Jeezy Talks Leaving Hustling for Rapping: ‘If You Believe in Something, Stand Tall on That’ [LISTEN]

If there's one podcast that seems to be ascending, in terms of popularity and general Internet chatter, it's Tax Stone's Tax Season, which just had a much-talked-about interview with Beanie Sigel last week.

This time, the in-your-face host sat down with Jeezy, who talked about a variety of topics, including his decision to leave hustling and street-life for rapping.

"It was a whole process," said The Snowman. "When this s--- was starting to take a turn for me, I was one foot in, one foot out, for real."

"I had to make a real life decision that came with a lot of consequences," he added. "So I lost a lot of friends with my decision to pursue rap. A lot of motherf----- looked upon it like I was selling out. I had a few situations where it was a little aggressive in the city."

The 39-year-old then talked about eventually seeing success as a rapper and deciding to take his music career a lot more seriously at that point. He also discussed how some of the people in his life became his enemies all of a sudden.

"I took [the music] serious, but it caused a lot of friction between people I already knew, because you're only valuable to a n---- if you're making money with him," explained Jeezy. "If you ain't making money no more, it turns into something else."

"And then when the fame actually started working for me, it would be n----- right around me [that] I was at war with everyday. I just didn't' understand it, because I wasn't really getting out of Atlanta, so when I started moving around the world and seeing n----- was really f----- with me, I was like 'I got to really focus on this s---, 'cause this s--- can change my life,'" he added.

The Atlanta rhymer then told people to learn from that particular experience and never let anyone stop your desire to progress or change.

"If you believe in something, you got to stand tall on that, because it's your vision," advised Jeezy. "Hadn't I believed in who I was and what I was going to be, I'd probably be dead or in the penitentiary right now, and I ain't talking about no two year stay."

You can listen to the rest of The Recession rapper's interview below, where he also talked about being in the studio and how those Snowman t-shirts became so popular several years ago.

See 100 Hip-Hop Facts That Will Blow Your Mind