A Tale of Two Cities: Jeezy and DJ Drama Take Over ATL and Detroit for 'Sno Fall '
Any real Jeezy fan knows there are two cities that there are two cities that he calls home—Atlanta and Detroit.
Longtime collaborators Jeezy and DJ Drama came together in both cities for two very special shows. The show, billed as the B-Sides, featured deep cuts from Jeezy’s albums and Gangsta Grillz’s mixtapes.
Jeezy’s Trap Or Die mixtape was released in 2004. The 20+ tracks were introduced to a larger audience who instantly fell in love with his drug dealer raps and street anthems. The album helped make the Gangsta Grillz mixtape series the voice of the streets for more than a decade.
“This is history in the making. This is two decades in…classic material,” speaking about the B-Sides show, DJ Drama told BET.com exclusively, “From the 4th Ward to the world. Legendary records. Jeezy got so many hits, so many classics, and there’s just so many records that the people love, and he just can’t do a 4-hour show every time. So, we figured tonight, we would give them the B-Sides—some of the ones they ride to. Some of the ones they bump in the car, some of the ones they play at Magic City, some of the ones they play all over the world.” The Gangsta Grillz legend is fresh off a Grammy Award win with Tyler, the Creator and prepping his own project called, I’m Really Like That.
The Atlanta show was still nearly two hours long as Jeezy performed almost 50 songs—from his mixtapes, b-sides from his studio albums, and several of his classic mixtape verses. It was held at Future Gallery in the city’s downtown. The small Black-owned gallery aims to create social change through art. It was packed with fans who got in by texting a local radio station. The venue was decorated with photos of Jeezy and Drama, blown up images of their many mixtape covers and fan created art.
“If you ain’t singing every song word-for-word or wasn’t personally invited, I’m gon feel a type of way tonight,” Jeezy said from the stage. And he wasn’t disappointed. Opening with “Get Ya Mind Right,” he went right into “Trap or Die,” with the standing room only, packed house crowd singing every song.
“Tonight, this is about celebrating the records that the radio didn’t hear, that didn’t have videos, but the streets were f**king with them,” he said.
The Detroit show was ticketed at Royal Oak Music Theatre where it sold out in barely a day. Fans in the city have embraced Jeezy who embraced them back since the days when he was affiliated with BMF. In fact, he is rarely seen without a signature “D” cap—the official logo of The Detroit Tigers.
From backstage in Atlanta, Jeezy exclusively told BET.com that they might tour with the B-Sides show—but there aren’t plans for it yet. “When you make timeless music, and you put timeless effort into it, you get timeless art. And right now, we are getting the chance to display that. This feels like Trap or Die to me. Just more elevated.”
Their newest collaboration Sno Fall was released on October 21. Of the album, Jeezy said, “We are still allowed to talk about what we know on the street-level and still be successful Black men, it’s art. It’s music and we are taking it nostalgically back to what we know. You woulda thought we recorded that in the basement. Look at where we at,” he says gesturing to the small back room in the gallery where paintings of Black people adorn the walls. He adds, “It’s a line down the block… it’s lit.”
Jeezy himself seemed to be beaming with pride from the stage as hometown fans rapped along to hits like “Trap Star,” and “Bottom of the Map,” also present was Don Cannon who produced a number of hits for Jeezy who played most of those too.
In Atlanta, the show was more nostalgic, between songs, Mr. 17.5 would tell a short story about how the song came to be, or of breaking records at Atlanta’s infamous Magic City strip club while Drama would add some memories of his own making it more than just a show, but a night of shared memories.
While in Detroit, it was the music that did the talking with songs like “Go Crazy,” getting a huge reception.
They also performed their new single from Sno Fall, “I Ain’t Gon Hold Ya,” which is an 80s-inspired sonic return to the sound that made Jeezy a hip-hop legend. The track was created by Detroit producer Helluva who said that it was Drama who encouraged the rapper to use it for the album. Helluva has been called the architect of the new Detroit rap movement. At the show, he said that he was “ecstatic” that Jeezy chose the song as a single which he describes as a pure Detroit sound.
Jeezy and Drama closed out the show with gratitude for Atlanta. “I’m always gon put on for my city, y’all know that,” before dropping “Put On,” and leaving a grateful nostalgic crowd with new memories.
In Detroit, Jeezy concluded by showing love to the growing rap scene shouting out artists, producers, and bringing out one Peezy—saying that the two had recorded a mixtape that same night.
The two shows illustrated two sides of the legendary trap music rapper. Along with the new critically acclaimed album that comes after two more tepid projects and his high-profile marriage to television host, Jeannie Mai that Jeezy hasn’t lost his edge. Like he said from the stage in Detroit, “Whoever counted me out, can’t f**king count.”
