“Young Jeezy was born Jay Anthony Jenkins in Columbia, South Carolina (USA) on September 28th, 1977,” according to “XXL.” Growing up in one of the poorest regions of this country changed him and helped establish some of Jeezy’s most important character traits, ambition and resiliency. His mother died when he was eight years old after complications from sickle cell anemia led to her hospitalization.

At about that time, Jenkins moved with his father into the notorious Boulder crest Terrace housing projects where his poverty on a level that many can only imagine. When hip-hop music became one of the few positive things in his life, a career path in music began to seem like one of the few legitimate ways to lift him out of this environment. According to “XXL,” Jenkins “hustled during the day and made up rhymes at night.” His hustling activities included selling black market cell phones and illegal drugs.

Early Life of Young Jeezy

He grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, where he attended the Therrell High School. However, Jeezy’s educational journey was not smooth sailing. He was a troubled student who struggled with truancy and dropped out of high school in his senior year. Despite these setbacks, Jeezy was determined to make something of himself and pursued his passion for music.

Net worth

His net worth is reported to be $22 million as of 2022. Young has earned this much wealth from the music profession. In 2013, one of the famous US magazines said Young earned more money than any other hip-hop artist of that year. The main source of his income is the sales of his songs and album records. In his career, he created almost eleven different studio albums. Some of them ranked among the top charts, which has made a lot of money for them. Besides that, Jazzy has also minted a lot of money by appearing in many famous TV shows and movies. He appears as a guest star in them.

Hip hop music of Jeezy

When Georgia rapper Young Jeezy (born Jay Jenkins) left the “hustler” lifestyle behind, he found a new outlet for expressing his passion for hip-hop music. He quickly became one of rap’s most prolific hitmakers at a time when hip-hop was going through a commercial and creative renaissance.

His come up occurred during the mid to late 2000s. Despite being under investigation by law enforcement for drug trafficking, gun possession, and other crimes, Young Jeezy stayed true to his roots as an artist rather than succumbing to pressure from those who urged him to use his stardom as a means of attaining wealth without compromising artistry. The son of a man killed in a construction accident as well as three children from his own marriage, Young Jeezy had the drive and will to overcome numerous obstacles on his way to becoming a mainstream success story.

Charges on Young Jeezy

In 1997, Jay Jenkins was caught trying to sell a large amount of cocaine along with an illegal handgun. He was sentenced on a charge of aggravated assault against a police officer during a traffic stop while being on probation for previous crimes he committed under the influence of alcohol.

While incarcerated, Jay had already been writing lyrics seriously for several years and many have suggested that his time behind bars was an important time for him as a writer. In 1999, he returned home to Boulder crest Terrace and began pursuing music more seriously. He met the producer DJ Toomp, who would go on to produce many of Jeezy’s biggest songs, through this rapper’s younger brother Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory.

Hit songs of Jeezy

With Big Meech’s financial backing, Jay Jenkins became Young Jeezy with the release of “Thuggin'” in 2001. The song gained notice for its focus on capturing harsh street vibes rather than the radio-friendly rap subject matter that had become popular at the time. Jeezy quickly gained ground with follow up singles and appeared on the soundtrack to the Don “The Dragon” Wilson action movie 2 Fast 2 Furious.

In 2003, Young Jeezy became an artist and one-third of the Corporate Thugz Entertainment (CTE) group alongside Big Meech and his brother Chris “Macaroni” King. CTE gained notoriety for its association with drug trafficking as well as rapping that represented typical street life in southside Atlanta where many label executives saw potential for commercial success. At this time, mainstream hip-hop was changing as well thanks to a new generation of artists bringing diversity back to rap music. As Jay Jenkins found more success, he remained locked up on probation violations including evidence tampering, all while his debut album hit stores without his voice anywhere to be found.

Debut album of Young

The title of Young Jeezy’s debut album, “Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101,” didn’t come without controversy. Fans learned that Jay Jenkins also went by the name “Young’J” and accused him of stealing the name from New Orleans rapper Juvenile who popularized this monicker before he could. This would not be the last time that there would be legal issues surrounding use of this moniker as DJ Drama (born Tyree Pittman) took Jay Jenkins to court over alleged copyright infringement in 2011.

According to “XXL,” it was Jay Z (Shawn Carter) who signed Young Jeezy to Def Jam Records after hearing his music almost unintentionally during a trip to Atlanta in 2003. After an introductory deal with Atlantic Records expired, Jeezy signed to Def Jam and released his second album in 2005 titled “Thug Motivation 102: Hustlerz Ambition.”

Success of Young Jeezy

By 2008, Jay Jenkins had achieved a level of commercial success and stardom that few rappers could match which led to his third release in this timeframe. Titled “The Recession,” the album stalled commercially after its initial hit single was pulled due to sample clearance issues. This resulted in slow sales for what ended up being one of Young Jeezy’s most critically acclaimed albums thanks to tracks like “OJ” (featuring rapper Gucci Mane) which many saw as a bold track about the American dream within the economic climate of the time.

The 2009 album “Pressure” performed well initially but failed to match the commercial success of its predecessor after a high profile fight between Jeezy and 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson). The beef was over whether or not Jay Jenkins had ever attended Hampton University as he claimed in his lyrics, which 50 Cent believed was false. This argument could have been much worse if it wasn’t for Atlanta rapper T.I. (Clifford Joseph Harris Jr.) who stepped in with an awkward peace offering at Kanye West’s Glow In The Dark Tour stop in New York City that year.

Jeezy experienced another major setback when longtime friend and business associate Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in trafficking cocaine. The government alleged that Big Meech handled millions of dollars in drug profits during his reign as leader of the Black Mafia Family (BMF) drug ring.

Issues of young jeezy

Music and legal troubles were not the only issues that Jay Jenkins faced as he also had problems with women during his rise to fame which led to several well-publicized breakups, including one with reality star Erica Mena from Love & Hip Hop New York (Bravo). In December 2014, Jay Jenkins married Misa Hylton-Brim who is the mother of two of his children, Jadyn and Jasmine, but this marriage was far from perfect as it resulted in a restraining order against Young Jeezy after an argument turned violent at the home they shared together that same year.