Jeezy's NPR debut “Tiny Desk” is more than words and more than rap

As Jeezy noted before playing “And Then What” during his NPR Tiny office debut, hears many names. There's Jizzle, which started going around 2010. There's also Bling (favored by the Fort Lauderdale crowd) and the two-for-one deal of Snow and Jeezy the Snowman. The most recent addition to the list is his title New York Times Best seller. The rapper released his first book, Adversity for salelast year, but the lessons written in his memoirs were first in his music.

“I'm going to take you all on a journey to see how I got from there to here, Tiny office,” Jeezy explained at the top of his set. “I was standing on a small terrace. But if you stick with your dreams and stick with your business, you can get anywhere.”

He debuted in “Standing Ovation,” which recalls the first time he stepped on a stage and was praised for his work. “I couldn't believe God was so good,” she said afterward. “Seeing people applaud me for what I went through meant the world. That's why I kept going and that's why I'm here today. Because if you believe, you will succeed.”

Sailing a seamless narrative through the set, Jeezy continued with “Air Forces,” recounting not only where he came from but also what he was wearing. In front of an audience of Howard University students (despite their erratic energy levels), the rapper beamed with pride for both.

“I was very proud and lucky to be from the South. I'm from the deep South and there was a time when we weren't even given our props for music,” he explained. “I give it to André 3000, he changed it. He told them the South has something to say and I said, you're right. I wanted to represent it, so I had to make a name for myself.”

“Bottom of the Map” was next, followed by “And Then What”, “Go Crazy” and “Everythang”. As he introduced “Go Crazy”, Jezzy reflected on his humble beginnings and his strongest source of inspiration at the time.

“I could connect with my people and my culture because we spoke the same language. One thing I loved about doing my first tours with Jay-Z and all these big names is when we went to these cities, I connected with the hustlers,” he said. “I connected with the women who were trying to do better for themselves and their children. I connect with the people who wanted to fight… when I wrote this song right here, that's what it was about. I just wanted to inspire and give people the blueprint, people who wanted more for themselves.”