A Taste of Witty, Lean Triumphalism

“My President Is Black.” So read the slogan adorning the oversize T-shirts, also featuring a black-and-silver American flag, worn by most of Young Jeezy’s crew on Tuesday night at the Blender Theater at Gramercy. After performing “My President” from “The Recession,” due out next week, Young Jeezy expanded on the theme, musing on his role models (or dream ticket?): “In my book it’s Tupac, then it’s Barack Obama.” “The Recession” (Def Jam), his third album, could theoretically satisfy supporters of both. A return to the triumphalism of his 2005 debut, “Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101,” it’s lean, tough and coarse. His templates, topical (cocaine) and structural (simple, punctuated with exclamations), were once narrow, but he has matured. The new album may not be as consistently thrilling as the first, but it’s more consistently interesting. Not all of Young Jeezy’s newfound nuance made it to the stage here, but it didn’t matter. He played up his most natural gift, muscle, often performing just the first verse and hook of a song, as if he were trying to satisfy a rowdy club crowd or just wanted to cut to the chase. Still, “Trap Star,” “Bottom of the Map,” “Go Crazy,” “Soul Survivor”: great first 90 seconds, all. Even relative obscurities benefited from this treatment. On the remix of Fabo’s “Geek’d Up” he didn’t bother to contain his own sly wit, and he began “Trap or Die,” from the mixtape of the same name, whispering a cappella and smiling appreciatively when the crowd rapped along.After his blustery verse from the remix of Shawty Lo’s “Dey Know,” Young Jeezy paused for some inspirational words, giving his childhood address in Atlanta — “the middle of the projects,” he said — and remarking how far he had come. (His motivational appeal isn’t limited to thugs; Michael Phelps recently revealed he listened to Young Jeezy to get pumped up before swim meets. Repaying the favor, the rapper called Mr. Phelps “the Young Jeezy of the swim world.”) SOURCE:NYT.COM