YOUNG JEEZY ALBUM CHURCH IN THE STREETS MOVIE
YOUNG JEEZY ALBUM CHURCH IN THE STREETS FULL

'God' works that same apocalyptic tone of so many 808 Mafia productions: ItвЂ™s a good song until you realize itвЂ™s essentially a redux of FutureвЂ™s 'Sh!t' from a few years ago. 'Gold Bottles' has a weak hook but features typically baroque production from London on da Track. It's minimal, exciting stuff, theВ kind of creative pivot he executed so well just a few years ago overseeing CTE.

The vibe of the music seems to suggest that Jeezy wants to bring the dank and spacey stuff that Young Thug and FutureВ work with into his playground, but grounded in his declarative, raspy voice. It is conspicuously light on guests, probably by design, but JeezyвЂ™s voice can wear during sustained listens, and when Janelle MonГЎe shows up on the light, totally un-Jeezy-like single 'Sweet Life', sheвЂ™s anonymous. He deserves credit for turning a new album around in just a year thatвЂ™s influenced by his feelings and thoughts on the current political climate, but it feels workmanlike and too deliberate to hold weight.

The song titles, just like the album title, give it all away: 'Lost Souls', 'Holy Water', 'God', 'Forgive Me'. But they do just feel like moments, a snapshot of a project Jeezy is unable to make.ДЄfter a few years of toiling in major-label purgatory, JeezyвЂ™s new persona (and it is a 'persona,' not a guiding aesthetic principle) is good for a few effective, if perhaps obvious, metaphors and symbols. Church in These Streets doesnвЂ™t completely deliver on its compelling premise-a 'reborn' Jeezy, half-conscious but still the self-proclaimed 'God in these streets.' There are some moments that strike this note, especially the spoken-word interludes that broadly touch on social issues like privatized prisons, police brutality, and even the toll of drug dealing on the lives of the hustlers and the buyers (especially striking on a record with a song called 'Hustlaz Holiday'). In his latest venture, Jeezy is a preacher, the wise, older veteran of an Atlanta rap scene that is currently worlds away from his grim motivational seminars. Regardless, the ambitious Church in These Streets stands with the man's great Thug Motivation 101 while beating that album on artistic merit and meaningful lyrics.Fresh off the release of last yearвЂ™s Seen It All: The Autobiography, he's releasin g Church in These Streets, and they are both as literal as their album titles.

YOUNG JEEZY ALBUM CHURCH IN THE STREETS FULL

That said, when taking in a full album, his monotone, bellowing delivery is an acquired taste, and with only a few guest shots, plus a long track list, newcomers might find this big LP a tough go. Monica and Monae are the ambitious album's only guests, and when the highlight 'God' hits the speakers, with its underground dubstep wobble and its rickety beats, Jeezy does a successful reach outside his comfort zone and winds up with a spell-binding cut. 'Sweet Life' with Janelle Monae is the kind of high-flying, blue sky rap that Curren$y usually offers, and if that wasn't enough, it comes with a Psalm recited by Monica, who is playing the role of Sister Brown. By the time 'Sister Good Game's Testimony' snarls all the weak and meek out of the trap house, it seems Jeezy's 'Pastor Young' character comes with the toughest brand of love, but 'I Feel Ya' ('You put your fam on your back, boy I feel ya/You put your hood on the map, boy I feel ya') is a sympathetic cut that broadens the album's spectrum.

YOUNG JEEZY ALBUM CHURCH IN THE STREETS MOVIE

The title cut is also the LP's key cut as it bangs along with twerking Zaytoven production, and offers the album's main message for anyone caught in the drug game: 'If you see another day, then just say 'Hallelujah!'' The track 'Lost Souls' is a heavy triumph, sampling a bit of the movie Street Life before the lyrics declare that any time spent in jail is time spent breeding another monster, while later, the woozy and hooky banger 'Scared of the Dark' skewers flashy gangsters for their unwillingness to do life's dirty work. Dropping the Young from his name and turning on the full Jeezy, Church in These Streets finds the veteran Atlanta MC tackling the concept album while playing the role of an inner-city preacher.

Young jeezy album church in the streets