TM:103 Hustlerz Ambition

TM:103 Hustlerz Ambition
Studio album by Young Jeezy
Released	December 20, 2011 (2011-12-20)
Recorded	November 2009–2011
Genre	Southern hip hop, gangsta rap, hardcore hip hop[1]
Length	61:47
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 Made It
Young Jeezy chronology
The Recession (2008) TM:103 Hustlerz Ambition (2011)
Singles from TM 103: Hustlerz Ambition
"Lose My Mind" Released: March 30, 2010 "Ballin'" Released: May 17, 2011 "F.A.M.E." Released: October 11, 2011 "I Do" Released: January 10, 2012[2] "Leave You Alone" Released: February 21, 2012[3]

TM: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^[4][5] which have all been denied by representatives from Def Jam Records.^[4] The album marks the third, and final album in his Thug Motivation series, along with Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (2005), and The Inspiration (2006).

Background

After initially being announced in 2009, the album was delayed for nearly two years and missed several release dates attached to it, including June 2010,^[5] August 2010,^[5] December 2010,^[5] and July 26, 2011—exactly six years to the release date of his debut studio album, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101.^[4] Def Jam Records representatives declared these rumors 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.^[4] 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 TM 103 would be released on September 20, 2011.^[6] However, Young Jeezy later revealed that the album's release date would be December 20, 2011.^[7]

Guests

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. Eminem, Drake, Bun B, Plies and Wiz Khalifa do not appear on the final tracklisting, however a leftover featuring Eminem leaked called "Talk To Me"^[8] and the original version of I Do was released as the remix and features Drake. Other guest features that are on the album include Lil Wayne, Trick Daddy, Freddie Gibbs, Mitchelle'l and Future.^[9]

Singles

"Ballin'" featuring Lil Wayne was released as a promotional single in the US on May 17, 2011.^[10] The song peaked at number fifty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100.^[11] The music video for "Ballin'" was directed by Colin Tilley, and was released on July 9, 2011.^[12] "Lose My Mind" featuring Plies was released as the first single on March 30, 2010.^[13] The song has peaked at number thirty-five on the US Billboard Hot 100.^[14][15][16] On April 25, 2010, the music video was released for "Lose My Mind" featuring Plies.^[17] The song was nominated for Best Rap Performance By Duo or Group at the 53rd Grammy Awards.^[18] In 2010, he released two promotional singles, "All White Everything" featuring Yo Gotti which was released on July 3, 2010, and "Jizzle" featuring Lil Jon which was released on August 3, 2010.^[19][20] The songs peaked at number eighty-two, and number sixty-nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts respectively, however, neither of the songs appeared on the final track listing.^[19][20] On April 2, 2010, the music video was released for "All White Everything" featuring Yo Gotti.^[21]

"F.A.M.E." featuring T.I. was released as the lead single on October 11, 2011 and peaked at number sixty-seven on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart.^[22] On November 15, 2011, the music video was released for "F.A.M.E." featuring T.I..^[23] "I Do" which features André 3000 and Jay-Z would be released as the third official single, it had peaked at number sixty one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number four on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs.^[24] The final single was "Leave You Alone" featuring Ne-Yo and reached number fifty-one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number three Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs.^[25] On March 9, 2012, the music video was released for "Leave You Alone" featuring Ne-Yo.^[26] On December 15, 2011, the music video was released for "Nothing".^[27] On January 15, 2012, the music video was released for "Supafreak" featuring 2 Chainz.^[28] On February 1, 2012, the music video was released for "OJ" featuring Jadakiss and Fabolous.^[29] On May 15, 2012, the music video was released for "Way Too Gone" featuring Future.^[30]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
The A.V. Club	C[31]
Consequence of Sound	[32]
Los Angeles Times	[33]
Pitchfork Media	6.7/10[34]
PopMatters	[34]
Rolling Stone	[35]
Slant Magazine	[36]
Spin	(7/10)[37]
USA Today	[38]

Critical response

TM 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 70, based on 16 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[39] David Jeffries of Allmusic gave the album three and a half stars out of five, saying "What’s made Jeezy's evolution as an artist interesting is that this rebel without a cause sometimes finds one, and even when he's more Hulk than Bruce Banner, his changes are driven by emotion rather than something calculated. Here he's driven by the hunger to put things back where they were and live up to TM:103's official subtitle, Hustlerz Ambition, along with its unofficial one, Trap or Die Tryin'.^[1] Chris Coplan of Consequence of Sound gave the album two stars out of five, saying "Despite its success, this album gives us some idea as to why Jeezy has caught on and also why he isn’t any bigger than he is now. Maybe he’ll finally learn his lesson in TM: 104?"^[32] King Eljay of AllHipHop gave the album a seven out of ten, saying "It’s painful to say, but this is nothing more than a good album. Unfortunately for most Jeezy fans, we needed a great one, and this isn’t it. Don’t get it twisted; this is still a solid album, but it falters to reach the standards he set for himself out of the gate. Here’s to hoping that Jeezy has more tricks up his sleeves in the future." ^[40] William E. Ketchum III of HipHopDX gave the album a score of four stars out of five and said that Jeezy "gives a worthy addition to the series and continues his reign as one of rap's best."^[41] Nathan S. of DJBooth also gave it four spins out of five and said that "despite the delays and false starts and question marks, ultimately Young Jeezy has continued an impressively consistent run of quality albums."^[42]

Jeff Weiss of the Los Angeles Times gave the album three stars out of four, saying "Wisely, he enlists an array of guest superstars (T.I., Jay-Z, Andre 3000, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg) to add vibrancy to his primary color palette and earns brownie points for bringing back Devin the Dude (“Higher Learning”) and Trick Daddy (“This One’s for You.”) Don’t call it a comeback; he’s been feared for years."^[33] Jayson Greene of Pitchfork Media gave the album a 6.7 out of 10, saying "Thug Motivation somehow feels both airless and over-inflated, the sound of an artist trying to revisit something gone. In the long gap between this record and 2008's The Recession, Jeezy has done almost nothing to tweak his formula-- a brief guest appearance by of-the-moment ATL star Future aside, there's not much here to suggest Jeezy has been keeping tabs on Southern rap's furiously molting trends, which means even the exciting moments have a certain "I am big; it's the pictures that got small" feel.^[34] Jonah Weiner of Rolling Stone gave the album three and a half stars out of five, saying "Jeezy stays stubbornly true to form on TM:103, rapping with minimal embellishment about getting rich (and high), treating beautiful cars poorly and beautiful women worse. The beats, produced by Southern luminaries like Drumma Boy and J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, are full of imperious synthesizer pageantry, rumbling bass and frenetic percussion. No song would be out of place on his 2005 debut, where he con- jured a seamy world out of little more than a wheezing growl and vivid one-line vignettes about roach-infested kitchens and dirty cash bundled by rubber bands."^[35] Steve "Flash" Juon of RapReviews gave it a score of seven out of ten and said, "Thanks in large part to the beats and the guest appearances, and in small part to Jeezy's frank delivery and raspy voice, it leans more toward the former [enjoyable] than the latter [obnoxious], leading me to give this album a cautious thumbs up."^[43]

Jesse Cataldo of Slant Magazine gave the album two and a half stars out of five, saying "The problem remains that Jeezy's not a dynamic force himself; he's a low-wattage heavy, in need of bigger personalities to accentuate him. This is most evident on fantastic tracks like "I Do," which intercuts his brusque love imprecations with two of the year's best guest vignettes: Jay-Z's magisterial rendering of the club as his personal court and Andre 3000's gonzo fascination with a woman seen from afar, which stretches far beyond the usual fantasy coupling to marriage, childbirth, and a meditation on their hypothetical daughter's reading habits. Sandwiched between such vibrant voices, Jeezy feels crucial, an earthy force keeping the track rooted in a grittier reality. Unfortunately, he sounds far less in command on most of TM:103, never lost, but rarely entirely at home."^[36] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times gave it an average review and called it "a step forward for Young Jeezy, even if everyone around him is walking much faster."^[44] Wilson McBee of Prefix Magazine gave it a score of seven out of ten and said it "certainly has its moments, but on the whole it's bogged down by too much middling material."^[45]

Steve Jones of USA Today gave the album three out of four stars, saying "Three years ago, Jeezy warned that The Recession was coming. Now, after multiple delays, he is hoping to make his own recovery. His latest Thug Motivation opus offers advice for surviving harsh times on the streets while using his own success as a dope dealer as an example of what can be achieved. He delivers his message of self-reliance with characteristic swagger and passion, and he gets able assistance from T.I., Jill Scott, Jay-Z, Andre 3000, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Trick Daddy and Ne-Yo. Jeezy's rhymes have lost none of their hard-core edge; the only question is whether fans will still find them inspiring."^[37] Ralph Bristout of XXL gave the album an XL (the equivalent of four stars out of five), saying "Despite the abundance of features (twelve), Snow’s fourth studio album is indeed a win. It’s not glutted with a blizzard of coke boasts like his previous projects in the TM series, and offers a little more variety than just street cuts. But rest assured, the album is filled with anthems that’ll have you riding around your hood all day with your gun shit. So is Da Snowman back? It feels like he never left."^[46]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, with 233,000 copies in its first-week of sales.^[47][48] As of January 31, 2012, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping over 500,000 copies in the US.^[49] As of March 7, 2013 the album has sold 683,312 copies in the United States.^[50]

Track listing

Notes

(co.) denotes co-producer.

• On the edited album version of "Way Too Gone", Future's verse was unknowingly omitted.

Sample credits

• "OJ" contains a sample from "Banka" by Meiko Kaji from Golden Star Twin Deluxe (1974).
• "Supafreak" contains a sample from "Superfreak" by Rick James from Street Songs (1981).
• "Leave You Alone" contains a sample from "Garden of Peace" by Lonnie Liston Smith from Dreams Of Tomorrow (1970).
• "F.A.M.E." contains samples from "Air for Life" by Above & Beyond with Andy Moor from Tri-State (2006) and "You and Love are the Same" by The Grass Roots from Feelings (1968).
• "I Do" contains a sample from "Lets Talk It Over" by Lenny Williams from Spark of Love (1978).

Release history

References