Dear Superstar: Young Jeezy

It’s a cold, dreary night on Manhattan’s West Side, and the weather just took a turn for the worse. Sheets of rain have been pouring down all day; now a security guard ducks his dripping head into Sony Music Studios with an update. “I think,” he says, “it just started snowing.”

He’s mistaken, as it turns out. But the forecast is oddly appropriate — because who has just arrived but the Snowman himself, raspy Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy. A reformed cocaine peddler who started dealing at age 13, the former Jay Jenkins conquered the ATL mix-tape circuit before breaking big with 2005’s Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101 — a crack-rap epic that did more for snow than the Colorado Tourism Board.

Jeezy plops down on a hallway couch, dressed in head-to-toe black and rocking enough diamond-encrusted trinkets to keep De Beers afloat for a year. “Right now I’m wearing … oh, about seven or eight,” he estimates. (That would be hundred thousand.) As he nibbles on a plate of barbecued shrimp, we remark that the formerly Frosty-shaped MC has slimmed down considerably. “I’m naturally skinny,” he says. “When I was 18, I probably weighed, like, 90-something pounds. But then I started getting money, eating and drinking a lot, and I just got lazy. Now I’m back in shape — I’ll do sit-ups, maybe a couple sets of pull-ups, then throw the iPod on and run six or seven miles on the treadmill. And I eat Special K and shit like that.”

He’ll need that strength in the coming weeks as he promotes his new album, The Inspiration. But first, your questions. We ask Jeezy if, as a true man of the people, he’s looking forward to answering them. “Oh, no doubt,” he wheezes. “I love my fans.” Let’s hope he feels the same way in an hour …

My school confiscated my Snowman T-shirt. Will you send me another one?
devro17, Boulder, CO
Of course! That’s crazy they would do that. I think they started banning them because it was some hood shit that got over into ­middle-class America. There’s so many other things going on in the world that are so much more important. People are dying every day. Like, a shirt, man? You gotta be kidding me.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Marlostan, Chevy Chase, MD
I’d walk through walls, like the Invisible Man. I’d walk into a bank, get me some money and walk right back out. I wouldn’t be a superhero, I’d be a supervillain.

I heard Eskimos have over 100 words for snow. How many do you have?
Ghendra101, Corona del Mar, CA
Let’s see: There’s white, soft, powder, yams, pies, girl. But nobody really says any of that anymore. Those are jail words. You don’t want to go to jail, homey.

Is there any situation where snitching is OK?
mr.plan1989, Knoxville, TN
Never. I know it sounds bad, but it’s the rules of the game, man. I’ve seen niggas jailed for situations where they manned up and kept quiet, and 9 times out of 10, it comes out better that way. Even if somebody killed my grandma, I’d just deal with that shit on my own — I’m gonna get his grandma, his mama and her daughter. Martial law, baby.

You have a 10-year-old son. Are you a good dad?
dryreslo2, Jericho, VT
I would say so. He stays with his mom in south Georgia, but he comes to Atlanta all the time. He’s doing good right now — straight-A student. I spoil him, too: go-cart, motorcycle, dirt bike, four-wheeler, all that. I’d love to go to his football games and stuff, but I don’t want to take away from what he’s doing.

What do you think happens after you die?
TTandMe, San Antonio, TX
I don’t know, man. I smoke all the time and try to figure that out. I believe in heaven­ to a certain extent, but think about animals and the food chain: They have to kill each other to live. Same with us. If we get into a confrontation where it’s me or you, then it’s gotta be you, ’cause I ain’t about to die. So who goes to heaven?

Do you consider yourself a role model?
StnnrShadz, Wallace, NC
Um … yes and no. I’d say yes, because I tell it like it is and I don’t sugarcoat it. But no, because the issues that I deal with are serious. To a child with no knowledge of the streets, it might blow your mind. If you don’t gotta see that, then I say don’t see it.

What’s the nicest thing you’ve ever done for a girl?
jnathan39, Millbrook, NY
It was her birthday, and I jumped into a private jet and flew out to Cali to surprise her. It was really last-minute. I took her a little gift, too — she likes shiny things.

Did you make more money from selling drugs or from rapping?
BigKilman, Newark, DE
Rapping. In the streets you get money, but you can’t really spend it. You can buy watches and chains and cars, but the cars ain’t gonna be in your name. Your house ain’t gonna be in your name. Ain’t none of that shit yours. If you get fucked-up tomorrow, somebody else is going to capitalize. And before you know it, you’re back where you started.

I know you want to start acting. What’s your dream Hollywood role?
janesttit, Clarinda, IA
The only nigga I ever saw keep a rap career at the movies was Tupac. You see some cats in movies and it ain’t really them. But you see Pac in that Juice role and it’s like, “Damn. Nobody else could have played that part.” I’d love to do something like that.

When’s the last time you threw a punch?
numunny, Macon, GA
Aw, man. Probably last week. It was just some club bullshit, some wilding. I seen one of my mans arguing, and before we could get the shit under control there was a lot of tongue wrestling going on. So I just, you know … put the smash down. But it don’t happen often. You can’t fight over everything — you’ll get lawsuits left and right.

Pretend George W. Bush just named you secretary of defense. What’s your Iraq policy?
ihartemo65, Mobile AL
Bush is a motherfucking gangsta. But when you go to war, you go to war — you can’t just half-ass it and send a couple of troops. Sending soldiers back and forth, three casualties one day and none for a month, it makes you think, What the fuck are they doing over there? Niggas ain’t got no business over there, really. But, you know. I’m down with America either way.

What’s the coolest toy you had as a kid?
weezyrox, Anchorage, AK
I really didn’t have a lot of toys. I got a Nintendo once, but that shit got stolen. My crackhead uncle took it. I got it for Christmas, and then two weeks later he stole it out of my room and pawned it.

What music do you love that would surprise people?
Solomeed06, New York
I really like Phil Collins. That song “In the Air Tonight”? That’s my shit. It’s like my music — it builds and it breaks, it’s got that aura. Our life is so on the edge sometimes, so fucked up, shit like that can take you away to another world.

Where did you get the name Young Jeezy? Was there an Old Jeezy?
tony.leung, Calabasas, CA
Ha! I with there was. I was always running with older cats, and they’d call me young’un, youngster. The Jeezy just came from my raspy-ass voice. When I first started rapping, I tried calling myself Lil J, but it just wasn’t me. I’m Jeezy.

Were you a good student growing up?
blxp71, Jeromesville, OH
I did all right. I was smart and shit — good at math, science. But I didn’t have the time and patience to deal with stuff. I started getting in trouble, getting in the streets and getting money, and I was like, What the fuck am I going to school for? You look around and you’re surrounded by 50 motherfuckers and ain’t nobody graduated from school — but everybody’s getting money.

Are you carrying a gun right now?
gdup4lyfe, Miami
No — but somebody with me is. I probably would be anywhere else, but this is New York. Y’all ain’t playing, with your hip-hop cops and all. But normally — shit, yeah. If I got some pants on, I’m strapped. I’m trying to get back home to see my little man.

What celebrities do you have on your speed dial?
ment2blo, Boca Raton, FL
Speed dial? I don’t even know how to work that shit. But I got pretty much everybody in my phone. Hov, Snoop, Lebron, D-Wade, Carmelo, Mike Vick — cats like that.

How do songs get leaked over the Internet?
dangerfeel, Park City, UT
It’s usually people that are close to the music, like engineers. That’s how my first album leaked — I just wasn’t careful. We were so used to doing music and leaving it sitting around the studio. It’s cool, though. You just gotta break their motherfucking fingers. I had to settle out of a lawsuit for that.

Back in the day, did you ever get high on your own supply?
yruwack, Keno, OR
Hell no. I smoke every now and then, to keep me mellow — sometimes you just gotta get away. But when I was in the streets I didn’t fuck with nothing. I thought about it — but how’s it gonna look if you’re the boss and you’re fucking around like Tony Montana, all types of shit up your nose? Your homeboys ain’t respecting that.

What did your parents do for a living?
Sachoo, Gary, IN
My mom did a little hair, but that’s it. I mostly stayed with my grandma. She was my heart — the only person I could really talk to. When she passed, that just fucked everything up. I was gung-ho then.

Do you have any recurring dreams?
spudt82, Chicago
I have this one where I’m falling. I don’t know if it’s from an airplane or a cliff or what. I wake up right before I hit the ground. They say I jump a lot in my sleep — bad karma or bad memories, I guess. I’ve never tried to find out what it means. Sometimes you don’t want to know why shit happens. You just hope it don’t happen again.

What’s the dumbest thing you ever bought?
nick_hf, Charlotte, NC
A $100,000 chain. I really didn’t have to have it. You get a new piece, wear it out a couple of times, then forget it somewhere.

What’s the best advice anyone ever gave you?
gregsc4, Hunt Valley, MD
One of my old homies used to say, “Don’t spend your money on bullshit.” And look what I go do.