Alley Boy Explains Beef with Jeezy and T.I.

January 30, 2012


Last week, Alley Boy released Nigganatti, a new mixtape that includes a track, "I Want In," that takes aim at Young Jeezy and T.I.. On that track, Alley targets Jeezy and T.I. as rappers who no longer relate to marginalized audiences. Alley talked to us about the motivation behind the jabs on "I Want In," and his larger career aspirations. Representatives for Young Jeezy and T.I. declined to comment.

You call out both Young Jeezy and T.I. on “I Want In.” Why? I'm not dissing them. I’m a street motherfucker. But we’re all rappers at the end of the day, so I’m just exercising the sport. It’s just me, freedom of speech. There’s a lot of fake shit going on in Atlanta. People put up a persona. For example, Jeezy says he’s the realest nigga in it. That slaps a lot of niggas in the face who feel like they real. Or T.I. being like, I’m the King of the South. Look at all the forefathers we had before him, like Scarface, 8Ball & MJG. That’s like a slap in their face, too. I’m just expressing how I feel and separating myself from everything else in Atlanta.

On “I Want In,” you allude to T.I.’s Fuck Da City Up mixtape and Jeezy’s album TM 103: Hustlerz Ambition. What did you think of those records? I didn't listen to T.I.’s whole tape. I heard certain songs, a lot of cool songs. He’s got my little brother Trouble on a track [“On Purpose”], and I love that. Jeezy got a track on his album with Trick Daddy [“This One’s For You”]. I like that one, that shit crazy! “I Want In” isn’t about hating on the music. This is on some street shit. I’m not talking about the industry, I’m not talking about music. I don’t give a fuck. I might lose the support of people who don't know me—they've got millions of fans. But I'm in a position where I don’t got shit to lose.

You rapped with Jeezy on “Four,” from his The Real Is Back mixtape. Do you have a okay relationship with him? Yeah. People in his camp reached out to me for that song. I don’t have anything personal against Jeezy. I just feel like it’s my time and if I’m going to aim at something, I have to aim high. These are the cats around the city that talk like they’re that nigga, and I protest that so I'm speaking up. I don’t agree.

Why did you name your new mixtape Nigganatti? Everybody is so caught up in rich, secret society, trying to figure out the Illuminati. My tape is about the Nigganatti. The niggas' society, you know? I don’t feel like niggas are any one color. I got a track ["Intro"] on there where I say, I heard the Mexicans the new niggas/ The brown people. The tape is for people who are discriminated against. Whoever gets stereotyped or just looked at as fucked up by the so-called normal society, that’s the Nigganatti. It's for all us.

Alley Boy Explains Beef with Jeezy and T.I.