S1 E40 | Jody Breeze
Big Bank and DJ Scream are back with a brand new episode of the “Big Facts” podcast featuring rapper Jody Breeze. The “Won’t Let You Down” emcee discussed several matters including what he’s been up to since fans last saw him, being signed to Diddy, his thoughts on the music industry, and more.
Breeze is perhaps best known for being one-fourth of the rap collective Boyz N Da Hood, which consisted of himself, Jeezy (then-Young Jeezy), Big Gee, and Big Duke. In the early 2000s the rappers were signed to Diddy’s Bad Boy Records label before eventually drifting apart to pursue solo careers.
When asked to detail how it felt being signed to an up north music label as a southern act, Breeze had an interesting response. “Everybody wanted to be like us, at that time,” the rapper explained. “Puff came up with Bad Boy South—it wasn’t a Bad Boy South.
“He wanted to come back to Atlanta and we was doing our thing or whatever… Block (Russell Spencer) was managing Jazz (Jazze Pha) at the time anyway. So, Block saw the campaign that we got. They started Sho’nuff, went to Warner Brothers, got a label there—this when Lil Jon had Scrappy and all that,” he continued.
“I mean, everybody was outside. It was a lot of stuff going on. I’m talking ‘bout, a whole lot of stuff going on. If you didn’t have it, you ain’t gonna be able to campaign with the kid.”
Elaborating more on the topic of work ethic, the “Creepin” rapper said he believes there’s a significant difference in the amount actual labor acts of today have to put in, in order to make it big compared to what artists from his era had to do.
“You know it’s way easier. It’s way easier, but it’s less real. You can’t live on the internet. Period. I don’t care,” Breeze told Big Bank. “Man, my grandmother is 86 years old. Them the type of people I looked up to, but she hates the phone. She hates all this. I feel the same way.
“Why?” he continued, “I’m not gonna live on the internet, bro. I’m not going to do it bro. I’m never gonna do that.”
Contrary to the proven success of artists like DDG and Lil Nas X, who’ve mastered the art of social media and have amassed millions of followers across various platforms, Breeze doesn’t believe social media is necessary for aspiring artists to garner success.
“It will allow it to be necessary,” the 37-year-old argued. DJ Scream further cited artists like Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole who rarely appear on social media, but have managed to become some of the most successful stars to date.
Later on, the “All Night” emcee admitted he didn’t have a goal when he started his career as a rapper. Breeze said rapping just “got me out of whatever I was doing.” He added, “I just had a baby, all that, on my side. I’m tryin’ see what I’m finna do with myself.”
Breeze said it was essentially the reception he received when he actually performed that sparked him to start taking rapping seriously. “I started rapping, got the hang of it, you know. I always love music, it is what it is, but I don’t try to say ‘I wanted eight Grammys’ or ‘I’m the greatest’ or ‘I had a dream.’ I ain’t one of them rappers,” he continued.
The “Uptown” rapper revealed not only was the genre relatively new to him, but so were his bandmates. When asked what went wrong with the Bad Boy group, Breeze cited ego as the driving force behind Boyz N Da Hood breaking up.
“Just on some big facts shit, you know. It be nigga’s ego—it was the ego,” he explained, claiming it had nothing to do with money. “See at that time. I’m just doing this. I don’t know what I’m doing. It’s fun though.”
He noted, back then, “…people just were keeping it a little bit more real…But, you know, come to turn [sic] out, it wasn’t real.” Without giving too much detail, Breeze suggested certain dealings got “too real” in the business and certain relationships weren’t meshing peacefully, and he ultimately had to remove himself.
The entertainer says he still keeps in communication with some of his former bandmates like Big Gee. However, he hasn’t really spoken to the others for quite some time. Breeze also briefly discussed working on a book and new music for fans eager to know his future endeavors.
As always, if you like what you heard, be sure to stay tuned every week for new episodes of “Big Facts.” Also, don’t make sure to watch the latest show above!