| Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Young Jeezy | ||||
| Released | December 20, 2011 | |||
| Recorded | November 2009–2011 | |||
| Genre | Southern hip hop | |||
| Length | 61:47 (standard edition) 79:39 (deluxe edition) |
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| Label | Def Jam, Corporate Thugz | |||
| Producer | Lil' Lody, D. Rich, Drumma Boy, Lil' C, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Mike Dupree, Warren G, M16, Midnight Black, Mike Will | |||
| Young Jeezy chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| AllHipHop | (7/10)[2] |
| HipHopDX | [3] |
| LA Times | [4] |
| Rolling Stone | [5] |
| Slant Magazine | [6] |
| Spin | (7/10)[7] |
| USA Today | [8] |
| XXL | [9] |
Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition is the fourth studio album by American rapper Young Jeezy. It was released on December 20, 2011 through Corporate Thugz Entertainment, and Def Jam Recordings. The album had been delayed for nearly two years, missing several purported release dates[10][11] which have all been denied by representatives from Def Jam Records:[10] however, despite these setbacks, Young Jeezy himself has confirmed the album has definitely been completed.[10] The album marks the third, and final album in his Thug Motivation series, after Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (2005), and The Inspiration (2006).
Contents |
After initially being announced in 2009, the album has been delayed for nearly two years and missed several release dates attached to it, including June 2010,[11] August 2010,[11] December 2010,[11] and July 26, 2011—exactly six years to the release date of his debut studio album, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101.[10] Def Jam Records representatives have since declared these rumours false, however, Young Jeezy announced through the social networking site Twitter that the album was definitely completed, although at the time a release date—genuine or not—was not attached to the album.[10] The date given was, in fact, the day after Young Jeezy was due to perform the whole of his aforementioned debut album at New York City's Highline Ballroom, on the sixth anniversary of the release of the album. During the show on July 25, 2011, he announced that Thug Motivation 103 would be released on September 20, 2011.[12] However, Young Jeezy has since revealed that the album's release date is December 20, 2011.[13] On November 7, 2011, Young Jeezy confirmed that Ne-Yo, Snoop Dogg, Plies, Eminem, Drake, Bun B, Jadakiss, Jill Scott, Fabolous, T.I., Andre 3000, Jay-Z, 2 Chainz, and Wiz Khalifa are going to be featured on the album. However, Eminem, Drake, Bun B, and Wiz Khalifa do not appear on the final tracklisting. Other guest features that are on the album include Lil Wayne, Trick Daddy, Freddie Gibbs, Mitchelle'l, and fellow Atlanta rapper Future. The album, in its entirety, leaked online, six days before its official release date of December 20, 2011.
The album's first single, "Lose My Mind", was released as a digital download on March 30, 2010. The song is produced by American record producer Drumma Boy, and features fellow American rapper Plies. The song peaked at number thirty-five on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States,[14] number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart,[15] and number three on the Hot Rap Songs chart.[16] The song was nominated for Best Rap Performance By Duo or Group at the 53rd Grammy Awards. During 2010, two more singles were released from the album: "All White Everything", featuring fellow American rapper Yo Gotti on July 3, 2010, and "Jizzle", featuring Lil Jon, on August 3, 2010. The songs peaked at number eighty-two and number sixty-nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart respectively: however, neither song appears on the final tracklisting.
"Ballin'" was released as a digital download in the United States on May 17, 2011.[17] The song features fellow American rapper Lil Wayne, and produced by American producer Lil' Lody. The song peaked at number fifty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100, number fifteen on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and number thirteen on the Rap Songs chart. The music video, directed by Colin Tilley,[18] was officially released on July 9, 2011. However, in the aforementioned Hot 97 interview, Young Jeezy revealed that the song was not a single from the album, although the song is still set to be included on the album. In the same interview, Young Jeezy revealed the album's second single, titled "Shake Life": the song was later premiered during the show. It was released to the internet on July 22, 2011, and was later released to iTunes as a digital download on August 2, 2011.[19] The song features production, again, from record producer Lil' Lody. The song features a sample from the Toto song "Georgy Porgy".[20] The song debuted at number seventy-six on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart in the United States for the week ending August 6, 2011.[21] Since then it has peaked at number forty-six. "F.A.M.E.", featuring rapper T.I., was released as the album's third single on October 11, 2011.[22]
Music videos were released for a few of the album's songs such as "Lose My Mind", "Ballin'", "F.A.M.E.", and "Nothing". Music videos were shot for the songs "SupaFreak" featuring 2 Chainz, and "OJ" featuring Fabolous, and Jadakiss. However, neither of these videos have been released as of yet.
Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition received mixed to generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 72, based on 9 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[23]
The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, with 233,000 copies sold in its first week in the United States.[24] It is his first album not to reach #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 since Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 debuted at #2 in 2005. However, the album did debut at #1 on the Billboard Top Rap Albums charts.[25] It also made its #1 debut on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[26] In its second week of release, it remained at #3 on the Billboard 200, selling 67,000 copies. As of January 4, 2012, it sold 301,000 copies in the US.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Waiting" | J. Jenkins, A. Kearney | Lil' Lody | 3:30 |
| 2. | "What I Do (Just Like That)" | J. Jenkins, C. Gholson | Drumma Boy | 4:17 |
| 3. | "OJ" (featuring Fabolous and Jadakiss) | J. Jenkins, A. Kearney, J. Jackson, J. Phillips, M. Hirao, K. Koike, K. Ryusaki | Lil' Lody | 4:04 |
| 4. | "Nothing" | J. Jenkins, A. Kearney | Lil' Lody | 4:03 |
| 5. | "Way Too Gone" (featuring Future) | J. Jenkins, M. Williams, M. Middlebrooks, N. Wilbur | Mike Will, Marz (co.) | 4:48 |
| 6. | "SupaFreak" (featuring 2 Chainz) | J. Jenkins, D. Rich, T. Epps, J. Johnson, A. Miller | D. Rich | 4:26 |
| 7. | "All We Do (Smoke & Fuck)" | J. Jenkins, T. Sewell | Midnight Black | 5:04 |
| 8. | "Leave You Alone" (featuring Ne-Yo) | J. Jenkins, W. Griffin, S. Smith, L. Smith | Warren G | 5:29 |
| 9. | "Everythang" | J. Jenkins, A. Kearney | Lil' Lody | 3:38 |
| 10. | "Trapped" (featuring Jill Scott) | J. Jenkins, E. Ortiz, K. Crowe, K. Bartolomei, J. Scott | J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League | 3:58 |
| 11. | "F.A.M.E." (featuring T.I.) | J. Jenkins, E. Ortiz, K. Crowe, K. Bartolomei, C. Harris, A. Beardmore, J. Grant, A. McGuinness, P. Siljamaeki | J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League | 4:08 |
| 12. | "I Do" (featuring Jay-Z and André 3000) | J. Jenkins, J. Banks, S. Carter, A. Benjamin, L. Williams, M. Bennett | M16 | 5:12 |
| 13. | "Higher Learning" (featuring Snoop Dogg, Devin the Dude and Mitchelle'l) | J. Jenkins, D. Quinn, M. Dupree, C. Broadus, D. Copeland | Mike "Emaydee" Dupree, Lil' C (co.) | 3:44 |
| 14. | "This One's for You" (featuring Trick Daddy) | J. Jenkins, A. Kearney, M. Young | Lil' Lody | 5:26 |
| Deluxe edition | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length | |||||
| 15. | ".38" (featuring Freddie Gibbs) | J. Jenkins, A. Kearney, F. Tipson | Lil' Lody | 5:05 | |||||
| 16. | "Ballin'" (featuring Lil Wayne) | J. Jenkins, A. Kearney, D. Ellerbee, D. Carter | Lil' Lody | 4:44 | |||||
| 17. | "Lose My Mind" (featuring Plies) | J. Jenkins, A. Washington, C. Gholson | Drumma Boy | 4:02 | |||||
| 18. | "Never Be the Same" | J. Jenkins, A. Kearney | Lil' Lody | 4:01 | |||||
(co.) denotes co-producer.
"OJ"
"SupaFreak"
"Leave You Alone"
"F.A.M.E."
"I Do"
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