Jeezy Talks Mentoring, Not Meeting With Trump & The “Tricky” State Of Our Country

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The night before Barack and Michelle Obama officially left the White House January 20, it felt like 2008. Not just because people were reminiscing on the year the United States elected its first Black President, but because everywhere you turned people were playing the anthem that went along with that monumental point in history, Jeezy’s “My President.”

The song was the fourth single from the rapper’s third album, The Recession, a body of work which spoke to the politically divided and financially insecure climate of the time from the perspective of the people most affected by the economic downturn. And as the nation finds itself more divided and uncertain about our future than ever in the first month of Donald Trump’s Presidency, we can’t help but wonder whether Pastor Young might have another word for us.

“I’m honest and politicians ain’t normally honest.”

We had a chance to talk with the Snowman about these “tricky” times, as he called them. And when we asked whether the political unrest across America has inspired him lyrically Jeezy couldn’t say. But personally, he’s certainly motivated.

“It’s a lot of stuff going on that I personally don’t agree with so I’m taking it all in,” he stated with the level of calm you’d expect from a man who admitted once the outcome of the 2016 election became obvious he simply thought, “it is what it is.”

“It’s a lot of moving parts. It hasn’t been the first 100 days yet so we gotta sit back and see how the first hundred go first, but it’s looking a little tricky.”

That it is, between the Muslim travel ban, efforts to strip women of their reproductive rights, and strange meetings Trump has held with a number of celebrities, like Kanye West.

“I see he don’t mess with him no more,” Jeezy pointed out when asked what he thought of Trump’s meeting with West. “You never know people’s reason for doing things, but me, personally, I’m just big on integrity and beliefs and I just don’t believe there would be a reason or a need for me to have a conversation with somebody that I don’t agree with their views. That’s where I’m at with it. I don’t see the end goal in that. I don’t think it’s nothing we can do for each other and I don’t think that we have the same views on how things are in the real world.”

As for any potential involvement in government outside of Trump, it’s not likely we’ll ever see Jeezy trade in the moniker of Pastor Young for Politician Young either. “I’m honest and politicians ain’t normally honest. They get in where they fit in. I might f-ck it all up ‘cuz I’m honest.”

CONTINUED

Photo : Getty

Photo : Getty

Whether in office or not, one thing that won’t change is Jeezy’s dedication to his local community. Last July he participated in a town hall meeting in Atlanta hosted by Rickey Smiley alongside other artists like Tyrese, David Banner, and Lyfe to discuss the increasing number of police shootings across the country. The meeting was labeled “Real Strategy For Change,” but Jeezy admitted the town hall came up short on outlining any real strategies for reducing police brutality.

“I’d always given people things, but sometimes you gotta give the gift that keeps on giving.”

“I was more so stressing we really need to come together and figure this out so we can go vote so that we won’t let the wrong person get in office and be back in this situation again, but at the time people were thinking about the situation at hand.

“It was people in there voicing their opinions and younger kids that had some really good views about it and saying some important things. But me, personally, being a person of the people, I left and I wasn’t happy because I felt like we didn’t get any type of conclusion out of it. Just a lot of frustration and anger and yelling.“

Still, he pointed out, “I was excited to even just be from Atlanta and see people having a town hall meeting.”

Nowadays, Jeezy’s holding different kinds of meetings to make a difference. Though his non-profit foundation Street Dreams is known for giving back all throughout the year, be it bookbag drives at the end of summer, meals at Thanksgiving, or gifts at Christmas, this time the rap veteran is getting hands-on, mentoring aspiring artists and giving them first-hand knowledge of the industry they wouldn’t get otherwise.

The program is an extension of Jeezy’s ongoing relationship with Avión Tequila and the brainchild of the rapper and the tequila brand founder Ken Austin who decided to host a nationwide competition for kids to win a chance to “sit down and have a couple conversations” about kickstarting their careers. And that’s exactly where we found Jeezy on a Wednesday afternoon before a show at the Marquee later that night, sharing the details of the mentoring program with as much enthusiasm as he has performing on stage.

“I thought the idea was dope ‘cuz nobody ever did that for me, and at the same time that’s something I’d never done on the philanthropy tip. I’d always given people things, but sometimes you gotta give the gift that keeps on giving. That’s the knowledge of the game that comes with this game.”

See photos of Jeezy at Marquee in NYC below and on the following pages.

Photo : Getty