Young Jeezy Reflects On Thug Motivation 101 Debut

Young Jeezy sure knows how to throw a birthday bash. To celebrate the six-year anniversary of the release of his 2005 debut album, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, Jeezy staged a pair of concerts, one in New York City on Monday, and a second on Tuesday, which was actually the anniversary of the album, in Atlanta.

"It felt good to see the city out, givin' everybody something to dress up for, get out have a good time," the Snowman told on Tuesday while backstage at his ATL show. "It was definitely a lot of thug motivatin' going on. Everybody was there for one reason: We were celebrating. It was a celebration.

"I just wanted to put somethin' together that was special," he said of the tribute shows. "Music is so different nowadays from when I came out. An album would last two or three years, especially when you have a classic like I do," he added with a chuckle.

In NYC, Jeezy thrilled concertgoers as he ran through the TM 101 track list, bringing out special guests like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Bun B, Fabolous and the LOX during the 80-minute show. And for Atlanta, Jizzle brought out Yo Gotti and Lil Scrappy.

"I got a lot of what I call family in this industry. It's a lot of cats that came from the same walk of life that I came from and we really rock like that," Jeezy said about his star-studded guest list. "We just show that support for each other. I've been on tour with a lot of these cats and kick it on the phone with them daily, so it's phone calls, two, three phone calls," he said of getting his rap-star friends to participate.

When it was released in 2005, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 helped usher in a brand of drug-related, trap rap that has become prevalent in hip-hop in the past six years. Things have definitely changed since Jeezy made his first splash, but he believes his album represents a specific time in hip-hop that may never return.

" '05 was a beautiful year — for the economy, for the people, for the hood, just working-class, even if you were a street hustler," Young Jeezy said of his rookie year in rap. "The world is a different place now, so I wanted to take everybody back and give them that feeling, because it's hard out here. At the same time, just that in the back of your head, knowing when this music was playing what you were doing, help you get through your day again, still motivation."

During his set in NY, Jeezy announced that his long awaited TM 103 will be released on September 20, and on Tuesday, he announced a 26-ctiy tour that will begin in New Orleans on July 31, concluding in Seattle on September 2.

Share your memories of Jeezy's TM 101 in the comments below!