V Exclusive! Young Jeezy Talks Album Leaks and TM103 Being Worth the Wait

When a rapper puts their heart and soul into a project, the pain and anguish felt after it prematurely leaks can lead to irrational thinking. Just ask Young Jeezy. In 2005, his debut album Thug Motivation 101 hit the streets six full days before its official release.

After the ATL-bred rapper found out a studio intern was responsible for his music hitting the streets early, Jeezy hunted down the young man, with an assault rifle in hand. Fortunately, no one was hurt or killed during the incident. The dealer-turned-rapper eventually moved on from his erratic ways and focused on creating music that launched him into the public eye.

“Yeah it was a big deal but I tell anybody when you put your life on the line and you work hard and you do your research, and do your work and you put an album together that’s something special to you, and when somebody does that it feels like you’ve been robbed,” says Jeezy while recalling the leak of TM101.

“And I, for one, ain’t the type to get robbed. I don’t play that shit, you know, I take that very seriously and I seen people get killed for less,” he adds.

More than six years later, Jeezy is still dealing with the same issues. Yesterday evening (Dec. 14), the snowman’s forthcoming LP Thug Motivation 103: Huslterz Ambition hit the Internet in its entirety.

“It’s just a crazy time in music because I remember when there was a time when we couldn’t wait just to go in the store and buy [an album] so I don’t understand, what’s the rush?,” Jeezy tells VIBE. “I mean you can’t rush greatness if something comes out and somebody puts hard work into it and you’re a fan of it you should want to purchase it and support him. It’s not about the money to me, it’s about the act you know -- pulling up to the mall, getting out your car and actually going to buy something that you dig, that you feel is worth it.”

Though we spoke with the Snowman prior to TM103 leaking, Jeezy let us know how felt about the unavoidable situation.

“I would hope that wouldn’t happen you know because people waited all this time,” says Jeezy. And I absolutely think this is one of the best bodies of work that I’ve done, I’ll let you be the judge of that but I would think that you want to wait for this.”

TM103 hits retailers on Dec. 20.