Young Jeezy’s road to releasing Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition would make J. Cole blush. Jeezy announced the album way back in 2009, and then proceeded to name and then miss like six release dates. To put the delay in perspective, Jeezy was yelling out “it’s that TM103 shit” on his collaboration with Jay-Z on The Blueprint 3, released in September 2009. Since that time, Jay found time to sell out a bunch of stadiums, record and release Watch The Throne, and even impregnate Beyonce. What has Jeezy done in the same timeframe?  Besides put out an album he promised would be finished 18 months earlier, I’m not quite sure.

I’m not entirely blaming Mr. Jenkins for the delay, but when you constantly hype the same piece of work for over two years, it better be pretty damn good. TM103 is basically what you’d expect, which is a collection of “Big Bottom” bass-heavy bangers topped with Jeezy’s hoarse, shouted-word choruses. Sadly for Jeezy, Rick Ross took the album’s delay as an opportunity to supplant him as rap’s premier hoarse, shouted-word chorus craftsman, and as a result this album doesn’t sound nearly as exciting or even frightening as any of Jeezy’s past efforts.

That’s not to say that TM103 has no worthwhile qualities. In fact, it’s pretty damn enjoyable when you take the title literally and picture Jeezy actually teaching a college course on “Hustlerz Ambition” in the Thug Motivation department of a respected university like Princeton or Duke. Every song is a new week’s lecture, and if picturing a bunch of college kids dutifully scribbling away in their notebooks as Jeezy yells things like “All we do is SMOKE and FUCK/SMOKE and FUCK” on “All We Do (Smoke & Fuck)” doesn’t make you enjoy choruses like “All we do is SMOKE and FUCK,” well I don’t know what will.

Other must-attend lectures on the Jeezy syllabus include Young’s dissertation on “F.A.M.E.” (“FAke Motherfuckers Envy!”), featuring guest lecturer Professor T.I. of Grand Hustle University, and marriage (“I Do”), featuring guest lecturers President Jay-Z of Roc Nation U and Andre 3000 of “I’m Making You Want To Hear My Solo Album Really Badly Aren’t I?” College.

There’s also the obligatory tutorial on weed smoking with Snoop Dogg and Devin The Dude (“Higher Learning”) and instructions, delivered alongside Ne-Yo, on how to handle a woman who knows that your hustler ways are no good but still can’t leave you alone (“Leave You Alone”). The rest of the track list provides the bulk of the material tested on the final, namely, how to sell a lot of drugs and make a lot of money.

I won’t lie. The “Professor Jeezy” concept was something I basically had to invent in order to make it through this 18-track, 79-minute behemoth. But once I did start envisioning Jeezy educating the youth with a blunt dangling from his mouth, busting blackboards for emphasis during the most passionate points of his lectures, I did enjoy TM103 more than someone who can properly spell “Everythang” probably should. But would I pay the $14.99 tuition fee?  Um… I think it would be better saved for buying a copy of God Forgives, I Don’t.

3 / 5 bars

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Young Jeezy – I Do (Feat. Jay-Z And Andre 3000)

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Young Jeezy – F.A.M.E. (Feat. T.I.)