Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (formerly Young Jeezy), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. Signed to Def Jam Recordings since 2004, his major label debut, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, was released the following year and debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, selling 172,000 copies in its first week and was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Jeezy is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Gucci Mane, for helping to pioneer and popularize trap music with a mainstream audience.
Jeezy began his music career in 2001 as Lil J with the release of Thuggin' Under the Influence (T.U.I.). In total, Jeezy has released ten studio albums, as well as numerous successful singles, including the top ten hit "Soul Survivor", featuring Akon, as well as the top 40 hits "I Luv It", "Go Getta" featuring R. Kelly, and "Put On" featuring Kanye West. Along with his own singles, Jeezy has also been featured on numerous hip hop and R&B hit singles, including "Say I" by Christina Milian, "I'm So Paid" by Akon, "Hard" by Rihanna and "Love in This Club" by Usher, the latter of which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, in 2008.
Outside of his solo career, Jeezy is also the de facto leader of the southern hip hop group United Streets Dopeboyz of America (U.S.D.A), and a former member of the Bad Boy Records' rap group Boyz n da Hood.