Jeezy’s rise to rap royalty is crammed with classes about betting on your self and giving earlier than you count on something again. The Snowman lately sat down with Billboard to mark the twentieth anniversary of his basic album Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, sharing how a mixture of old-school recommendation and sudden obstacles formed his journey.

Get this, his beloved grandmother as soon as informed him, “Don’t ask anyone for something with out giving them one thing first,” a mindset that impressed him at hand out 1000’s of copies of his Entice or Die mixtape totally free within the streets. That grassroots strategy didn’t simply construct anticipation, it turned Jeezy right into a family identify lengthy earlier than he ever charted.

Throughout the recording of Let’s Get It, Jeezy confronted a critical well being setback when he developed polyps in his throat. With out insurance coverage, he needed to pay for surgical procedure out of a brown paper bag filled with money. “It humbled me and I keep in mind not having insurance coverage on the time,” he informed Billboard, chuckling on the reminiscence. “Think about that, I had insurance coverage on my Ferrari and never [medical] insurance coverage!”

What’s extra, to make issues extra sophisticated, all the album leaked earlier than its official launch date. However as a substitute of letting it derail his momentum, Jeezy acknowledged it as a hidden benefit. “I knew that was designed to harm me,” he shared. “That took the stress off, as a result of the world had heard the music. That was the promo.”

When Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101 lastly dropped on July 26, 2005, it debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 172,000 items bought within the first week. Fueled by anthems like “And Then What,” “Soul Survivor,” and “Go Loopy,” the album cemented Jeezy’s place in hip hop historical past, proof that a bit of hustle and lots of religion can flip setbacks into milestones.