Album Review: Jeezy - Seen It All: The Autobiography

Jeezy_seen_it_all

Artist: Jeezy
Album: Seen It All: The Autobiography
Label: Def Jam
Release Date: September 2, 2014

“The statute of limitations is over with” proclaimed “Jeezy” (Dropping the Young from his name in Sept.) in a recent interview with V-103 when discussing his upcoming release Seen It All: The Autobiography. It doesn’t seem like it’s been 9 years since the dopeboy turned emcee dropped his first studio album Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101 solidifying his place in Hip-Hop culture. Jeezy’s 5th major label release comes complete with the gritty trapstar mentality that we’ve all come to expect from the Atlanta based rapper.

The album comes with a myriad of features from artists such as Rick Ross and The Game, both on the track “Beautiful,” Jay Z, Future and even Boosie Badazz. The production, provided by the likes of Childish Major, Mike WiLL MaDE IT, Kenoe etc., is more similar to his first album than that of his other work. It seems like Jeezy went back to the formula that worked so well for him on TM:101, get ridiculously banging beats and go hard as f*ck on every single track.

Now, Jeezy is no lyrical genius and has never claimed to be, but his scathing street lyrics along with clever punch lines “Ima bout to get a cooking show on Netflix/ and call that motherf*cker yea the best bricks”, from the track “What You Say,” work perfectly throughout the album. Jeezy has long been the self-proclaimed “Realest N*gga in This,” and on “Seen it All,” he proves that once again you don’t have to be the best emcee to be the realest motherf*cker in the game.

For Jeezy its not about how much money he spends or what he spends it on, its just about the thrill of making a shitload of cash. More than once on Seen it All Jeezy claims to have a “getting money fetish” or “a fetish for getting dough” or “I go crazy with that money/I’m a f*ckin mental patient.” For Jeezy it seems like the pursuit of cash is what drives him, one can almost picture Jeezy in a swimming pool of gold coins, like Scrooge-McDuck, but counting each one has he swims past it.

The first cut “1/4 Block” is Jeezy reminiscing about where he came from and just how far he’s gotten. It opens “I remember being posted on the 1st and 3rd re up’d ni**a just got a nine piece (AYYY)/ All the while fantasizing visualizing coming through in a benz with dime piece” bringing it right back to his roots on the corner. Later on during this track Jeezy claims to whip crack like “crème brulee” which is just a great visualization. Childish Major’s guitar intro and drum build up to the hook until the beat eventually drops which works perfectly as Jeezy’s lyrics reach a boiling point.

On the track “4 Zones” produced by MiKe WiLL Made It, Jeezy let’s the listeners know that even if you lose everything as a drug dealer as long as you have at least 4 ounces of cocaine to cook into crack then you can get back on your feet. Jeezy’s determination to make it (Money) seems to flow through his entire being, “You fall off, you get back/ can’t give up, that sh*t wack”

Some of the standout tracks are “Black Eskimo,” “Seen it All” the title track featuring Jay Z, and “No Tears” a track featuring Future, which delves into the money and fame induced alienation of friends past. Future even proclaims, “I remember counting millions on the living room floor together/ I remember when we kicked in our first door together but you’ll never see a tear fall down my face”. It is almost a love ballad about the homie that he first started hustling and hitting licks with and how sad he is that they have grown apart over time.

Seen It All: The Autobiography is by no means a revelation, but it certainly does seem to be more autobiographical (recent legal issues aside) than some of his other material. Jeezy shows more maturity and sounds more like an elder statesman schooling the young “trapstars” on how to get money than someone who is struggling to perfect his hustle. “Seen it All” is sure to be another classic anthem for all those in the kitchen; so as you’re getting the stove tops hot and that water boiling, be sure to have this album playing at a ridiculously high volume.