''Boss Yo Life Up Gang'' is a compilation

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

by American rapper

Young Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. He is credited, alongside fellow Georgia-based rappers T.I. and Gucci Mane, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music fo ...

's record label

CTE World CTE New World (acronym for Corporate Thugz Entertainment, formerly CTE World) is an American record label founded by rapper Jeezy and his former business partner Kinky B in 2001. In December 2012, the label signed a joint venture deal with Atla ...

. The mixtape was released for free on August 13, 2013, by CTE World. The mixtape featured

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s by

Nipsey Hussle Ermias Joseph Asghedom (born Airmiess Joseph Asghedom; August 15, 1985 – March 31, 2019), known professionally as Nipsey Hussle, was an American rapper, entrepreneur, and activist. Emerging from the West Coast hip-hop scene in the mid-20 ...

and Rich Homie Quan. The mixtape was supported by two singles; " My Nigga" by YG featuring Young Jeezy and Rich Homie Quan, and "Mob Life" by Doughboyz Cashout also featuring Jeezy.

Background

In early 2013 Young Jeezy signed

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

hip hop group Doughboyz Cashout to CTE World. Also after frequently collaborating with West Coast rapper YG, he was officially signed to the label in June 2013. On August 6, 2013, Young Jeezy announced that the label would release a compilation mixtape featuring Jeezy, Doughboyz Cashout, and YG titled ''Boss Yo Life Up Gang''. It was then set for an August 13, 2013 release date. On August 9, 2013, a "making of" video was released in promotion of the project. The mixtape featured YG, Doughboyz Cashout and Young Jeezy prominently throughout the project, with additional

s by Rich Homie Quan and

. The mixtape was also hosted by

DJ Drama Tyree Cinque Simmons (born April 22, 1978), known professionally as DJ Drama, is an American disc jockey (DJ), record executive and music promoter. He initially gained recognition as the DJ for Atlanta-based rapper T.I., and continued to gai ...

and Don Cannon. Following its release, Young Jeezy spoke to Revolt TV explaining the mixtape is meant to be "motivational", "Music is all built on motivation. Music was always motivation to hustle, get money nddo whatever you do and be the best at it. When you get on that court, you want to hear something that motivates you. But when I get in the booth, that’s what I’m thinking, whether it’s for the streets, whether it’s for somebody in the corporate world, whatever it is, it’s all motivation."

Singles

" My Nigga", was originally released as a track on the CTE World EP, ''#It'sThaWorld''. It was then chosen to also appear on, their first official full length mixtape ''Boss Yo Life Up Gang''. On September 4, 2013, YG and Young Jeezy appeared on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's RapFix and premiered the music video for "My Nigga", which had been shot a month prior in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. Following the music video's release, the song was released by

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

as the mixtape's

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

on September 17, 2013. It has since peaked at number 5 on the ''Billboard''

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart and at #19 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it YG and Quan's first top 40 hit and their most successful single to date. The song also achieved worldwide success, peaking at #53 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and #50 in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Also on September 17, 2013, "Mob Life" by Doughboyz Cashout featuring Jeezy was released, as the mixtape's second single by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

Critical reception

''Boss Yo Life Up Gang'' was met with generally mixed reviews from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

s. Jesse Fairfax of

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

gave the mixtape a mixed review saying, "The monolithic tape seems to be one long song about lavish flossing, crass promiscuity, and getting wasted—normally passable topics from emcees capable of some diversity, if not the ability to be both crude and interesting...Constantly shouting out their present miraculous affiliation in likely efforts of stirring up envy, these additions and their utter lack of complexity should only wind up pleasing the easily impressed." Luis Mercado of TheDrop.FM gave a more positive review saying, "Overall, ''Boss Yo Life Up Gang'' is a good reintroduction to not only Jeezy, but allows his artists to shine by themselves. Plus, there are solid beats. This project is a perfect way to round out a summer jammed with good music and is worth a listen for any fan of Jeezy and his CTE crew."

Track listing

References

{{Authority control 2013 mixtape albums Jeezy albums Albums produced by Mustard (record producer) Albums produced by Mannie Fresh YG (rapper) albums