

Jeezy released his major label debut, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, on July 26, 2005. Ultimately, Jeezy decided he wanted to be in business with Stewart and Reid and signed with Def Jam Records as a result. However, due to Jeezy's rising popularity, other record labels began pursuing him simultaneously to sign with them, most notably, Warner and Interscope. Reid recognized Jeezy's talent and gave Stewart the green light to sign him. Stewart "fell in love with it the first time heard it" and took it to L.A. In May 2004, Jazze Pha's manager, Henry 'Noonie' Lee, showed Jeezy's demo to his friend Shakir Stewart, then Vice President Artist and Repertoire (VP A&R) at Def Jam. In 2004, Jeezy signed with Bad Boy Records and joined the group Boyz n da Hood, whose self-titled album was released in June 2005 and peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 album chart. In 2003, Jeezy independently released Come Shop wit Me, a two-CD set featuring new tracks along with some songs previously released on T.U.I.


The album included features from artists Freddy J., Kinky B, Fidank, and Lil Jon, who also produced some of the songs. In 2001, under the name Lil J, Young Jeezy released his first independent album, Thuggin' Under the Influence (T.U.I.). Four years later, in 1998, Jeezy launched the label imprint CTE World, then known as Corporate Thugz Entertainment. In 1994, Jeezy spent nine months in YCA (Youth Challenge Academy), a boot camp in Fort Stewart, Georgia, for narcotics possession. He had lived in Macon, Georgia at an older age where he befriended many Crip gang members and even affiliated himself with the Crips and started his affiliation with Kinky B who helped his career along with many others. At a point in time he lived in Hawkinsville, Georgia, at 600 N Lumpkin. In an interview with XXL magazine, he described his childhood as "empty". When he was a toddler, Jenkins relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, where he lived with different family members, as a result of his parents separating. Jay Wayne Jenkins was born on September 28, 1977, in Columbia, South Carolina.
