Jeezy is an Atlanta rapper who helped bring Southern trap into the mainstream with a style built on a gruff voice, hard-edged delivery, and grounded street perspective. Emerging first as Young Jeezy, he became one of the most visible and commercially successful figures in trap during the genre’s rise to worldwide popularity.
His major-label breakthrough came with 2005’s Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, an album that opened the door for him to become one of the top-performing rappers of his era. Before that, he had recorded under names like Lil’ J, but it was as Jeezy that he carved out his place as a defining voice of Atlanta rap and Southern trap.