TM:103 Hustlerz Ambition

by Jeezy

Overview

After releasing The Recession in 2008, Young Jeezy suffered his own three-year layoff due to legal problems and a fight with the crippling disease Bell's palsy. Add a paradigm shift in hip-hop radio, where the introspection of Drake and Kid Cudi found favor over Jeezy and T.I.'s extroverted pusher music, then top if off with a slew of missed released dates and the whole thing stinks of a setup, which is why any fond appreciation of TM:103 must come from the "warts and all" department. This unforgiving return to form doesn't suffer from being over-thought and it's not even overwrought, but it is overstuffed at 14 tracks (make that 18 for the deluxe version) and the most welcoming moments are pushed to the back (the "F.A.M.E."/"I Do"/"Higher Learning" sequence is like a trap music glitter dome with Jay-Z, Andre 3000, T.I., and Snoop Dogg all on the guest list). These minor complaints will matter little to returning fans as their needs are put first with the front half of album rolling like a steamroller fueled by grind-time anthems. Even the hack "game needs me"-styled opener is welcome as the rapper forces "Waiting" out of his hoarse throat like it was gravel, and after "What I Do" does something infectious and incredible with an economic hook and a Drumma Boy beat, the bold "OJ" comes along filled with iffy metaphors and a trailer load of controversy. The scattershot and irresponsible number is a red herring and kept a safe distance from the album's true key track, "Trapped," where Jeezy and Jill Scott offer a crafted and complicated social statement, one that's soulful and the worthy successor to "My President." What's made Jeezy's evolution as an artist interesting is that this rebel without a cause sometimes finds one, and even when he's more Hulk than Bruce Banner, his changes are driven by emotion rather than something calculated. Here he's driven by the hunger to put things back where they were and live up to TM:103's official subtitle, Hustlerz Ambition, along with its unofficial one, Trap or Die Tryin'. ~ David Jeffries

Product Details

Release Date:	12/20/2011
Label:	Def Jam
UPC:	0602527260020

Tracks

1. Waiting
2. What I Do (Just Like That)
3. OJ
4. Nothing
5. Way Too Gone
6. Supafreak
7. All We Do
8. Leave You Alone
9. Everythang
10. Trapped
11. F.A.M.E.
12. I Do
13. Higher Learning
14. This One's for You

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jeezy   Primary Artist
Freddie Gibbs   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
T.I.   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Snoop Dogg   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Devin the Dude   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Fabolous   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Jay-Z   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Lil Wayne   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Plies   Primary Artist
Trick Daddy   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Andre 3000   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Jadakiss   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Future   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Jill Scott   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Ne-Yo   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Mitchelle'l   Primary Artist
2 Chainz   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Tierra T.   Vocals (Background)
Edward J. "UK" Nixon   Vocals (Background)
Julio Roland Reyes-Ortiz   Vocals (Background)
Iren Brown   Director
Chris Robinson   Director
J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Rikki Hughes   Executive Producer
Nayvadius Wilburn   Composer
Mike WiLL Made-It   Producer
James A. Johnson   Composer
Antoine Kearney   Composer
Joshua Banks   Composer
Kenneth Bartolomei   Composer
Tauheed Epps   Composer
Andrew Beardmore   Composer
Paavo Siljamaeki   Composer
Tracey Sewell   Composer
Jak "Suthernfolk" Brown   Vocal Engineer
Kouji Ryuzaki   Composer
Anthony McGuinness   Composer
Fredrick Tipton   Composer
Maurice Young   Composer
Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton   Vocal Engineer
Lenny Williams   Composer,Composer
Ricardo Johnson   Engineer
Christopher Gholson   Composer,Producer
Donald M. Woodard   Legal Counsel
Andre Lipscomb   Arranger,Engineer
Edward J. "UK" Nixon   Engineer
Michael "Emaydee" Dupree   Producer
John Jackson   Composer
Elliot Carter   Engineer
Ken Oriole   Vocal Engineer
John Cossette   Executive Producer
Darwin Quinn   Composer
Erik Ortiz   Composer
Kevin Crowe   Composer
Marquel Middlebrooks   Composer
Michael Williams   Composer
Michael Dupree   Composer
Andre "Muzzy" Solis   Engineer
Carbon 15   A&R
Diveckson "Div" Chamba   Assistant
Alonzo Miller   Composer
Chris Athens   Mastering
Leslie Brathwaite   Mixing
L. Williams   Composer
D. Rich   Composer
Leesa D. Brunson   A&R
Kristen Yiengst   Photo Coordination,Art Coordinator
James Minchin III   Photography
Karl Heilbron   Engineer
Shawn Carter   Composer
Chris Atlas   Marketing
Nico Solis   Engineer
Ashaunna Ayars   Executive Producer
Shakir Stewart   A&R,Executive Producer
Erica Bowen   A&R
Carol Corless   Package Production
Moses Gallart   Engineer
Midnight Black   Producer
Brandon Parks   Assistant Engineer
Warren Griffin III   Composer
Jesse Collins   Executive Producer
Koji Ryuzaki   Composer
Mario Grigoron   Score
Lonnie Liston Smith   Composer
W. Griffin   Composer
Dr. Lonnie Smith   Composer
Michael Bennett   Composer
Demetrius 'Kinky B' Ellerbee   Executive Producer
Clifford Harris   Composer
A. Washington   Composer
DJ Quik   Score
Dwayne Carter   Composer
Jeezy   Executive Producer
Andre Benjamin   Composer
Samuel L. Jackson   Narrator
P. Frank Williams   Producer
Jill Scott   Composer
Lil C   Producer
Tony McGuinness   Composer
Calvin Broadus   Composer
Finis "KY" White   Engineer
Shaffer Smith   Composer
T. Sewell   Composer
M. Bennett   Composer
Lil Lody   Producer
M16   Producer
K. Crowe   Composer
Jay Jenkins   Composer
E. Ortiz   Composer
Devin Copeland   Composer
Jason Phillips   Composer
TaVon Sampson   Design,Art Direction
Jonathan Grant   Composer
Terese Joseph   A&R
J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League   Producer,Instrumentation
Masaaki Hirao   Composer
Demetrius Ellerbee   Composer
Warren G.   Producer
Tai Linzie   Art Coordinator,Photo Coordination
Kazuo Koike   Composer
Algernod Washington   Composer