It is rather difficult to estimate a rapper’s net worth, especially when they are prone to controversies, lavish spending habits or court appearances. But today, we’re going to try and make an exercise in calculation by taking a look at the finances of Jay Wayne Jenkins, better known as Jeezy.
Jeezy, along with gun-toting rapper T.I. and Gucci Mane helped popularize trap among mainstream audiences. With a trajectory that dates back to 2001 and being active as a lyricist as early as 1997, the finances of this rapper are worth taking a look at.
Jeezy’s Career
Jeezy, born Jay Wayne Jenkins was born in Columbia, South Carolina on 28 September 1977. The rapper had humble beginnings and since his early age he was exposed to the problems that low-income, inner-city families face. He was raised by both his mom and his dad but never really had a two-parent family. Since the kick-off, he had it rough, just like millions of young Gen-X African Americans who were supposed to see the benefits of being the first wave of US citizens who had it going when the Civil Rights movement kicked off and moved significantly in favor of Black America.
Being raised in that context, Jeezy spent most of his youth in the inner cities of the Southern United States, from the Carolinas to Atlanta, Macon and Hawkinsville, there was this instability and sense of unfairness that stuck with him and made him harbor a deep passion for rap, being influenced by people like Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash and the Sugar Hill Gang.
It was a matter of time before being exposed to crime and instability made Jeezy a criminal, and he got picked up for narcotics and thrown in jail for nine months, after that, he straightened his act and decided to launch his own label, Corporate Thugz Entertainment. In 2001 he made his first album, and featured songs by performers like Lil Jon and Kinky B.
Then, Jeezy moved on, signed with Bad Boy, and joined Boyz N Da Hood with an album that peaked number five at the Billboard 200. Jeezy kept on with the crime rhymes and dropped Let’s Get It in 2005, then went on to do The Inspiration and U.S.D.A. along with a collab with Christina Milian. When the 2008 recession hit the financial world, so did his album by the same name who made it gold.
Jeezy kept things going, devled into trap, campaigned for Obama, developed a penchant for singles and kept his cool when others around him like T.I. got hit by the authorities on gun charges, more importantly, Jeezy has never snitched.
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Family Man
After recognizing that the thug life keeps black people in the projects and behind, Jeezy did step up for communities, he participated with Kanye in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, and most recently, he married to Jeannie Mai in 2021, the couple has a baby, but Jeezy has fathered other three children from different women at certain moments of his life.
Jeezy Net Worth
After retirement, meaning, several albums, singles, a couple of movies and mixtapes later, came Jeezy’s shot at podcasting and living from his earnings. His net worth can be calculated at around $10 million, with the bulk of his income coming from royalties from his rapping.
He has a few side hustles beyond the crime rhymes, with a record label, a sports agency and several real estate deals in which he buys houses, hires a contractor, fixes them up and flips them up for profit. Furthermore, Jeezy, who has had the short end of the stick for a period in his life decided to help local communities in a philanthropic effort to help low income families in the inner cities. He likes to talk to the youth and tell them to build their way up not in the crime ranks but in more positive ways. Despite being retired, you can eventually see him pick him a mic and dropping some sick rhymes here and there. Good for him!
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