Jeezy Recaps His Verzuz Against Gucci Mane

From the moment that Jeezy and Gucci Mane walked onto the stage at Atlanta’s storied Magic City strip club, the rap world held its breath. This was some prizefight-level programming by Verzuz. For more than 15 years the Atlanta duo have been nemeses—the real-deal kind, not the Instagram-beef kind—with a long, complicated, and violent history. Up until last Thursday, most episodes of the now-legendary “battle” show started by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, from Snoop and DMX to Patti and Gladys, had been low-key competitions among friends. Jeezy and Gucci, though: this was war. And Gucci came armed.

He lobbed diss record after diss record. Jeezy mostly played it cool, leaning into the bag of monster hits from his breakout 2005 debut, Thug Motivation 101: Let’s Get It. But it was Jeezy’s response to Gucci playing scathing mixtape cut “Truth”—which Gucci officially released to the major streaming services as a single just hours before the event—that seemed to secure him some sort of psychological win.

That’s when, as “Truth” faded out and Gucci kept talking shit, Jeezy took a moment to step back from their personal beef to put their feud into a bigger, deadlier context.

“All these kids out here doing what the fuck they do cause they saw what went on with us, dog,” he said. “So this shit ain’t about me, this shit ain’t about you, you feel what I’m saying?”

He namechecked some of hip hop’s recent, tragic deaths: “This shit about King Von.This shit about Doe B. This shit about Nipsey Hussle. This shit about motherfucking Pop Smoke. M03. And I’m real enough to do that, n***a, because one thing about it, two things for sure, three things for certain, n***a…”

And at that moment, Jeezy’s DJ, DJ Ace, dropped the Thug Motivation anthem “Get Ya Mind Right.” The whole tone changed. The night ended peacefully and even featured Jeezy and Gucci jointly performing “So Icy,” the track that helped spark their beef. Nearly two million people tuned in on Instagram, plus more than two million more via Apple Music. It’s the most-watched Verzuz so far.

Just a few days later, GQ caught up with Jeezy to talk about his new album, The Recession 2, his podcast, meeting Joe Biden, and his impressions of a night that will live forever in hip hop history.

First off, I know your fiancée, Jeannie Mai, recently had a health scare. How is she doing?
She’s good. Thank you for asking. She’s back. I think she’s able to eat now and she’s about 80 percent. Twenty more percent and she’ll be back out there saving the world. Back on The Real and back doing what she do.

I’m glad she’s on the mend. You have a lot going on. New album, new deal with Def Jam, podcast, TV show on Fox Soul.
I’m all about mental stimulation. My first guest on Worth a Conversation was Steve Harvey. My second guest was Deion Sanders. And the third guest was John C. Maxwell, who’s a thought leader. And my [most recent] guest was Tamika Mallory. [On the show I] talk to people about what they went through on their roads to success, why they didn’t give up, what was the hardest moment and what was the biggest lesson they learned. When you have the conversations with these people, you learn things, and for me, using my platforms to educate my culture is the goal.

On the Re(Session) podcast side, it’s more about real life. My first guest was Tony Robbins. It’s dope because Tony Robbins has his own outlook on how the world should work and how people should be motivated, and I have mine, too, so we kind of had a meeting of the minds there. And my [most recent] guest was Freeway from Roc La Familia. He talked about having kidney failure, and [the costs of doing] dialysis without insurance, only for his son to get slain a little bit later. And while he’s telling me this, his [teenage] daughter is sitting next to him and she was just diagnosed with cancer. I asked him how did he deal with all of that. He’s a Muslim, so he was like, God, Allah. And I think people need to hear that. I don’t just want to motivate people with my music and my albums, and those things, I want to use every platform to give them that insight.

I saw you recently sat down with Biden as well.
He came through Atlanta and he wanted to talk to some of the most influential business people here, and I was on that list. Actually, he wanted me to sit right beside him. We talked about what his Black agenda was, and I just wanted to really pick his brain. You just have to see where people are coming from to understand if they’re for you. And when he got Kamala as Vice President, I felt like that was dope, because she’s the perfect work wife because she understands the culture. And of course everybody’s got things to clean up. I hear what people say about the laws he passed, but this is a different day and age, and he’s better than the person we had in there, and I think that’s a start.

However, my biggest thing was for Georgia to be a big part of the election, and I’m so happy that my people—my culture—got the chance to see that every vote did count, and that their efforts didn’t go unseen. I had a lot of people tell me, ‘Why would I vote? It’s not going to matter.’ So I’m glad that they got a chance to see that, so going forward, when we mobilize, people will be more optimistic about being a part of movements like that, because they’ve seen the progress and the success.

I know you were disappointed that you never got the chance to meet with Obama despite the success of “My President.”
I do find it a little different that I’ve sat down with Joe Biden before I sat down with Barack Obama. Yes I do. I want to put that on record. Michelle, make that happen.

Stacey Abrams opened the Verzuz event. Did you bring her to the table?
I know when Monica and Brandy did [Verzuz], was it Michelle that they brought? So I think that’s what they’re doing now, ’cause it’s such a big platform and there are so many people tuned in. And I love what Stacey Abrams is doing and I love what she did for Georgia during this election, trying to get everything up for the Senate. I thought it was dope that she would even show up there, even if it was just on the screen.

What’s been the most surprising thing about this whole Verzuz experience?
I haven’t had a chance to take it all in and reflect on everything because it was all in real time and I was in the process of promoting my album. To go into Magic City, somewhere that I consider home, and to go there with Uncle Magic there and knowing that DJ Fernando—who was a great friend of mine who passed, who broke my records in there—just knowing that his spirit was around, it was just overwhelming. I’ve been all around the world, but my career started in that club, and now we were back here, for this. It was just one of those full circle moments—like, wow, no matter where you go, you gotta come back to get it right.

I was just in that Jeezy headspace, that Snowman headspace, and I was running through my records and really feeling myself. Like, I had to be my own crowd. [laughs] It really felt good because I’ve been on that stage before and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars enjoying myself. For me to be in there, now, in front of millions of people on that same stage—I just felt like it was full-circle.

Over five million people tuned in across all platforms. Biggest installment of Verzuz yet. Did you expect it to be that big of an event?
Nah, I didn’t go in like that. But I just knew that nobody from the culture would miss it because everybody wanted to see it. Because at this part of my career, I’ve never been in a situation like that, where...I’m normally on tour, but that’s the first time I’ve really been a part of an event that was socially that big.

Had you checked out some of the other Verzuz?
I definitely saw the iconic Teddy Riley and Babyface [one] when everything started messing up. And I think I saw Nelly and Luda. And I caught a little peek at the Brandy and Monica one. It was like, wow, if I did, who would I do it with? And the first thing that came to my mind was Gucci. I was just like, we at least owe the culture that. You don’t want to regret it and it never happens. And you have a platform like this at a time when the world needs it. So I reached out, like, Yo, you know, if you want to do it, I’m down. And the first time he respectfully declined, which I respect because it’s a weird platform. If you’re not up on it, it might not be the right thing for you. So then they came back and were like, ‘They want to do it,’ so I was like, ‘Cool, let’s get it.’

When it was originally announced, it was supposed to be you and T.I. Did you talk to Tip when the lineup changed? How did that conversation go?
Nah, because I hadn’t talked to Tip about it the first time, because when he was calling me out on his IG, I thought that’s what he wanted—so I was like, let’s do it. I was a little upset I wasn’t his first stop. I’m like, if you gonna call me out, call me out first. You gonna call me out third, it’s like, what are we doing? [laughs] But I could kinda tell by the energy [that it wasn’t the right match]. If you’re gonna do it, you gotta do what people want to see. I felt like when it came back around and [Gucci] wanted to do it, it was inevitable. It had to happen that way.

You were wearing the Black Mafia Family jersey. Why that fit?
That jersey was special because my guy made it for me. Like, all of us were in [Magic City] with that jersey on one Saturday [when] we went there to party and then go to 112. And that was one of the best nights I ever had in that club. I just wanted to be in that space, and pay homage to that time. If you notice, I was doing a dialogue about the times that I had in that club in ’04 and ’05. I just wanted to get that feeling and rekindle that.

What was it about that night back then that stood out?
Oh, man. I probably blew about $300,000, my guy probably borrowed about another $200,000 from me. We probably popped about 100 bottles of Cristal. Then we went to 112 and probably did the same thing. And it was just like, that’s that way too gone, best night of my life-type thing. Everything was good. Everybody was safe. [So I asked] my guy, “You remember that jersey you made back then? Let’s do it again, ’cause I want to feel like that.”

Going into the Verzuz event, what did you expect? How did you think it was going to go?
That’s the thing, I didn’t think. I just knew it had to happen. ’Cause for me it was for the culture. It was for the up-and-coming generation to see, this how you gotta go about this. We’re going to be in the same room, so we’re going to figure it out as men. It’s either going to go left or it’s going to go right, but we’re going to be in the same room.

You leaned into those records from 2004, 2005—Thug Motivation and Trap or Die. How confident were you that those were going to work?
It was capturing that era. Those records that I was playing were the records that, when you came in that club, everybody sang word-for-word for three or four hours straight. It was a time, you went in Magic City after 12 o’clock, you weren’t going to hear nothing but Jeezy until you left at 5 a.m. I just wanted to recapture that feeling. Just go in there knowing that this is my home, this is my base. I watched this club get renovated five times. I know everybody in here. Those records symbolized that, because those were the records they were playing.

Did you have your set list figured out beforehand?
I went through it and set it up because I knew how I wanted to tell the stories. You want to put those millions of people in that room at one time, at least mentally, with their imagination.

People were anxious and getting more anxious as the night went on. What was the atmosphere like in the room? Was it getting more tense?
Absolutely. It was thick. There wasn’t no denying that. I think everybody in there felt it as well.

Gucci played some really disrespectful records, going at you directly. How was it for you to be in that room and to be on the receiving end of that?
I didn’t lead with my ego. I’ve done a lot of work on myself to get to where I’m at mentally. I’m very confident in who I am as a man. So I’m never going to be on the defense about something that I know better about. My goal was to go in there with my integrity and to leave with it. It didn’t matter what anybody said—my integrity comes first. I’m very mentally strong when it comes to things like that, because I came from nothing. I had to work very hard to get to where I’m at. And I’m not going to jeopardize that in the moment, just because.

Had you already planned the “Get Ya Mind Right” moment? Did you know that’s where you were going to go if—or when—Gucci played “Truth”?
Well, I can’t say that. I can say that I reacted with my heart. I reacted from a real place. And I said what I felt. I really felt like that’s why I was there: To show the next generation, y’all gotta stop this senseless killing of each other. And then the record was what it was.

Everybody was stunned by how incredibly well-timed that drop was.
How did it feel, though? How did it feel?

I mean. It was…
Did it feel powerful? That’s all I need to know.

It definitely felt like a trump card in that moment. It was impressive. How were you guys able to time it like that?
I been doing this a long time, and me rocking with somebody like DJ Ace, he just knows my mannerisms. I don’t even have to look at him when we do things anymore. We've been doing this for so long. We’re Batman and Robin.

Rick Ross was also in the building and I know you guys had a strained relationship for a while. But you’ve gotten that on track, and been working together for some years now, including on “Almighty Black Dollar” from The Recession 2. Does your relationship with Ross point to a possible path for you and Gucci?
Well, me and Ross, we’re like-minded. We see the bigger picture. We’re on a whole other mission. And even with the record, “Almighty Black Dollar,” you can see that, just with the way that it was presented. It’s like when you’re big-dog status, you do big things, and you make it fun. I think that’s where me and him are at. I think the record is amazing. I think the video is next-level.

Did you know that you guys were going to eventually perform “So Icy” together at the end?
Well, I knew they were going to play it. I think it was supposed to be his last song. And I kept hearing them say, we’re playing “So Icy”—so I was like, let’s do it. I think they had it cued up. And I’m like, Yo, we’re here for the culture, so let’s do it one last time. Because that was the moment where the tension left the room, I felt like.

There were a lot of people in the comments who seemed to think that because you guys ultimately did that record as the last song, that the whole night was scripted. That it was more like wrestling than a real beef.
Nah, I couldn’t say that. It was just unbelievable that it happened that way. [laughs] So there was a lot of praying going on, know that. Because people were concerned. Rightfully so.

You followed up this big nostalgia night heavy in your 2004, 2005 work with a brand new album, The Recession 2, which has a different focus, different look, different vibe. Same guy, but evolved. How was it for you to move through those two spaces in the same night?
I felt like the guy that handled himself the way I handled myself [at Verzuz] was the guy who wrote Recession 2. I think if I had handled myself any differently, I would have been a hypocrite. And even when I got in the car and started listening to it, and listening to some of the things I was saying on the album, I was like, damn, man. And I don’t go by what people say, I go by what they do. And I can say those things in all those songs, but I did it. I didn’t let my emotions control me or let somebody get me off my pivot. And that’s what I’m talking about in the music: about staying solid, staying focused, and striving to be better. I think I did just that.

How quickly did the album come together?
It took a couple of months. Because most of it is live instrumentation, so I had to have musicians come in, and have different drummers and horn players. It was a whole thing, of just getting a vibe. I was listening to Bobby Womack all day, Curtis Mayfield, ’cause I just felt like that music is timeless to me. I just wanted to give it a shot. I’ve done everything else, so I was like: You know what, I just want to put a body of work together that I can be proud; that I can know I worked hard at. That I didn’t go get beats from people just to do it. Like, I actually made music from scratch. And that’s exactly what happened.

Trap music is running the game and has grown from an Atlanta subgenre to one of the biggest sounds in the world. The massive audience for your Verzuz just feels like another signal of just how big trap music is. Where do you see yourself in that story?
I got one better for you. Like, I don’t even do the music scope. I know what I mean to my people and to the culture. My whole mission in life is to move them forward and to show them how to evolve. So whether it’s a podcast or a talk show, a book or a conversation, or album… that’s my goal. It’s not just one thing. I never wanted to get caught up in that genre thing, because my music is timeless, as far as I’m concerned. Even if you listen to, sonically, what I’ve done throughout the years, you can’t really put a date on ’em, because you can listen to “Soul Survivor” right now and it can sound fresh if you’ve never heard it before. For me it’s more about the people. My message is motivation, my message is evolution, and my message is believing in yourself. As long as that message is relevant, then the music will be timeless.

Benjamin Meadows-Ingram is an author and film & TV producer. He has worked on the Netflix series Rapture, produced Future's documentary The WIZRD for Apple Music and co-authored Scarface's memoir, Diary of a Madman: Life, Death and the Roots of Southern Rap.

Originally Appeared on GQ