Young Jeezy (Jay Jenkins was) born on September 28, 1977 in Columbia, South Carolina, USA, currently known as Young Jeezy, is an American rapper.

He was formerly known as "Lil' J" in his early rap career.

Jeezy has described his childhood as "empty". He has made innumerable references in his music to his previous occupation as a cocaine dealer, although he rarely provides details of his childhood in interviews.

Also, according to his lyrics, which may or may not be factual, he has or had an uncle named Grady. This portion of his life, as is often the case with rappers, remains highly veiled and subject to much exaggeration in order to increase his street reputation.

However, there is no doubt that Young Jeezy was involved at least to some degree in the illegal cocaine trade, and he is affiliated somehow with the slightly defunct Black Mafia Family.

Young Jeezy released his first independent album, Thuggin' Under the Influence (T.U.I.), in 2001 under the name Lil J. It featured artists such as Kinky B, Fidank, and Lil Jon, who also produced some of the tracks.

In 2003, Jeezy released (also independently) Come Shop Wit' Me, a two CD set featuring completely new tracks along with some songs from T.U.I. Come Shop Wit' Me sold 50000 copies world wide.

In 2004, he signed with Bad Boy Records and joined the Boyz N Da Hood group. Boyz N Da Hood's self-titled album was released on June 21, 2005 and peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.