The Making of Young Jeezy’s Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101 Album

The Bigger Picture
Young Jeezy’s debut album, Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, introduced the world to Da Snowman and his adored style of gangsta music. In honor of the 15th anniversary of the celebrated LP, released on July 26, 2005, here’s a track-by-track breakdown reflecting back on the making of this classic.
Compiled by Peter A. Berry, Kemet High, Zoe Johnson, Robby Seabrook III, Bianca Torres and Aleia Woods
Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the Fall 2020 issue of XXL Magazine, on stands now.

Young Jeezy’s early releases put the Atlanta trapper rapper on the map to stardom, but it was his debut album, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, that helped him really take off. The LP serves as a southern classic, celebrated for its trap life rhymes, hard beats and star-studded guest appearances. Grimy but anthemic, club-ready but not crunk, TM101 packaged Jeezy’s aspirational lyrics with catchy choruses, speaker-thumping, gothic production and the street aphorisms of a hustler who learned sky’s the limit.

When he was creating TM101, Jeezy, who was managed by Quality Control Music cofounder Kevin “Coach K” Lee at the time, had already released two independent albums through Jeezy’s Corporate Thugs imprint. Between July 2004 and January 2005, Jeezy consummated his rise by dropping his Def Jam Recordings debut mixtape, Tha Streets Iz Watchin, and 2005’s Trap or Die. He conquered Atlanta, now it was time for the whole south. Helping him with TM101 was the album’s executive-producer, Kinky B, and Jeezy’s longtime friend, Shawty Redd, who produced seven of the project’s 19 songs.

TM101 was recorded over the course of 18 months between 2004 and 2005, with most of the tracks being made at Atlanta’s Patchwerk Studios or Shawty Redd’s basement. Before releasing his first single, Jeezy put more mainstream heads on notice when he appeared as a member of Diddy’s Boyz n Da Hood’s debut album just one month prior in June 2005. Jeezy’s fame shot to a new level once he released “Soul Survivor,” the Akon-assisted recording that reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In honor of the album’s 15th anniversary, XXL speaks with Jeezy and others who made TM101, an album that catapulted Jeezy to rap superstar while securing a space in Atlanta’s rich hip-hop history.

THE MOTIVATORS

Akon – producer and singer
Bun B – rapper
Drumma Boy – producer
Don Cannon – producer and music industry heavyweight
Erik “Rook” Ortiz – member of producer collective J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League
Jazze Pha - producer
Kevin “Khao” Cates – producer
Kevin “Colione” Crowe – member of producer collective J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League
Lloyd - singer
Lil’ C – producer
Lil Scrappy – rapper
Mannie Fresh – producer
Mr. Collipark – producer
Nitti – producer
Shawty Redd – producer
Slick Pulla – rapper and Jeezy’s former artist on C.T.E.
T.I. – rapper
Trick Daddy – rapper
Young Buck – rapper

See The Making of Young Jeezy's Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 Album

“Thug Motivation 101”

Produced by Shawty Redd

Jeezy: [This song] was like the pre-warm up. To me, the intro was “Standing Ovation.” I’d done a couple songs, so I had that record and we was listening to it and I was like, Yo, this just sound like the beginning of something great. And it kinda sets the tone. I came from this level of nothing, to this level of something. But, the only common denominator was I believe. And that’s why you hear me saying [in the song], “Gotta believe.” “I used to hit the kitchen like, cockroaches everywhere, now I hit the kitchen like marble floors everywhere.” So, you set it up. You telling them how you living right now. What’s going on in the world for you. That was like, the setup. That sets the tone.

I thought [the beat] was different. I kept asking for all these eerie sounds. It felt like me ’cause at the time, everybody music was like, crunk. I just had this different sound and felt like only I could make the songs. I wanted to start the project off with something that felt like it was 1,000 percent me.

Shawty Redd: We was in the studio at my house. Every time we created a record, we was in the studio together. Everything’s custom. We had a whole conversation and I just started playing music after that conversation and that’s just what came out. As soon as he heard the music, he just started putting the words together and we started recording. He went in the bathroom and was lookin’ in the mirror, and he was just rapping for like, five minutes and then we just recorded.

I like gothic-type sounds, melodic sounds and strings and stuff like that. So, when he told me that he wanted to stay away from the crunk element, I just started using those type of sounds, different sounds that everybody wasn’t using. I like a lot of horror films and comic book movies, so I like the music that’s in those movies.

"Standing Ovation"

Produced by Drumma Boy

Jeezy: [Drumma Boy] came by the studio and I did the intro. I called him and I was like, “Yo, Drumm, you might be this intro. This shit’s crazy. Next level.” And I just remember him saying, “Which beat did you pick?” I told him and he got quiet. He’s like, “Jeezy, man, I gave somebody else that beat and he already paid me for it, and I can’t go back on my word. I wouldn’t wanna lose my respect for homeboy. But I promise you, I’ll make you a better beat.” And I was like, “There’s no way.” I laid my vocals, he came back and just like he said, the beat was 100 times better.

Drumma Boy: I stayed in Stone Mountain, Ga. I probably had like $150 to my name. I had just paid my rent and got everything straight. I get a call from Jeezy and Coach K back to back to back. I called Coach back first, and Coach was like, “Man, hit up Jeezy.” I hit Jeezy and he was like, “Man, I need this beat. I think we got one for my album.” So, I was like, “Bet, play it for me.” So, when he played me the beat. I realized that I had sold the one that he played. I had been telling Jeezy to give me some a cappellas ’cause I had started making beats from a cappellas. I was like, “Just give me the a cappellas and I can make a new beat around it.” He was like, “Nah, man I don’t know if you’re going to be able to top the last beat that you made. I don’t know if you’ll be able to do that again.”

I ended up pulling up on Jeezy at Patchwerk and I picked up the files because he was like, “I can’t email it. I don’t want my music to get leaked. Just come pick it up from Patchwerk direct.” I got back to the crib and started working on the first version, finished it and then took it back to Patchwerk. It’s probably like, midnight. And I played it for Jeezy and he was like, “Ehhh, it’s cool. It’s alright but it ain’t hitting like the first one.” So, I took that back and started working on the second one, back in Stone Mountain. That’s four trips now. I went back to Patchwerk and then back home, started working on the next one. I took it—trip number five. I played it for Jeezy and he was like, “Ehhh, it’s cool. That’s almost it. The drums are straight.”

So, on trip six back home I was like, I gotta get this shit right. This is crazy. I listened to the whole Trap or Die mixtape on the way back to the crib. One thing I noticed is that Jeezy loves horns. He loves trumpets and horns and all of that. I was like, That’s the first sound that I’m going to use when I get home. So, I pulled up my horns and what not, and that was the first sound I played behind that “Aye.” I took him last version, that third version, going back to the studio. And that was the first time I heard Jeezy say his ad-lib, “Haha!” He picked the beat and was like, “Yo, this is the album. ‘Standing Ovation.’” And we mixed the record right there on the spot. It was like four in the morning. They turned in the album that day.

“Gangsta Music”

Produced by Shawty Redd

Jeezy: [For this one], I just knew I asked to put the puh, puh, pah, the gunshots in the beginning. When I put down, “I’m here now, you old news,” I just remember how bad I wanted to say that shit and I was plotting it in my head. Four bars in, I was like, Oh, this is crazy.

At the time, gangsta music wasn’t really accepted like that. It was like an acquired taste. But I was like, This is what gangsta music is about. You feel it. You feel the beat. You feel the cords. You feel what you’re saying, and you just talking that shit. Like, it’s dangerous all day, every day, around me, but I see it the way it is. This the way it’s supposed to be when you rise to greatness. That’s what “Gangsta Music” is about. This is your theme music. If you’re out here in the streets, you gotta have something.

I was impressed that I could even put something together like that ’cause like, in the history of my songs, they all had melodies. This was something different. This made you feel adrenaline. It made you feel like whatever’s coming at me, I can take it. I can handle it. It’s that theme music ’cause it feels dangerous.

Shawty Redd: We actually sampled certain themes outta the movie Blow ’cause we stayed watching that movie. We watched Blow like 10 times a day. And it was certain parts of the movie that actually were the hook, that’s what we had in “Gangsta Music,” but they wouldn’t clear it. So, we had to regroup and come up with the “Gangsta Music” hook. I basically made the music around certain scenes in his life, out of the movie Blow. And I just built around it, and that’s how that beat came about. That’s how that song came about.

I wanted like, an anthem. Like, we chasing paper. I was just like, let me change the tempo a little bit. ’Cause we had a bunch of slower records, so I was like, let me make something that [will] stay moving drum-wise. I still wanted to keep the sonic, the synth sounds, the scariness to it.

“Let’s Get It/Sky’s the Limit”

Produced by Midnight Black

Jeezy: I did that in Patchwerk Studios. I remember Midnight Black brought me a batch of beats and that was one I heard. I remember being around in my crib and just playing and was like, Yo, this is some real Scarface shit. It sounded like it could have been on the soundtrack of Scarface, you know what I’m saying? And I just remember thinkin’ about that blimp: “The world is yours!” and I was just like, “Man, that’s the biggest statement I ever heard in my life”—at that time, coming from where I came, so I really believed that.

I watched Scarface religiously because of what he was about. He was about adversity. He was about by any means necessary. A lot of kids was watching Superman, I was watching Scarface. And I wanted to make an anthem that felt like it could’ve been in the movie. When you hear that, “The world is yours, and everything in it/It’s out there, get on your grind and get it,” you can see that that’s the one thing that he had, that we had in common. I could see it in his eyes in the movie. I could see it in my eyes when I’d get up in the mirror. We really believed that shit.

“And Then What” Featuring Mannie Fresh

Produced by Mannie Fresh

Jeezy: Mannie Fresh and Cash Money was my era. I watched it. I seen it. I felt it. I grinded to it. I was hustlin’ to the music they was making. I was buying the Rolexes and the Lexus’ and all the shit ’cause that’s what they was talking about. And I just loved Mannie as a producer ’cause I just felt like he felt the music. Mannie came to Atlanta and we got into Patchwerk, and that was like, the first record we came with.

When it was time to do the verses, I was so excited. Once we put the hook down and I put the verses on and put the ad-libs on it, we was kinda like, dancing through the studio, listening to it. I remember walking out of the room and coming back and listening to it again. Mannie was like, “We gon’ put this part in it: ‘Boom, boom, clap. Boom, boom, clap.’” And I was like, “Oh, that’s crazy.” He was telling me about [Joan Jett's] “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” and he was like, “Watch how people gon’ do this.” I was like, “You think?” And he was like, “Yeah.” And I just remember going on the stage for 20,000 people and performing that record and watchin’ the whole crowd in Atlanta, stomp and clap and I was just like, “Damn. [Mannie] said that.” So, that was one of the records that I actually seen come to life and by one of my favorite producers.

Mannie Fresh: I made the beat right there on the spot that day. I think when I first started on the beat, that was probably the beginning of cats getting beats from people. And listening to them or whatever, rather than being in the studio with a producer. So, I think when I first started this it threw [Jeezy] off. He was just, “What the hell is he doing?” And I remember him having a couple of his homies with him. They was just kind of, “Well, damn, I don’t know about this beat. I don’t really know.” And the beat was just shaping up, because it was me putting a lot of sounds together first before I started it. The little stomp drum that I always use, where I did the little boom, boom, clap, me sampling that into my drum machine. So, I actually had to make a drum kit when I did it. Because it ain’t no packs and nothing back then, you had to actually make your kit. So, I was getting a kick drum from one record, a snare from something else or whatever.

So, just me doing that process and doing a song, it threw off a lot of them. Because you talking about young Young Jeezy. And they was just, “Well, what is he doing right now?” He’s taking the time. I got to find the right kick. I got to find the right snare. I got to find the right high hat. So, it took me maybe two hours just to build a kit that I wanted, to do the song. I knew for them it was a process where they wasn’t used to seeing. I think in the very beginning of me doing it, it was more so of some guys going, “Damn, wow, what’s going to happen?” And then when I actually got it all together and put it together, then they was just, “Holy shit. OK. Yeah, I get it now.”

When we got to the boom, boom, clap part, [Jeezy] had some guys that was, “Man, that’s not really gangsta.” And I remember saying, “Bro, this is going to be one of the big parts of this song. Trust me, we got to put this on the song.” To me, that was kind of one of the iconic moments of the album and the song. That’s what I think about it.

“Go Crazy” Featuring Jay-Z

Produced by Don Cannon

Jeezy: I was listening to this T.I. mixtape, and he had this beat on the mixtape. I asked who done it and he said Don Cannon. I called Don Cannon and I was like, “I need a beat like the one you let T.I. rap on for his mixtape.” And Don Cannon was like, “Well, he not gonna use the beat. He just raps on it in the freestyle.” I’m like, “What does that mean?” He’s like, “He’s not using it.” I said, “Well, shit, I want to buy the beat.” He was just like, “Aight, cool.” He sent me the beat. I had to go to look for something so I was riding on a plane, and I came back to Atlanta and went straight to the studio. I did three verses to the song, and I was just sitting there, like, “This shit’s crazy.”

Jay-Z had just become president [of Def Jam Recordings] and I was like, “I wanna hear Jay-Z on the song.” When I went to the Def Jam meeting, I played the song for Jay and everybody, and I just looked at Jay, I was just like, “Yo, I need you on this.” And he was just like, “Oh, OK.” I’ll never forget, I sent him the record and you know, it took him a while, he called me back a couple weeks later. He was in L.A. for like, BET Awards or something. He told me to come by his hotel.

Jay-Z took me to his hotel, we’re sitting out on his hotel balcony and he goes, “By the way, I’m gonna do the record.” I was like, “Oh shit, word?” He was like, “Yeah.” So, like, I’m excited. And I thought he was supposed to give me a verse, but when he sent me the verse back, it was like, 30-something bars. I’m like, “What?!” He was like, “Keep the first verse and the last verse and don’t worry about the second verse.” Then, we took my verse on the other haiku, so we kinda put it together. I remember coming from where I came from, to be able to collab with an artist of that caliber.

Don Cannon: I was watching Dead Presidents, the movie, and on the soundtrack, I heard a few things off there that I liked. There was one of the records that was on there, but I didn’t hear it in the movie. And I kind of made the beat based off of the movie. I wanted it to give you that feeling of energy, people working out. Whatever you’re doing in the street, I just wanted to have that same energy that pump you up to do whatever you was doing. And motivate people. People are motivated by energy, so I just wanted to put that out there and hopefully it grabs the attention of some of the artists. T.I. was one of the first people that had the beat. A lot of people don’t know. And he did a freestyle over it. And then I wind up playing the freestyle in the club and Jeezy heard it and asked me, “Who did the beat?” I said, “Me.” He’s like, “Yo, I need the beat.” And the rest was history.

“Last of a Dying Breed” Featuring Lil’ Will, Trick Daddy and Young Buck

Produced by Marquinarius Sanchez “Chez Da King” Holmes and Kevin “Khao” Cates

Jeezy: I remember when I heard it, I just felt like it was real Tupac-ish. The two hardest people at the time was Trick Daddy and Young Buck. And I was just like, “We gotta figure this shit out.” I called Trick and I knew he was setting the cadence. Young Buck was in Atlanta and I told him to pull up at the studio and he did his verse. I was kinda back and forth whether or not I would use the song, but when I heard that verse I was like, “This is it.” ’Cause I only had my one verse and my homie from the hood singin’ the hook, Lil’ Will.

I wrote the hook. I was like, “You sing this.” So, he sung that and then everybody in the studio was kinda like, “Aight, cool.” I knew what it was with the culture ’cause I was like, “I never heard nothing like this since ’Pac.” I was like, “I’ma use this song.” And it meant a lot, too, ’cause “Last of a dying breed” is a real statement. It’s almost like you making a statement saying, “I’m the last of my kind when it comes to this and that’s why I’m able to do something like this with two people like this because we come from the same place. The bottom.”

Trick Daddy: When [Jeezy] finally got his deal to do his album, he called me and he was like, “I’ve got this one. I need you on that one.” And I told him, “Get it and send it. Get me a good beat.” So, he sent me a beat, and I asked him, “What’s the name of the song going to be?” He said, “Last of a Dying Breed.” I said, “OK. Well, send it. I’m going to handle that.” So, he sent me the beat. I wrote it. I asked him, “When y’all want to drop this?” He said, “A.S.A.P.” So, we went to the studio and dropped that bitch, and the rest was history.

Young Buck: The beat in itself, it felt like it was almost like a story shelf record for me in the beginning. And then I heard Jeezy’s verse and kind of followed his direction. Once I heard where he was going with it, it was one of those things where I say, let me make sure that I give him the reality of what’s going on with me. What’s going on with the streets. That was one of those right now records. And I think that’s what make it classic even now, because the time that we were living in, that record was right on time for those times. I think people go to some of these classic records that’s created and relive the moments when they first heard those records. From an artist’s perspective, it’s shit like this, doing this inter- view and make us have to really have those moments to be able to talk to the fans and give them the truth.

Kevin “Khao” Cates: Back then it was about a lot of outgear. I had to bring in a lot of my outgear that I was using. And I think on that record, I may have did a lot of the foundation. And then I think [production partner Marquinarius Sanchez “Chez Da King” Holmes] may have did some on the drums. Then I came back in and kind of brushed up and did whatever. But I remember I used the matrix, and I had a few other rack mounts that I had to bring in when it was time to track out. And, the only reason I remember that is because it was a pain because I have a system, but Chez's system was a little different. It was more lax, so, it was just beats. He make beats. He just get them out there. And then we have to figure out everything once it happened. So, in that case, I remember having to listen to the track, go through my modules, and pull it together. So, I definitely used the MPC. I used the matrix. I probably used the, maybe the Triton, a couple of others.

“My Hood”

Produced by Lil’ C

Jeezy: Lil’ C sent me the beat and I was just like, Damn, this is crazy. And I kept riding to it and thinking about it. I was just like, Wow, this is an anthem. And sure enough, I went in and I put the hook on it. I felt it immediately. It’s just something, one song where you like, just have certain sounds in ’em, and you just be like, “OK, this is it.” So, for me this is one of those records where that was it. So, it was easy [and] real for me to get off on it, but it was realer for me to see how people actually took to the song because it was fun, but it was about the ghetto.

Lil’ C: I didn’t know how big this shit was going to be at the time. I knew I was working with somebody hot, but I didn’t know at the time. Me being so young, I wasn’t really thinking about it. I was just creating music with somebody that I thought was dope. It’s crazy because it ended up being like, a commercial single for [Jeezy]. It was weird. I wasn’t really trying to go for that. It was just like, I felt like that was one of those type beats he wouldn’t have picked.

“Bottom of the Map”

Produced by Shawty Redd

Jeezy: We was wrapping up the album, it was pretty much done. Shawty comes in, he said, “Yo, I got this beat I gotta play.” He played the beat and I looked at him and I had the hook as soon as he played the beat. I said, “Oh, I got this. Lemme record this right now.” This was the last record that was done on TM101. I recorded it right then and there, and it was classic.

Shawty Redd: I was at the house. He was like, “Bro, I’m in the studio with Akon. Can you cook me up something real quick and bring it to the studio?” I had just got some new equipment, and I just started playing with these sounds. I hit like, one button on my MPC and it just, it was that one sound that, “Duh, duh, duh, duh...” I heard that sound and it was a wrap. I just put every element from all the other songs that we had already into that one song. And just did me, far as the drums. I was iffy about giving it to him ’cause I felt like it was like, a little bit too much from what he wanted. But, soon as I brought it to the studio and played it, he recorded it right then and there. The song was done in 15 minutes.

“Get Ya Mind Right”

Produced by Shawty Redd

Jeezy: [We recorded this in] Shawty Redd’s basement [during] one of those late-night sessions, just me and him. We didn’t even have a vocal booth. It was recorded right there in the room. He was making the beat and I was telling him what sounds I liked, and I just remember the first line, “I’m the realest nigga in here, you already know...” I didn’t even write it ’cause I felt it. It was like the Holy Ghost, like somebody planted something in you. Whatever came out, that’s what we recorded so I didn’t even think about it. I just blacked out. And when we was done, I just remember playing that shit and just sitting back like, “This probably one of the greatest songs I ever wrote.”

Shawty Redd: I think a girl that had cheated on me or something when I made that beat. I was like, all about feelings or some- thing. It was something like that, that day. Me and bro had went to South DeKalb mall and just balled out. And went back to the house and I just started playing music. [Jeezy’s] like, “That’s it!” I started playing the worm first. The little worm part, ’cause I felt like it sounded like somebody crying in the background. [Jeezy] was like, “Just do you, bro. Do you, bro. It’s hard, it’s hard.”

“Trap Star”

Produced by Mr. Collipark

Jeezy: [Mr. Collipark] came by the studio and we was in there making the album, and he played the beat and I was like, “Yo, this crazy.” At the time, I loved horns. I had to go to New York and when I got back, I got straight in the studio and I started writin’ it. I got the hook done and the first verse done and then we listened to the hook and [Mr. Collipark] was like, “Damn, you forgot a letter.” [I said], “It’s t-r-a-p s-t-r.” I forgot the A... “Shit, that’s what being a trap star’s all about! You can forget shit and nobody gon’ say anything to you. I’m a keep it like that. I don’t wanna try to fix it.”

We was talking ’bout putting somebody on it, but I was like, “Nah, I want this to be a Jeezy song.” And then I remember when we got ready to mix it, I was outta town, doing shows and I came back and I heard it, and Collipark [had] took the horns out [of] the verses, left the horns and the hook. He was like, “Yo, it sounds better.” I was like, “Listen to me, the horns have to go all the way through the whole song. That’s what makes it an anthem.” And me and him went back and forth until finally, he put the horns back in. And I was like, “That’s it. That’s the song.” I’m glad that I took my stance and was very stern on keeping my horns in ’cause he almost convinced me to move the horns and the verses, which would’ve been a total mistake.

Mr. Collipark: Jeezy would just get the shit and record it. When it came time to mix the record, that’s when his artistry came out to me. When we were mixing the record, he left them damn horns in the whole song. My thing was, the horns need to come out during the verses. I remember having this back-and-forth, and he was like, “Nah, I like the horns all the way through.” And, I was like, “Nah, man, them horns need to come out in the verses.” I could tell he was not with that shit. I wound up following what he wanted. A lot of artists don’t know what they want. When [they do] know what they want, you gotta let them get that off.

“Bang” featuring T.I. and Lil Scrappy

Produced by Jazze Pha

Jeezy: I went to T.I.’s house and he was on house arrest. He had a studio in his basement and he recorded it right there. I was doin’ these records for him and then he was doing some records for me and then was like, “What you working on?” I was like, “Well, I got this record, you can have it.” And I played it for him and it was “Bang.” He gave me this look like, I could have this? And I thought about it and was like, “You know what? Maybe I should just keep it for my album.” He ended up jumping on it. Then I ran into Lil Scrappy and I was like, “I got this crazy-ass song, get on it.” He was like, “Cool, I got you. Say no more, bro.” Scrappy jumped on it and it just became an instant Atlanta classic.

T.I.: I was just getting out of jail. I started hearing “Aye, yo, there is another cat and he out here jamming, too.” So, I began to familiarize myself with [Jeezy]. I met him through Big Meech. Meech had told me he was rapping with nothing and to look out for him. When I went to jail I kinda lost track of that conversation. By the time I made it back home, [Jeezy] was actually doing his thing. I immediately went to reach out. We was in the studio together. We was in [my wife] Tamika’s old house. Me and all my partners, we used to pile up in her basement. I couldn’t work in no other studio because I was on work release or house arrest or some shit.

[Jeezy] came over and wanted to do a record. I wanted to do a record, too. He played “Bang,” and was like, “I don’t think I’m going to keep this one.” I was like, “Shit, good, let me have it.” And he was like, “Shit, wait a minute, you asked for that muthafucka too fast. I might hold onto it.” So, I said “Aight, bet.” We did the record and it just became a staple in the clubs [and] the city. I think the movement just kinda spread out.

Lil Scrappy: I wasn’t really no real rapper at the time. I was rapping, but I wasn’t rapping how I wanted to rap. So, I spit some stuff on there that resonated with the young niggas at that time. I was a little punk head, like a lit head. I wanted to get on there and turn up. I ain’t really wanted to say nothing. I just go there and told niggas, “Let’s turn the fuck up.”

I said something, but it ain’t what was really going on. I had just come to make some plays. I should have put that on there, but I ain’t hear what those niggas wrote and what they had on there. So, I had to just go from “Peace out, A-Town down.” That shit came from my “F.I.L.A” song.

Jazze Pha: It was just me and Jeezy at the time. We already had the beat, the hook and the chorus before Tip and them got on the song. We just added them on another date. [I wanted “Bang” to sound] like some- thing that sounded like a mob. That’s why I did the marching sound.

You got the drum cadence, like soldiers, mobbing. And then you got the horns and shit. The low tone horns, growling. And then you got the signature siren. That’s a Jazze Pha signature sound. I found that sound before Lil Jon did. Matter of fact, I showed him what keyboard it came from. And then he used it on every song. Shameless plug, it’s all good.

That was an MPC 3000. I think I had a Korg Trident keyboard at the time. I had some kind of Nord. And then I had that module, was a Proteus 2000. I was using that worm, it was called the LV’s worm. These guys go looking for the LV’s worm for the Proteus 2000. People have been look- ing for that sound for years. Some people know where it is, but a lot of people don’t.

“Don’t Get Caught”

Produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League

Jeezy: [With] “Don’t Get Caught,” I was like, “Y’all want some music?” And they broke out all the instruments and made this live in the studio. I was just sitting there listening to it and it brought me to this time I remember when I got pulled over. I was on the way to go see my son. At the time, I was into some other things, so I didn’t know if the stop was gonna be routine or it was gonna be a situation where I was gonna end up getting locked up. I didn’t have no license either way. I kinda talked my way through it, and it just taught me: Treat people to be respectful until you feel disrespected. And then you just go above and beyond to some people that you ain’t nothing to play with.

I was respectful and I got let go. And [the cop] was like, “Nah, it’s cool, man. You going to see your son. Take your time, slow down.” I was just like, “Wow,” ’cause in my mind, I just thought of police as bad. All of ’em. Like, don’t be so blatant and disrespectful about what you doing. Just be mindful. Be self-aware of what you got going on. That’s what the cop taught me.

I was beginning to become self-aware. Like, I could control the narrative, as much as I tried to, of what I do or how I handled things. So, “Don’t Get Caught” was stuck in the back of my head.

Kevin “Colione” Crowe: We would just start messing around with melodies and stuff like that, and [Jeezy’s] got a particular way that he likes to flow on the beat, so he would definitely be really involved with the way the drum pattern was. He wanted a drum pattern a certain way, and then after that, as soon as he got that flow, then he would just let us arrange everything. He really wanted to make sure that he could get right on the beat. That was really his thing, so he had a lot of input on that.

Erik “Rook” Ortiz: I think we were one of the guys at the time in Atlanta that were bringing in instruments into the studio. We had trumpets and trombones and the guitars and the basses and all that shit. Most of the guys at the time were like strictly programmed producers and stuff, which ain’t nothing wrong with that. I guess we just wanted to bring that live element.

“Soul Survivor” Featuring Akon

Produced by Akon

Jeezy: Akon sent his brother over to the studio and he had a CD. I had no shoes on. I ran outside Patchwerk to meet him, and he gave me a disc and then I went in the studio. I started recording, which was like the fifth song, and I just put a verse on it ’cause the hook was already on there. I remember playing it for [A&R Consultant at Def Jam] Shakir Stewart and he was like, “Yo, this is crazy!” And then we went to the club, we partied, we came back, and I was sitting in the studio at like, 6 a.m. I was like, “Man, I ain’t got nothing to work on.” And [Shakir] was like, “Why don’t you finish the song that you started?” I finished the song, but in my mind, I thought “Soul Survivor” was a commercial song. I was tryna stay street. I didn’t realize how big Akon was in Africa and everywhere else. Pardon me for being so naive, but I’m just like, “If I got the streets of Atlanta on lock, I’m good. I don’t need nothing else.” ’Cause I was given all my love in Atlanta. I didn’t realize how big Akon was until after that song came out, and I started to travel. I’d be in the airport, people be like, “Akon and Young Jeezy.” I’m like, “Damn!”

Akon: “At the time we was all running together. [Big] Meech had called and told me that he signed this new act and he needed my support getting him to a certain level. When I met Jeezy, me and him clicked instantly. We met at Patchwerk Studios and he was like, “Listen, I need a record from you.” And I was like, “Absolutely.”

At the time I was going through all my records that I hadn’t had a chance to release yet, and I came across a beat that I had made a while ago and I’m like, Oh, this beat will be perfect for Jeezy. So, after that, I just started writing to it, put the chorus on it, and I sent it to him. He heard it, and obvi- ously he was super crazy over it. I was like, “Whoa, lay your vocals and send me the stems and then I can take it to mixers and do what I’ve got to do with it.” And from there it was history.

“Trap or Die” Featuring Bun B

Produced by Shawty Redd

Jeezy: Bun B is one of my favorite artists. [I called him and] he happened to be in Atlanta, on a day off. I was like, “Come by the studio.” He came by and I was playin’ “Trap or Die” and I was like, “Could you put a verse on this?” So, he put a verse on it but then when I heard it, I was like, “This is bigger than a song. This is a movement!” And that got me to do the Trap or Die mix- tape. I put that song on [the mixtape] first and let the streets hear it first before I put it on the album, which was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Shawty Redd: When Bun B came in the studio, Jeezy was in the booth doing his verse. So, Bun B hadn’t heard the beat yet. I told him what type of feel the beat was, and Bun B started writin’ his verse. When Jeezy came outta the booth, he wouldn’t let nobody hear the verse. He let Bun B go in the studio to lay his verse and that was the first time Bun B heard the beat. When Bun B killed his verse, [Jeezy] went back in and redid his verse, and then let nobody hear it until the song was mixed.

Bun B: With a title like “Trap or Die,” because that was always the name of the song... It’s not like we did the beat and we talked about what we were gonna do. That was the name of the song the entire time. So, really all I’m doing is filling in the blanks as far as that’s concerned. I’m just making sure that I handle it from my perspective. He handles it from his perspective. When you talk about these kinds of things, I don’t have to guide him through a record called “Trap or Die.” He doesn’t have to guide me through a record called “Trap or Die.” That’s the whole point in me being on that particular record with him. The perspective is already understood. And so, it was just a continuation of what he’s represented in his career and what I’ve represented in my career, right? At this point, there’s no coaching needed. He’s already got his flow worked out, he’s got his approach worked out. He’s ready to go. So, I’m just there to do my thing.

“Tear It Up” Featuring Lloyd and Slick Pulla

Produced by Midnight Black

Jeezy: I just kept sayin’, “I need a chick record. I want a chick record.” And then I made it. I wrote the hook myself and at the time, Lloyd was coming around the studio and we was pretty cool. I called him. I was like, “I got this song I want you to check out.” He was like, “Aight, cool.” It’s crazy. Imagine me singing the hook to Lloyd. I’m like, “This is how the hook goes.” I’m sing- ing it to him, he’s like, “Oh yeah, I can do that.” He go in. I’m sitting in the other room while he’s doing it so I’d tell him, “Sing this part. Sing that part.” And he did.

Slick was in the studio. I was like, “Slick, you might as well hop on that.” So, Slick hopped on the record and then I just remember it being special. The beat had this eerie ghetto feel, and I just remember listening to it and it really worked for me ’cause that was like one of the only girl records I had on the album.

Lloyd: We did that song. The funniest part about that is they brought me in to do a hook and at the time, I was rapping on everything. So, I went there and I started rapping verses on the songs and I remember Jeezy was like, “Aye, we didn’t bring you in here to do that but go ’head, get it out.” So, he let me get my little raps off, but of course he never used them. I just knew I was finna kill that verse.

Slick Pulla: We all had a house we was staying at together and we was vibing to the beat and we sat down and vibed out on the hook. We was tryna figure out who we was gon’ get on the hook and it ended up being Lloyd. And we pretty much had cheffed up the verses at the house before we even got to the studio. We was all kicking it when we recorded the verses. My verse was written at the house ’cause we was already vibing to the beat. We used to vibe to the beat before we’d go to the studio that day. So, we’d pretty much not be in there playing.

“That’s How Ya Feel”

Produced by Shawty Redd

Jeezy: I [recorded] that and then we all took a big trip to Cancun and when we came back I was playing songs on my iPod and I just remember thinking, OK, I’m just gonna throw it on the album. It wasn’t one of my favorites, but I just liked the singing, and I liked the beat. I put it on the album because I could. It resonated. It wasn’t meant to be on the album. At the end, I was like, Lemme go back through the drive. And that was one of the ones I had. I remember listening to it when I came back from Cancun and I was like, I’m just gonna put it on [the album]. See what happens.

Shawty Redd: That’s one of my favorite beats. I had to fight him for that one. He wanted to put that on the mixtape. I was like, “What are you talking about, bro? That’s hard. I can’t put that on the mixtape, man.” Those sounds are the same sounds that was coming off of “Bottom of the Map.” When you get some new equipment, you’re trying some things out. You’re doing new things. He didn’t think it was big enough for the album.

When I made the beat I was basically thinking about we had the whole city right around bumping the Tha Streets Iz Watchin mixtape. I’m trying to tell him, “Bro, we got to make some music for the people that put speakers in their trunks.” This is the music. I’m like, “car music,” where they can play this at the car. I’m like, “You love cars. You love rims. Let’s do this record for that.” I had to fight him for it, but I won. That was the inspiration for that, car music.

“Talk to ’Em”

Produced by Nitti

Jeezy: “Talk to ’Em” came off of Trap or Die the mixtape. Just [like] “Air Forces,” the next one. They was mixtape songs that I felt like the world needed to hear. So, I put ’em on the album and these are the records that I recorded in Shawty Redd’s basement. I didn’t think everybody heard the mixtape, so I didn’t wanna take the chance of people not hearin’ them.

Nitti: If you ever been in the studio with Jeezy, he just go through beats and beats. He’s a studio rat. So, he went through a whole bunch of beats, and when he heard the “Talk to ’Em,” Jeezy always go against the grain. It was a different type of record that I gave him to rap on. Once he got in there and did his thing... Jeezy go in there, you know he don’t write nothing down, so he go line for line. And the record just, it came out to be something magical.

“Air Forces”

Produced by Shawty Redd

Jeezy: “Air Forces” was like when I was running around the street a hundred deep. It was like, the birth of this leader. It’s the guy that they could believe in. That walks around in the Air Force Ones, sees life how you see it and understands what you’re going through. And I just really believed in that. I still do. Air Forces was just like, the hustler’s shoe. The dope boys shoe in Atlanta, just like, you got a pair of fresh white Air Forces. Nine times outta 10, back then, it meant you had your life together. You see somebody with some icy whites, they got a fresh white tee every time you see ’em, they kept they stuff up. And that’s what that represented to me.

Shawty Redd: [That song is] basically just a concept of him every day. When I started making the beat, I was just like, Let me try to do some Prince chord because I’m a Prince fan. A lot of people don’t know that. I kind of been studying Prince since I was a kid. [In] some of my melodies, you hear a little Prince in it. I really was going in the direction of a hardcore “When Doves Cry,” with the beat. Jeezy was like, “I got the hook.” Then I just started play- ing the melodies even more. Then I think I probably put four sounds in it and then put our signature drums because now we’re at this phase where we know the formula now.

I think that’s probably the last record we did. Musically, I put the drum in there like our signature sounds. He just [said], “I went from old school Chevys...” That was it.

Check out more from XXL magazine’s Fall 2020 issue including our 2020 XXL Freshman Class interviews with NLE Choppa, Polo G, Chika, Baby Keem, Mulatto, Jack Harlow, Rod Wave, Lil Tjay, Calboy, Fivio Foreign, Lil Keed and 24kGoldn, a Hip-Hop Junkie conversation with Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, read one of Pop Smoke's final interviews and find out what's going on with T.I.'s upcoming album and movie roles.