According to Jeezy, that’s exactly what happened to him after starting his rap career while still being very well off from the street money he had stashed away. Not quite understanding how music publishing works, the “All About Da Money” rapper told the “Assets Over Liabilities” show that he was barely keeping track of the checks he began receiving.
“You got to talk to John Plant over at Warner because he was the first person that gave me a check for publishing,” he said. “I ain’t cash the check for like a year-and-a-half. He called me like, ‘What’s going on with the check I gave you?’ ‘I’ma keep it real with you I left it in some pants and I think it got faded and I don’t know where it’s at.’”
Jeezy went on to confess the check in question was for a few million dollars. It was then that he got a call from mentor and big homie Jay-Z.
“Jay-Z called me like, ‘Yo, you gotta quit playing.’ I was like, ‘All right, I gotta,’ ” he reminisced. “[Now] at the time, when I came in from the streets to music I was good. I was straight. The music, to me, I was more infatuated that people liked what I was doing. I didn’t need the money, so I thought. I just had the bread. Then I was getting money for shows, it was like taking ice cream from a baby. It was the sweetest s— ever.”
“When Def Jam gave me my check, I didn’t have an account. [I put it in a] shoebox,” he confesses. “I was just putting checks in the box. I didn’t understand how it worked. I was too embarrassed to ask. … By the way, I was paranoid of banks. The first thing I’m thinking is it gon’ be [considered] money laundering.”
The Jizzle says he eventually got smart and learned the game and has gotten “pretty good” about managing his finances, and doesn’t employ an accountant or money manager.
