens now?

So now I'm trying to stay in the studio, but I'm not living the same life that I was when I was writing these records. Right. Because I'm transitioning, so I'm seeing things different. And nobody wants to hear that. So what are you going to do, right? How many people in the music business that you interact with truly believe that they're worthy of love and peace and success? I can't really speak because I know for me,

I just feel like I'm just a grown man. I don't group myself in that. Sure, sure. Not that I have any disrespect for it. Right. But it's just like, you know, it's like if I go to a golf club and everybody there is, you know, well off,

I might want to play golf, but I don't want to be in their group. Right. Right. And I think that it's hard to get to know somebody when they don't know themselves you know saying like it's hard you know because they they're they're living out who they think they are who people told them they are a false identity yeah you know you know you can't you can't get to know them because they're going by a name that

they made up and that it's who they are and And that's how people perceive them in the world, right? And, you know, not to say that anybody's a bad person, but it's almost like you go to a wrestling match, you gotta know the undertaker ain't the undertaker at home. Right, right, right, right. You know what I'm saying? You gotta know that, right? But I think that's different because I'm Jeezy at home.

I'm Jeezy every day. Like it ain't got nothing to do with the music. The music just happened to be a part of what i'm doing so i mean the music you said this earlier you weren't never you never trying to be an artist you were never trying to be a musician or artist or rapper you weren't trying i loved the music though that was the thing because i learned and i talked about that a lot in the book i learned a lot from like tupac's school because he had morals and values before I knew what they were. He stood for something. He was a

revolutionary. I didn't know that you can even have an opinion about this stuff. He stood on that. He died for it. What's the difference between him and anybody else that was assassinated? He died for what he believed in. And the things that he believed in gave people like things that he believed in gave

people like myself Some type of moral compass. Mm-hmm Cuz I knew I couldn't do that cuz box said you couldn't do that, right? And then I know I shouldn't do that cuz he said somebody did this to him and that's how I was starting to pull things Out of the music. Well, I love the music So I was listening to like the pox and master piece and a ball MJG I didn't listen to the movie just to hear it and enjoy it. I listened to the music like sermons. Wow.

I'm trying to find the word in there. The message. The message. And that's why I love music so much. And it was like. But you weren't trying to be a musician. No. I was trying to be, honestly, I was trying to be an entrepreneur

before I knew what entrepreneurship was because the guys that I saw that was doing it on a major level was the Master P's and the Cash Money's. They were living this crazy life and I was hustling trying to get the stuff that they was getting. I bought Lexuses and Rolex watches

and all this stuff at that time. I was known for that. You know what I mean? People know, if you know me, I had the latest car, I had the best wide side and this is before music right but these were the entrepreneurs i'm like well i can i can do this i just got to go find some talent so i was so you're trying to be the label you were trying to find the talent i was dealing with some guys out of florida that i was kind of getting some money with and um in the streets and they um they uh

they had a record company that they was building right and we went like to this black spring break in Daytona or something they had like the when the bay goes and the cars and stuff on their t-shirts and I was just like I could do that so I went back to Georgia bought a studio went to the neighborhood got some artists there weren't artists there was the homies i'm saying got artists and you know put everybody down my man was with me as well and we put everybody in the studio and we tried to make records and we was trying to get our name out there and it just didn't go that way and then the charges came down people started getting real time yeah so on and so forth and now we stuck with this studio with no artists and everybody like well look you really lived

the life you might as well talk about it wow i was a little reserved because i'm already again good over here the last thing i want to do is go over here and look corny right or because i don't really truly have talent like i'm not writing sorrows every day however when i went back to my childhood i had to realize my wife is going to kill me about this but it was a girl in my class when i went to school in hawaii right and she was uh she was different than this or whatever and i was just like wow you know because i had never seen this is my first time out of the hood. Like I've never seen this.

Right. So I'm like, so I started writing her poems. Mm-hmm. And then the more I wrote her poems, my dad would come in like, what are you doing? I'm like, I'm writing another poem. He's like, nah, come on. So I wrote her poems like every day

and then she ended up becoming best friends and best girlfriend with him. But I realized that the way I can articulate myself when I write was something special then because you're feeling what I want you to feel. Yeah. I'm getting the result. I'm with you now. Right. You know what I'm saying? We're connected. And I just remember that. And then when I started to understand how to put my life into words, it started to be therapeutic for me because now it's like, oh, I did deal with that.

Oh, that is trauma. Wow, I did go through that. How did I overcome that? And now I'm putting it in my music, and that's why my music has always been about motivation. It's been about inspiration. It's been about how can I help you with my pain? How can I prevent you from feeling what I felt?

And even if you do, how do I make you feel like you're not alone in this? And that's where the music came from. Because if you go back to Pac, thug life was a movement. But if you listen to it, you think it's about killing and robbing. It's not. It's about standing for something. Right? It just made it make sense to us.

Sure. Because we all feel like we're living the thug life, right? Wow. So I came back, and my first album was Thug Motivug motivation because i wanted to set it up like a class that's cool this is something you sit down and you and then my second album was the inspiration right and then my third album was the recession so look at the you know i'm saying and the crazy thing is i got the recession from being in a room with these guys i went to this little private dinner i'm in a room with all these guys they got all this money and they were so concerned it was like you know the procession is coming i'm

thinking about selling this and doing that and i got to get rid of this business and i'm going like you guys got a lot of money like what are you worried about he's like do you know what recession is i'm like yeah but i didn't so i went back and googled it and i'm like huh so i'm asking questions now what happens with this how does that so happen? So when I wrote The Recession, that was me running back to tell the culture what I just learned. Because we know what a drought is. A drought on the street means there ain't nobody working. But a drought on the money is totally different.

So that means there's no money nowhere. Wow. Right? So if you think you're living bad now, you're going to live even worse, right? So that was my intention when I wrote The Recession to tell people what was going on and i just caught that moment in time where it hit and that music was like the soundtrack for what everybody was going through and it was the recession right yeah and they just right when i dropped it that's when they announced it

and it was huge when i say huge it was crazy and every interview I did after that, I started to really notice again, hear those words. Because now I'm writing about what I'm learning instead of just what I'm doing, and I'm putting it together. And now my interviews are different. Like, people are asking me real questions. They're not asking me, well, what's up with Lil Ray Ray? It's like, now, like, so what do you think about the president?

Have you ever met him before? Right? And I got to tell you a crazy story about that, too. So my past um so i thought then my president's black he won the first time right so he invites me to a correspondence dinner rather in new york go buy tom ford suits for my crew get myself together and i fly back to new york and i go to the correspondence then i'm York and I go to the correspondence dinner. I'm watching my peers go in, the correspondence dinner.

And I'm getting out of the car and I see my security talking to Secret Service. And they was like, no, he can't, he cannot. I'm like, can't be around you. Right. And yeah. So he invited you, but he couldn't. His team invited me. I couldn't get in.

Most embarrassing day of my life. Really? I'm told everybody I'm going. Like I'm telling everybody right and now i'm sitting in this hotel room in this hotel called london in new york and i'm just sitting there and i'm going like all the good i do all the things i'm trying to like how you like i'm a good dude like how you gonna like you like this ain't even real like you know i mean my past is my past but i started to understand how big and deep my past was and if they wouldn't dug into it what they would have found right and i never forget i

was on tour maybe like uh so it was year one so this is like maybe like three years before we got back in the office again and my mom called me i'm in london on the tour bus she said hey baby uh you uh see what the president talking about you i'm like what she's like yeah the president was just talking about you i said no no way she said yes as he's talking about me she said yes i said okay she had my sister send me the clip he was at the next correspondent dinner he said my first term i went with al green my second term i I'm going with young Jeezy Wow Like playing his day and he looked at Michelle. He said she likes when I sing that to her And that's when I was just like, okay, I get it. He got some ice in his veins. He see me

Right, right. He gave you a shout out and right props. Yeah, but but here we go. He go that life again. I Had people like that too. I'm in my own light. I'm doing my thing. You can't be right beside me. You still in the things that don't. You know what I'm saying? So that was his way of showing me, I see you.

But I can't be. I can't be. It's going to be a little while before we're able to sit down and just have a cocktail, bro. But I see you. And to me, that acknowledgement, not just because he was the president, but because he saw me, right? Publicly. Right.

That made me, you know, I was just like, okay, cool. Which I took a page out of that, and even guys that I know from the streets that, you know, we have some history, I make sure if it's still that type of terms that I still see them. Because sometimes people just want to be acknowledged. Absolutely, man. Wow. Have you got a chance to sit down with him? No, actually people just want to be acknowledged. Absolutely, man. Wow.

Have you got a chance to sit down with him? No, actually, he came to Atlanta to do a rally for Stacey Ambrose. We got a chance to chop it up right quick. That's cool. I don't think the Secret Service still trusts me yet. It was like looking at me up and down. So it's like, all right, we're out.

Wow, man. Yeah. This is fascinating. So how did you get the confidence, knowing that you weren't a rapper or an artist or musician how did you get the confidence to obviously you're writing down your your thoughts what are really poetry in your way and sermons in your way and motivation and teaching and you're putting it into an album how'd you sell so many records and

get your name out there coming from the streets? How did you promote yourself and build a brand record after record? Of course. When you didn't know what you were doing. That's the thing. That's the good thing. That's the golden thing about the streets. You don't got to know what you got. You don't got to know what you're doing as long as you do it.

Cause there's no, and that's like I say, back to the book, there's no straight path that we're trying to get through. You got to navigate these things. I think what gave me the confidence was survival and that i knew that i was studying um before uh like say francis when again when people just be listening to the music i'd be listening for the word or i would be a young guy to go sit around a bunch of old guys and just

listen to them talk to see what i can learn from them and that just kind of was my school it kind of gave me confidence because i knew more than the average kid my age right and i was learning how to move because my older cousins was in the streets before me and it was pretty big so i watched a lot what they was doing a lot of people that was around them and i was like okay and i'm just i'm surprised your brother was performing in the streets no no my cousin was in the streets gotcha like they was doing this before I was. They were doing it big. Yeah, they were the guys. And I was just watching what they was doing. So you observed and then you represented.

Yeah, it was a sponge, a sponge, a sponge. And that's what gave me confidence because I just felt like I knew more than everybody else. Right? And then I wasn't scared to go ask the questions. Interesting. And then going about building a brand, I watched and studied how music worked.

And even from the Cash money era the master p you know masterpiece and them had the tanks on and all that stuff i'm just like what what what is that for me and i had this mechanism with this big diamond and crusted snowman on it right and and it was like it was the craziest thing ever because it started as a chain right and then people started calling me snowman right and now i got a brand and then when i put out my first album they took the snowman and put it to shout out to the shauna airs uh seems to help me with it they took the snowman and put it on the cd cover it immortalized it and now this snowman is everywhere. And everyone wants to wear a snowman. So the shirts were made for branding and marketing.

And I got to go back to how I branded and marketed myself. The shirts was made for branding and marketing. And we only made 100. It blew up so much, we ordered 1,000 more. Then, out of nowhere, I promise you, I don't know what happened. It went from some shirts that we were sending out to you go anywhere on Harlem, anywhere on 125th, whatever. Every store got different versions of snowman shirts. This was all around the world. Wow.

So now Jay-Z calls me because he's the president of Def Jam. He's like, I'm going to the magic show. You should come with me. So this is the magic show out there, the clothing show in Vegas. So they got the rock rock aware booth out there yeah yeah and he like yo let's walk through it so me and Jay-Z walk around the the magic show what year is this this is like oh six okay yeah yeah oh six and um we just walking around it and um people keep running up to me going cheesy no I'm with Jay-Z they like cheesy

man thank you so much we love you man it's you're the realest cheesy. No, I'm with Jay-Z. They're like, cheesy, man. Thank you so much. We love you, man. You're the realest. This is great. And I'm just like, so after the fifth person, I look at him, you look at me. He's like, what's going on? No one said anything to Jay-Z. Yeah, but not even just that, though.

We're both looking at each other like, what's going on? Because I don't know what they're talking about. You know what I'm saying? Right. And I actually got to say, yo, what do you mean? He's like, yo, everybody's making money off these snowman shirts. Because now they sell them in bulk. Oh, man.

You know what I'm saying? Because they sell them to all the mom and pop stores. So we went to one guy's shop. He had them to the ceiling. And one of my guys back then told me when I first did it, I said, trademark it. Yeah. But I'm still thinking like that. I'm like, nah, it's just whatever.

And I never trademarked it. Oh, man. That's the craziest thing ever. And the craziest thing was nah, it's just whatever. And I never trademarked it. Oh, man. Craziest thing ever. And the craziest thing was, but it's a double-edged sword. So I didn't trademark it. However, I think that made my brand bigger than life. Wow. Because everybody had access to it. And they were selling it and they were making money,

which means that I was helping them help me. Yeah, and they were probably getting out there faster than you could. About 1,000%. Wow. Now it goes back to how I started branding myself. So what I would do when I was first trying to figure out where I was going, I was doing these mixtapes with DJ Drama. He's like a

big deal in the culture as far as street tapes. So what I would do, people would do street tapes and put them in stores and sell them for $5, $10. What I did was i pressed up like a hundred thousand and gave them all out wow i went to this club every week on the east side and i gave them out that we were around town gave them our beauty supply stores beauty salons barbershops and i did that that was the first tape i saw them need to move a little bit in georgia In Atlanta. In Georgia. Then my second tape was

Trap or Die. So I pressed up 500,000 of these. Oh, man. And I just started giving them out. Best thing I ever done. Because my grandmother always told me, if you want something from somebody else, give them something first. Best thing I ever done. I can still do those songs right now, any stage. Wow. Because it was like

grassroots. And now I'm getting everybody starting to know who I am. And then I put this DVD of all the footage of me just running around with the Trapper Diet tape. And when I knew it was real, when I used to walk into my, we called them trap houses. Sure, sure, sure. So I was going to my friends' trap houses or whatever, like my homies or whatever. And I go like, you know, just go through there, holler and whatever. And they would be watching my DVD.

Wow. Shut up. In the living room, it'd be like 10 people in there looking at the DVD and you looking like, y'all know me. It's like, oh, this is crazy. You know what I'm saying? They're watching me. And that's how I knew.

And then it went from there, cause I used to hang out a lot. It's been all the premier clubs, whatever. Cause I just went with my jewelry, drive my cars. Cause that was my marketing. Like I just looked like the guy who was already successful trying to be successful and i never forget when uh trapadai came out um i was walking in the club remind you i'm a street guy so i'm not used to people just walking up on me and this is back before you can like just take

pictures of anybody anything and people come up on me like yo jeez i love what you do man like the six times somebody came to me i just felt like somebody was paying them to say this You know I'm saying cuz it was weird. I never sure you know and it just started happening more and more and I'm like, oh, oh Oh I'm on to something interesting. This is this is this is real and then I started but like go out like the malls or whatever We just do a regular stuff people come on to me. Oh, man. I really you man. I love what you doing. I'm just sitting down. I'm going like This is it. I got a focus now. Wow, and I started recording my debut album And while I'm recording my debut album is paying for it myself

and They come to me about a deal. So I take the deal with Def Jam. And when I'm taking the deal and working on the album that I'm paying for, that they're going to reimburse me my money. I don't know how to perform and I'm not taking care of myself. And so now I do this show in Jacksonville and, uh, at the Superbowl, like in a club, nightclub, and the system is terrible, and I had polyps on my vocal cords already,

and I tore my vocal cords. Oh, man. So now I'm one foot in the street, one foot out. I got some buzz as an artist, and I got to get surgery. Oh, man. And I don't know if I'm, and the whole conversation is, we don't even know if he's going to sound the same or how he's going to sound the same or how he's going to sound so now i'm like it's going down you know i'm saying like i don't know what to do you know

and it was probably one of the scariest moments of my life because now i got to go in there behind you i don't even have insurance all right my surgery with a brown paper bag. Oh my God. So I had to pay for my surgery with a brown paper bag. And so I made it through that. And then right after that, I want to make sure I say this word right, because somebody said I didn't say it right last time. I got hit with Bell's palsy. Uh-huh. And now my mouth is crooked and my face is,

this is like the second thing. After the surgery. After the surgery. Holy cow. So now I'm like, I'm hiding. Because I look crazy. And I was scared. I remember talking to my mom.

I was like, mama, I don't know what to do. But then I realized quickly too that I wasn't taking care of myself. At the same time, you don't have people around you that are taking care of themselves. They're not. You know, people are drinking every day. Yeah, not sleeping. No, you can. He was too paranoid.

Like, I couldn't, man, I can go off, before these days, I can go off like an hour and a half of sleep. Oh, my gosh. Any day. That was my thing. I sleep when I die. Right. Yeah, because you couldn't sleep.

You know what I mean? Because you got so many things going on and your mind is in so many different places, but you're trying to navigate it. And that's why I say, you know, the new rich is peace. It is, you know, because, you know, you can have a billion dollars,

you know, like my uncle used to say, you can put somebody in a Rolls Royce, he's still gonna have the same problems. He's gonna have those problems in a Rolls Royce. And I think once you become in this place where you just have peace with who you are and who you're becoming, and like I said, again, I had to give myself permission to evolve.

Wow. Because it was almost like I wanted to grow, but I couldn't grow because of my surroundings. These weeds and these things, they were holding me back. And when I started to clean that out, I started to like grow and bloom and blossom. And I just started to understand like, wow, like the air is different up here.

Like, you know, the thought process is different. Yeah. You know, like I like getting up at 5 a.m. in the morning. I used to be a time I wouldn't go to sleep until 6 a.m. I know, up all night. Right, right. Wake up at 2 p.m., yeah. But I love it now because it's like,

and even some of my friends, they ask me like, what are you doing now? And it's crazy because people ask me a lot of things about life. And I'm surprised because they're older than me. Right. And they're like, yo, so what are you doing now? I'm getting up at five. I'm doing this.

What book are you reading? I'm reading this book. I'm reading that. They come over to my house. I give them a copy of the book. It's weird. It's cheesy. Yeah, sure, sure.

You know, this guy used to pass you the blood. Now he's giving you books. You're like, uh. But I take pride in that because it's my peace. I love when I go through my phone and one of my guys hit me like, yo, I'm on chapter 10. Oh, my God, it's mind-blowing. You know, I'm like, yeah, where do you get chapter 12?

But in my mind, that's my peace. Wow, man. And I had to work so hard and do so much work on myself just to even get a taste of that. Yeah. How did you get to a taste of peace? How did you start to even heal your thoughts, your emotions, your body? Because I'm assuming 40 years of some type of psychological or physical trauma,

whether it be not sure where you're sleeping at night, mom's pointing a gun in your face on the streets, who knows what's going to happen every day, sleeping an hour a night, doing that for 40 years. Yes. Seeing friends die, seeing friends go to jail, doing that for that long. Right. Having surgery. Right. There is no peace.

There's no healing. There's no time to think about, let my nervous system calm and relax. Let me process these memories of my past from parents to childhood friends to other stuff that maybe you haven't talked about and really allow my body to feel whole. Right. When did that start to happen? And is that still a journey for you? Yeah, it's still a journey. I learned that when my mom passed.

I didn't grieve, right? Really? Because I'm numb. When was this? My mom passed three years ago. Yeah. I'm numb. Like, I've been through it so much, I don't feel that part.

Like, I got to be honest. Like, I don't know how to connect with that, right? And that's something that I'm working on every day because it's like when you're going through all these things, you just become, it becomes normal life to you going through all these things you just become it becomes normal life to you right and then you have to understand this is what's going to happen you got to deal with you got to keep moving right and when my mom passed i knew that i didn't grieve right i was just like something's not right yeah what sent me on another mission so to answer your question is how do you get to that i'm still working that now, and that's why I'm even opening up

and being transparent about what I'm going through. But I think at some point, as black men, we all in that space, bro. We didn't come from a certain type of life. And for me, it took me to get around other people to understand that everybody's went through something, right? And you got to be different outlets of how you can, you know,

just start to dump some of that stuff off. And the craziest thing is, you know, and I'm not just saying that, even when I started listening to your podcast, John Maxwell's and, you know, just different people, I just respected their perspective. I started to get a lot of information about how to deal with those things and what I should reach out to, which is why I'm so passionate about the book, because there's information in there, right? There's information in these shows and these episodes that you do that you wouldn't even expect people to pull that from and go,

man, maybe I need to, maybe I should sit down with somebody. I didn't know what processing means. Right. You know what I'm saying? I didn't know that something from my childhood could affect me worse in my 40s, right? I didn't know what processing mean. Right. You know what I'm saying? I didn't know that something from my childhood could affect me worse in my 40s. Right. I didn't know all these things, but I'm working on those things every day.

I'm working on trust. Wow, man. You know, I'm working on emotions. Like, I love my kids. Right. And I'm just making sure I'm intentional about connecting with them. Because I know there's some times with me where I get caught up in my world And I'm thinking about everything that I got going on that I might not be present But then I didn't know there was a such thing of being present

So now I got to check myself on that so now it'll be present you're awesome for the next thing Probably so now it's checks and balances. Oh, man, and in this in this in the information And that's one thing I do like about social media these day. I hate all the like it's terrible But there's a lot of information there if if you know how to sort through it. It's like YouTubes, like books, like podcasts. There's information that we need that we just can't get from people that are around us because they're searching for the same thing. And I think that's what helped me get on the mission of healing

because this is the thing. I didn't know I needed to heal. I felt like I was Iron Man. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm good. Like, nothing hurt I needed to heal I feel like I was Iron Man you know I'm saying like I'm good like it came nothing hurt me came wow I felt like that and then when I started peeling back the layers I'm like I'm like wow like you know like like how somebody gonna feel your devotion if they can't if you're not you know it's how people gonna feel you if you're not even being because you know by the way this is I would never talk this much just to go back and look at my first interviews i'm like yeah nah it's like interrogation yes or

no yeah yeah it was interrogation it was like nah i don't know about that but now i feel like you know it's it's my purpose and and my responsibility to open up yeah that's beautiful because we don't make it to our 40s and 50s you know what i'm saying and we don't make it to our 40s and 50s. You know what I'm saying? And we don't make it there being us and still being cool and still being successful and still being like, you know, if it's a black man, you get over a certain age. Nobody cares about you. Not even your kids. Really. We can't give them no money or do nothing for them. It's like, you know, you just get to a certain age.

It's so hard for us, right? So you have to put things around you and put things in place to keep you held accountable and that fulfill you so that you can go out here and be the best that you can be. And for me, that's what keeps me going and keeps me on the journey of healing. I don't got a problem saying that now because I got my friends and people that tell me, you know, things like, yeah, man, I'm really going through this. I'm like, well, I mean, I'm here. Like, what can what can i do right so i'm already knowing they need to heal right and i i can understand that so now i give them space to heal right checking in you know let's go have dinner or something like let's just get out for a minute and because the thing from our culture is when you go through things you isolate yourself you know and that's like the worst thing our culture is when you go through things, you isolate yourself.

And that's like the worst thing ever because now you're in a wall that's for real. A wall can keep people out, but it can also keep you in. You know what I'm saying? So it can keep the bad things out, but it blocks the blessings as well. It does. And I think I had a wall up for my know, 30-something years of my life. Really? Oh, a big one.

I'm talking about like, no, nothing wasn't getting past that wall because that's how I was surviving. It's different to live for love and to live for survival. And if you ask me, you know, what was the difference? I was living for survival here. Now I'm living for love. Were you able to experience love up until the last five years with that wall? No. Really?

No. What does love feel like now that you have the wall coming down, or at least partial wall? It feels like trust. Really? It feels like a village. It feels like community. It feels like support.

It feels like understanding. It feels like a village. It feels like community. It feels like support. It feels like understanding. It feels like grace. It feels like those things because, again, you never had it. And not to say that it wasn't there, but I wasn't letting anybody in. You weren't allowing yourself to experience it. So now it's just like knowing people. Because, you know, for a while you just feel like nobody really, like, really is down with you. Because when you go through like a lot of

the stuff i'm talking about in the book you realize how people go left and right not really down you kind of just build that up in your head you're kind of like okay all my interactions are like you know they're one-offs i'm not looking to build with you you know what i'm saying yeah i already know at some point it's gonna go left and you're gonna feel a way about something and there's that right but what I had to learn is like, you know, even when I was wrong, you know,

I could still go back and have a conversation with somebody who's mentally on the same level as me and be like, you know what, man, I just had a bad day, bro. Like I was doing this and that and going through and you said this. And I just kind of felt like I wasn't there.

You know what I'm saying? No, it's all good. That's how two men talk. When you coming from a culture where if we don't agree, somebody got to go. Wow. You know what I'm saying?

Sure, sure. Oh, yeah. Somebody got to go. And I ain't talking about just leaving. Right. You know what I'm saying? Right. That ain't how we operate.

Go forever. Yes. Holy cow, man. And that's how it's set up. And the thing about it is what I learned in this world and this world is There's no conflict resolution in this world We don't have conflict resolution. We don't have Understanding that how this is supposed to go there's a resolution. It's just not a healthy right?

Right and in in this world there's conflict resolution is there's I'm wrong you're right You know, there's you know what next time I try this there's, I'm wrong. You're right. You know what? There's, you know what? Next time I try this, there's, you know, you know, you lose somebody, we there for you. You know what I'm saying? You're going through something, you got help. You know what I'm saying? If you feeling depressed, I want to be the one to call and make you laugh and tell you something crazy. You know what I'm saying? Or if you got some issues with your business, I want to introduce you to my lawyers

and my friends and their friends and so on and so forth. You know, if I went on a vacation somewhere, like, man, you know, you should go there. I'm going to set you up with the people. So now you're, like, building this community of we all we got, right? And in this community,

you all you got. Right. You know what I'm saying? Wow. You know, ain't no way got it. Right. You know what I'm saying? Wow. You know, ain't no way around it. With all the experience you have now from all the stuff and the trauma you went through growing up and the process of healing and the process of trusting in the last five years and processing and all these different things, what would you say is your greatest superpower now? And maybe it's not what people would think it is. And also, what is your biggest weakness still that you're working to overcome that you want to become better at overcoming? My biggest weakness would be

dealing with a lot of my childhood trauma. Because there's sometimes a little J still comes out. You know what I mean? I have to work on that because EV feels slighted. And again, what I had to kind of come to grips with is that what served me then doesn't serve me now. Right. You know what I mean?

And it's like, you know, a violent behavior would serve me then. It protected you. It guarded you. Right. And, you know, tough demeanor is like, ugh, you know. And, um, was it the next one you asked,

what am I working on now? The greatest superpower. Superpower. Yeah. I say the greatest superpower to me is having a good heart. You know what I'm saying? Because I always had it.

You know what I'm saying? And just doing things for people makes me feel like it fulfills me like it's almost like you know when somebody call me like yo thank you for introducing me such-and-such or telling such-and-such you know stop by my business I'm like oh no I love what you do that's that's a good thing for me. And then also, my superpowers problem-solving. Like, I love that. Like, you can put 100 problems on this desk.

I'm scanning through them. Okay, this is what we're going to do. Yeah. That's my thing. And just to add something on to that, I think my biggest super, super power is integrity. Wow. I have to move correctly because I have to be able to look at myself.

In the mirror, and there's been some times that I couldn't because I didn't move correctly. Your past. My past, definitely. I mean, you know, and based off, like, you know, I would lie if I felt like it was going to benefit me

or get me out of trouble. I don't think I can do that today. So I try not to get in trouble because I'm going to be like, yeah, I did it. Right, right, right. Yeah, yeah. But I had learned that a man, this real man doesn't lie under any circumstance.

He doesn't. Wow. When did you learn that? When did you start that switch of? I started that around about my late 30s. Because I was still trying to figure it out then. And I wouldn't, like, say nothing crazy,

but if you asked me something that was, like, some pressure behind it, like, meaning, like, I could be in a situation or it might not go my way, then I might lean towards what's gonna work for me.

But now I couldn't do that. Like, I couldn't look somebody. There's no peace. Yeah. When you're always telling a white lie or hiding something, you know. Well also what i learned too that it it it worked for me because you have to be covert right you're coming from this world you got yeah you can't tell people

everything you're doing like you saw now you're supposed to tell me next step because they could be there waiting for you right right so that was how i lived but when i started to be more transparent i started to notice that these quality people that I was bringing to my life became closer to me. They embraced me more. Because you got to think, like I was the guy that talking about coming over your house for dinner. Oh, no. But the more vulnerable and open and honest and integrity and your word that you are consistently, the more people want to support you who have the same values. Right. They say, okay. And the more they want to, you know,

even give you a lot of the knowledge that they have. 100%. You know what I'm saying? It's just like, and not even, you know, like really pour into you, like really lean into you. And at first, you know, that was a little weird to me because nobody had ever helped me before. So now I'm trying to figure out what's the catch.

Right. What are they trying to get out of you? Yeah, yeah. Right, so now I'm trying to figure out what's the catch. Trying to use me, trying to get something from me. Right, right, right. And it took a while and I'm just like, wait, hold up, wait, wait.

And then, I'm not good with time. Like I remember the trauma stuff, but, like, because, of course, I lived a crazy life in and out here and there, so you meet people and see people. But then when you see people, you haven't seen them in a while, and they kind of greet you with their love, and they tell you, like, I just really love you. Like, at first, I couldn't believe it, right?

But over time, it started to be like, yo, maybe, you know, that's genuine. That's real. Because where we come from from if somebody tell you they love you you got to be watching your back freely yes absolutely one thousand percent with them yes you you out of nightclub somebody get in your ear you know i love those that's that's that's it that's we don't want that really yes you don't want that why they could be shooting you the next day or something? 1,000%. I've seen it happen more times than you can think.

I've seen it firsthand. What is the biggest lesson your wife has taught you? The biggest lesson she's taught me in life is that having a partner, is having somebody that is on the same wavelength and you and you guys are building it better the building together is the best thing in the whole world wife is smart super smart super savvy um you know fly let me say that. And it's just like, that's my partner. Like, we can talk about things, and she's there with me, right?

And then she can also tell me things that I wouldn't take from anybody else. Because there's been times I've been in situations where my wife is like, have you ever thought about? I'm like, no, I have not. Let me get into that. And we sit down, we politic, and we talk, and it's just like we're coming with a plan. And I love that.

And she can hold her own, and that's what I really respect about her. She has just as many resources and things as I have, and we always put them together to do things. That's amazing. She's very well-traveled, and I love that. Like, we can go anywhere. She's plugged in, and we live a life together that we both sit down.

I mean, the first, like, couple months we was together, we sat down and we did a vision board. It was like this. I mean, the first couple months we was together, we sat down and we did a vision board. It was like this big vision board. It was in the living room in my condo. It was just doing all these ideas, and we looked up maybe like a year later, we had done everything.

That's so cool, man. We got to do another board. That's cool. That's amazing, man. I've got a few more questions for you that's okay this has been inspiring man i can hear your story thank you so much brother i could hear this stuff for a long time but um i want to ask i mean you mentioned jay-z briefly um but you've worked with a lot of big artists yeah over the years right i mean who are some of the names that you've worked

with or either been on tracks with or they've been on your album or you worked with? Kanye West to Rihanna to Mariah Carey to... Wow, and this goes on. The only people I ain't worked with that I ever wanted to work with is Sade and Tupac.

I think everything else I got covered. Wow. How did you go, I mean, from not being an artist, not being a rapper, not knowing anything really about music, to working with the biggest names in the world? I think it's my connection to the streets and the people and the culture. Because, again, like, you have your community,

and you have some leadership there. By connecting and collabinging you get to get these people ears that you never would have got because they don't know you or believe you but they believe me yeah right so that's that's the key to it because that's the most reason why people do collabs is to tap into whatever you got right and it's just like you know when you got people like rihanna we've done records you got kanye west we've, you know, when you got people like Rihanna, we've done records. You got Kanye West. We've done plenty of records. You got people like Jay-Z. I got more records with Jay-Z than he has with Biggie Smalls. Like, just think about that. Holy cow. Right.

But that's what I'm saying. So for me, I think we just tap into what each other has. And for me, my stronghold has been the culture, the people. Like, I am the people's champ, you know? And it's way beyond the music. Like, the music is just a vessel and connection to the people. But I think it's more life things to have because you can track and see where I was in a bad space. You can see where I was trying to figure it out.

You can see when I started to come out of my rut. You can see when I started to think different out you can see when I started to come out of my rut you can see when I started to think different you can see when I started to eat different you can see

when I started to dress different so you're seeing that evolution and you're starting to go hold up I'm from where he's from I can do that

he's doing like you know real estate in Atlanta like we're really over the world I'm healing right now something I always loved I mean it reminds me

of my old life you buy something you flip it but um it's my thing and now I got business people healing right now something i always love i mean it reminds me of my old life but um it's my thing and i got business people coming to me talking to me about real estate these are people in the culture that's really excited about going out here and doing these things and they probably would have never thought that they can do but they're seeing what i'm doing and they're going like wow like and now i'm getting these calls from people that you know that i used to know in a whole nother life. Like, man, I just bought this duplex, man.

Like, who can I talk to about managing for me or whatever, whatever. And it's like, these are the conversations I want to have with you. I don't want to have conversations with you. Right. That, you know, that, uh. The old way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not good.

I got, I got three final questions for you. I feel like I could ask you tons of stuff, but I want people to get your book adversity for sale. Yes, sir. You got to believe. Make sure you guys get a few copies of the book. Give them to your friends from J GZ Jenkins. Um,

this question is what I ask all my guests at the end of our conversations. It's called the three truths. So it's a hypothetical question, hypothetical scenario. Imagine you get to live as long as you want to live. You know, you can extend your life for as long as you want, but eventually it's the last day. But you've created so many vision boards,

you've accomplished all your dreams a thousandfold, right, for the rest of your life. You've lived exactly the way you want to live. But for whatever reason in this hypothetical world, no one has access to your content, your information, your music, your books. This conversation is gone. Everything you've ever put out is gone.

But on the last day, you get to leave behind three lessons. And this is all we have access of your information, the three lessons that you would share with the world. I call them the three truths. What would be those three truths for you? First truth would be karma is real. I've done some pretty bad things in my life. And I tell you, man, the man upstairs, Big G-O-D, he made me pay.

He made me pay. He made me pay. And I'll never go back down that road again. So do right by people and do right by yourself, you know, because karma is real. That would be my first truth. My second truth would be it's never too late for anything. Like, you can be how old old you can be in the worst

situation in the world um it's just never too late to turn it all around it's never too late like you you if you get started today you're on your way tomorrow no matter when and my last truth would be evolve or die and i don't mean in the sense of the word but if you're not evolving you're not living and the last thing you want to do is take that with you and they say you know the richest place in the world is a cemetery because everybody take all these great things with them and it's just like you might lose a lot evolving but you'll gain so much more right and you'll have a whole different respect for yourself because we only got one life and your life has to affect more

than what you can see or touch your life has to affect i can never thought the end of my life would affect millions right and i'm still continuing to to to chip away at that right and again when i'm no longer here i want my kids to know that their father was a great man he stood for something and he wanted to help people the best way he could and actually come in the best way right right but he wanted to help people the best way he could. He didn't actually come in the best way. Right, right. But he wanted to help people as much as he could. And I hope and I pray by people seeing me evolve and giving myself the permission to do so on my own terms and my own time, that that helps them understand that there's no judgment if you want to do and become better for yourself, your family, your peers, your community, your culture, your people. You got that right. Because

when this life is over, it's a wrap. It's done. And what you didn't do, never get a chance to do that ever. Jeezy, I want to acknowledge you before I ask the final question for your, really your ability to look within over the last, you know, three to five years and say, you know what, I'm going to start talking about things that I never thought I was able to talk about. I'm going to start opening up and being vulnerable, even though I would have been laughed at, made fun of, kicked out of the house or whatever growing up, if I would have done these things then. And I acknowledge you for allowing yourself to start to heal and transform and transmit the message that you've learned from, you know, the karma that you've had to deal with in the past from wrongdoings and mistakes and things that you did that were out of integrity to being the best human you can be. And obviously still no one's perfect, being on that that process of service adding value the way you can creating bringing people together collaborating so i acknowledge you for

the man you're continuing to be coming i received that the man you're you're you're you're healing into a beautiful man it looks like and i hope we get to play some golf sometime hang out sometime more um and i want people again to get the book um before i ask the final question is there anything else we can do to serve you today oh man just make sure we spread this message and um you know and let's just continue to build brother like yeah and i want to let you know as well like you you really i've turned a lot of my friends and my peers on to you and it's's like, they call me the next day, like, yo, this is amazing. Because you just never, like, different episode of what you're going through in life, you can just kind of go through it

and pick what you're going through and listen to it. And I listen to your stuff every morning, man. That's me. What you can do for me is continue to do what you're doing, man. Because you're affecting more people than you know. My man, I appreciate it. Final question, Jeezy. What is your definition of greatness?

My definition of greatness is to be the best version of yourself by any means. It's greatness to me. That means win, lose, draw. Just be the best version you can be of you, and that's all you got to give. There's nothing else. Like if you get up every day and you're doing the best you can do and you're being the best that you can be, that's greatness. You're already walking in the path.

It only gets better. You know what they say, good habits, good things come out of that. Bad habits, bad things come out of that. So at the end of the day, if you got a habit of being the best version of yourself, you're only going to get better at that. And that's greatness to me. I hope today's episode inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a rundown of today's show with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me, as well as ad-free listening experience,

make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel on Apple Podcast. If you enjoyed this, please share it with a friend over on social media or text a friend. Leave us a review over on Apple Podcast and let me know what you learned over on our social media channels at Lewis Howes.

I really love hearing the feedback from you and it helps us continue to make the show better. And if you want more inspiration from our world-class guests and content to learn how to improve the quality of your life, then make sure to sign up for the Greatness Newsletter and get it delivered right to your inbox over at greatness.com slash newsletter. And if no one has told you today, I want to remind you that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something great.