''The Recession'' is the fifth
studio album by American rapper
Jeezy (known at the time as Young Jeezy). It was released on September 2, 2008, by
Corporate Thugz Entertainment (CTE) and
Def Jam South Recordings. The album was supported by five
singles: "
Put On
"Put On" is a song by American recording artist Young Jeezy featuring Kanye West, from Jeezy's third studio album '' The Recession''. The song was released as the album's lead single on June 3, 2008. The song received a Grammy nomination for Best ...
" featuring
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
, "
Vacation
A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific festi ...
", "
Crazy World", "
My President" featuring
Nas
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air ( ...
, and "
Who Dat". ''
The Recession 2'', the album's sequel was released in 2020.
Singles
The album's lead
single, "
Put On
"Put On" is a song by American recording artist Young Jeezy featuring Kanye West, from Jeezy's third studio album '' The Recession''. The song was released as the album's lead single on June 3, 2008. The song received a Grammy nomination for Best ...
", was released on June 3, 2008. The song features a
guest appearance
In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...
from American rapper
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
, while the
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
was handled by
Drumma Boy
Christopher James Gholson (born August 11, 1983), better known by his stage name Drumma Boy, is an American record producer.
Early life
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in Cordova, Tennessee, he was exposed to music at a young age. His mo ...
.
The album's second single, "
Vacation
A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific festi ...
", was released on August 12, 2008. The song was produced by the duo
The Inkredibles
Leigh Elliott, known professionally as Lee Major, is an American hip hop producer also known by the monikers Lee Major Kid and The Inkredibles. Lee Major has received production credit on tracks for artists such as Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Jadakiss, A ...
.
The album's third single, "
Crazy World", was released on October 25, 2008. The song was produced by Midnight Black.
The album's fourth single, "
My President", was released on November 15, 2008. The song features a guest appearance from American rapper
Nas
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air ( ...
, while the production was handled by the duo
Tha Bizness
Tha Bizness is an American record production and songwriting team from Seattle, Washington, composed of Justin "Henny" Henderson and Christopher John "Dow Jones" Whitacre. Tha Bizness have produced songs for several prominent artists, including ...
.
The album's fifth and final single, "
Who Dat", was released on December 17, 2008. The song was produced by
Shawty Redd
Demetrius Lee Stewart (born June 21, 1981), better known by his stage name Shawty Redd, is an American record producer and rapper. He is cited as one of the pioneers of the production style which would become synonymous with the trap subgenre.
...
, with co-production by D. Rich.
Critical reception
The Recession has a score of 72 out of 100 from
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
based on "generally favorable reviews".
[ '' The Phoenix'' gave it all four stars and said that "Elsewhere we get lots of the usual earthquake bass and keening synth arpeggios and staccato horns, and, of course, Jeezy’s hypnotically commanding flow, all of it amounting to one of the hardest mainstream rap albums in years." '']The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' gave it four stars out of five and said that "The album touches upon economic issues without dwelling on them, and it captures the spirit of the times with an unerring precision." '' Slant Magazine'' also gave it four stars out of five and said, "There's a unique pleasure in hearing a once one-dimensional rapper discover complexity, and for that Recession is nearly indispensable." '' Billboard'' gave it a favorable review and stated, "Young Jeezy balances commercial/ pop aspirations with core hip-hop sounds on The Recession, getting a lift from DJ Toomp, Drumma Boy, Midnight Black and longtime collaborator Shawty Redd on this sonically enjoyable follow-up to 2006's 'The Inspiration'." ''The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'' also gave it a favorable review and said that Jeezy's previous two albums "were well-crafted, uncompromising in their focus, and exceptionally entertaining. ''The Recession'' makes it three."
AllHipHop
AllHipHop is a hip hop news website founded by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur in 1998.
History
The website was founded in 1998 by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur. In 1997, Watkins registered the allhiphop.com domain to promote the artists on ...
gave it a score of seven-and-a-half stars out of ten and said, "Overcoming shaky moments in the album's early half, Jeezy again sets himself apart from his Trap music peers. But this time he combines a serious social theme with his usual content to make that distinction. And while there's no doubt that America is currently in an economic decline, in 2008 that same claim cannot be made about Young Jeezy." ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' gave it a B and called it "silly, repetitive, and wildly unoriginal. Yet thanks to Jeezy's razor-blade rasp and goofy charisma, it's also strangely infectious." ''Blender
A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender container with a rotating me ...
'' gave it three-and-a-half stars out of five and said that "If ''Recession''-era Jeezy sounds a lot like boom-time Jeezy--describing coke cooking and the cars one gets in reward—that’s because he has always fancied himself an educator, a Learning Annex lecturer, an inspirational-desktop-calendar hustler."[
Other reviews are average, mixed or negative: '' Hartford Courant'' gave the album an average review and said it was "largely a faithful rehash of his first two platters, which transformed him from unrepentant hustler to unlikely inspirational figure." '' Paste'' gave it a 5.8 out of ten and said that the singles "are exceptional, but the filler suffers from a detached and dispirited sound." ''Prefix Magazine'' gave it a 4.5 out of ten and said of Jeezy, "Putting out an album called ''The Recession'' right now, and draping the American flag over your head on its cover, comes with expectations of politically conscious ruminations. Instead, we get more of the same."
]
Commercial performance
''The Recession'' debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling 260,000 copies in its first week. This became Jeezy's second US number one debut and his third top-ten album. In its second week, the album dropped to number two on the chart, selling an additional 90,000 copies. In its third week, the album dropped to number six on the chart, selling 60,000 more copies. In its fourth week, the album dropped to number nine on the chart, selling 41,000 copies. As of October 2009, the album sold 886,000 copies in the United States. On July 2, 2020, the album was certified platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Pla ...
by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent unit
The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditio ...
s of over one million units in the United States.
Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
External links
*
Young Jeezy official website at defjam.com
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Recession, The
2008 albums
Jeezy albums
Albums produced by DJ Toomp
Albums produced by Drumma Boy
Albums produced by Tha Bizness
Albums produced by Don Cannon
Albums produced by Shawty Redd
Albums produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League
Albums produced by Fatboi
Albums produced by Zaytoven
Def Jam Recordings albums
Albums produced by the Inkredibles