Young Jeezy Talks About His Collaboration With Jay Z

For his coming sixth studio album, Young Jeezy decided to make it “real personal.”

Jay Wayne Jenkins, now known simply as Jeezy, said the album focuses on “who I am as an entrepreneur,” a part of his career that was largely influenced by rapper and hip-hop mogul Jay Z.

The two collaborated on a track that, according to Jeezy, was supposed to land on Jay Z’s “Magna Carta Holy Grail.”

“It was really a personal record for me, I told J, I love this record so much, it’s so personal for both of us but it’s got to be on my album. It is very much classic Jeezy and Jay Z,” Jeezy told the Journal.

Jay Z’s 12th studio album debuted in July on the Billboard 200 at No. 1 and sold 527,000 units in its first week, the year’s second-biggest opening after Justin Timberlake‘s, “The 20/20 Experience,” according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The idea for their track collaboration, which remains untitled, was hatched in Philadelphia in Timberlake’s dressing room. The two spent four straight hours backstage, sorting out everything from beats to lyrics, talking about the similarities in their backgrounds and the song’s overall theme, “which is to stand tall and continue to conquer the world each and every day,” said Jeezy.

Jeezy, who has a clothing line, also serves as Tequila Avión’s “urban and multicultural consultant.” Their relationship began after Ken Austin, Avión’s founder and chairman, noticed a four-fold increase in tequila sales in Washington D.C., Baltimore, Detroit and Jeezy’s hometown of Atlanta.

In “Damn Liar,” a song off “It’s Tha World,” his 2012 LP, Jeezy raps about Avión and a rival tequila, Patrón.

“I was just about to go into the studio and I was at this restaurant with Mary J. [Blige] and one of my boys ordered it, I took a shot and that was it,” said Jeezy. At that time, Austin had not met or spoken to Jeezy, and no money had changed hands, he says. “I just gotta be honest with my fans, give them the best,” said Jeezy.

Austin, who co-founded then sold Marquis Jet, a kind of timeshare for aircraft, to Warren Buffet’s NetJets, got into the tequila business because “tequila doesn’t discriminate,” he told the Journal. Avión, which is Spanish for “plane,” became Austin’s “kids are in college and I’ve already made my money” endeavor when it launched in July 2010.

Now, he’s gearing up to launch a limited edition tequila priced at around $150 per bottle, and he’s enlisted Jeezy’s help. On Jeezy’s coming record, Avión is mentioned in a couple of songs.

“I told Ken, I don’t want to be a spokesperson, I don’t need your check, I got to keep it real with my fans,” said Jeezy. “That’s what this album is, it’s keeping it real.”

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