Young Jeezy: "Michael Phelps Is the Young Jeezy of the Swim World"

Michael Phelps' run at the Olympics — eight gold medals, seven broken world records — is unprecedented, and according to Phelps he couldn't have done it without Young Jeezy. Phelps typically listened to the Jeezy/R. Kelly collaboration "Go Getta" before hitting the pool, which Jeezy himself doesn't find surprising. "All my music is inspirational," he told Rolling Stone's Evan Serpick. "You just gotta listen to the words and get what you can get out of it."

Michael Phelps — the man of the hour for the U.S. at the Olympics — is a big fan of Young Jeezy.
I'm a big fan of Michael Phelps! He's a great success. I like what he's doing. He's like the Young Jeezy of the swim world. I love it!

Have you been watching the Olympics?
Off and on, as much as I can on the bus, because I haven't been anywhere stable. Otherwise, I just pick it up in the newspaper.

He said "Go Getta" is one of his favorite songs. What other Jeezy songs would you recommend to get him psyched up for a race?
Definitely "Soul Survivor," "And Then What" and "Put On." But really all my music is inspirational, motivational music. You just gotta listen to the words and get what you can get out of it.

Do you have any plans to meet Phelps?
I reached out and his people got back to me. I'd love to do something for him, maybe like a performance in his hometown. We definitely very proud of it him back over here, real talk. You don't go over there and win that many medals, man. Maybe he can lend me one for a video or something.

Do you ever go swimming?
No, man. Somebody threw me in a pool once when I was younger and I had to work it out, but other than that, no.

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Song Stories

“Oh Sherrie”

Steve Perry | 1984

Steve Perry's girlfriend Sherrie Swafford was actually in the studio when Perry began writing this song--his lone Top Ten hit as a solo act--with two co-writers. The trio began at midnight one night with just "Oh, Sherrie!" and "hold on, hold on." Three hours later, they had a complete song. Swafford, however, had to wait until the next day to hear it. "Sherrie actually got tired and went to bed," Perry said. She also appeared in the video, but their relationship did not hold on for long.

More Song Stories entries »

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