Young Jeezy hustlin’ at House of Blues

Plenty of rappers testify on track after track about their rough-and-tumble backgrounds as a means of asserting their gangsta bona fides.

Young Jeezy, however, made a movie about it.

He even got Samuel Jackson to narrate it.

Basically, the dude wants his past taken seriously so that his present gets taken even more seriously.

The documentary in question, "A Hustlerz Ambition," which is available with the deluxe edition of Jeezy's latest disc, "Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition," chronicles the MC's rough rise to prominence.

He began peddling dope at age 11, the grim realities of the drug trade hitting him especially hard when he once encountered his mother in a crack house.

Eventually, Jeezy would turn to a career in hip-hop, where his menacing, grizzly bear growl and steely presence on the mic have made him a star.

But as "A Hustlerz Ambition" attests to, success may have removed Jeezy from the streets, but the streets are hardly removed from him.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at
jbracelin@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.