Jason Jamal Jackson, also known as Los Angeles rapper “03 Greedo”, (formerly known as “Greedy Giddy”) came from the roughest projects in Los Angeles, CA.
Growing up in the Jordan Downs Project in Watts, CA, at the age of 1 year old, Greedo’s father passed away from a “motorcycle accident”. In an interview with Noisey, the rapper stated that “his father was one of the first Crips.”
Before becoming a living legend and tattooing “Living Legend across his cheeks”, tragedy struck his music career and life forever.
On June 28th, 2016, Greedo and another man were driving in a 2016 Nissan through Amarillo, Texas on the I-40 Interstate. While traveling, they were pulled over by police who claimed to smell marijuana from their car.
The driver admitted to smoking marijuana, but that was the least of their problems. After forcing the trunk of the car to be opened, 4 pounds of methamphetamine, said to be worth about 80 thousand dollars, was discovered. In addition, the police found stolen pistols and ammunition in the vehicle, which were unregistered in the State of California.
Ultimately, Greedo was charged with unlicensed possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of over 400 grams of a controlled substance. After spending 8 days in jail in Amarillo, Texas, Greedo was released on bond and returned to Los Angeles. This was the point when Greedo decided to transform himself from a Grape Street Crip to one of the most prolific musicians in Los Angeles. In 2016, after merging his nickname from jail (coming from his section on 103rd Street in Grape Street), “Greedy Giddy” became “03 Greedo.
In 2016, Raymond Lee Arnold, also known as “Mafia Ray”, who was a mentor to Greedo and one of the first people from his hood to support his musical career, was tragically gunned down in a barbershop in Hawthorne, CA in July 2016. Greedo released “Mafia Business”, a single dedicated to his fallen friend. This hit single was listed on his mixtape “Purple Summer” and can be credited as one of his breakout singles to date. In September 2016, he followed up with Purple Summer 2: Son Don’t Shine. This was the same year 03 Greedo was shot in the leg and almost had his leg amputated. Fortunately, a large metal plate allowed him to keep his leg.
From being homeless, to eating out of garbage cans, using drugs to stay up, and constantly moving around, he eventually settled in Watts, CA.
At 17 years old, 03 Greedo became a father to a baby girl.
In 2017, he signed with Alamo Records, which is the home of popular rappers Lil Durk, Rod Wave, Smokepurpp, and Comethazine to name a few.
A year after signing his deal, Greedo found himself facing a 300-year sentence for trafficking 4 pounds of methamphetamine across state lines. He turned himself in for a five-year prison sentence in 2018. During imprisonment, Greedo announced via Instagram that he obtained his GED from prison.
Although previously denied parole in 2020 and 2021, he was granted release in June 2022 upon completing the pre-release program. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, after 5 years, the Los Angeles rapper is scheduled to be released on Jan 12, 2023.
Since his imprisonment, as a promise that he made to his fans, he stated in a tweet in 2018, “Plenty music will be released while I’m gone”.
03 Greedo wasn’t lying as he stashed away about 30 albums worth of music. He said on the outro of his 2019 song, “Bet I Walk”, “30 albums, nigga, who did it, nigga?” 03 Greedo did it.
03 Greedo releases some of the following music while in prison:
- Still Summer in The Projects with Los Angeles Super Producer Mustard (2019).
- Netflix and Deal, a movie theme collaboration with Kenny Beats (2019)
- Meet The Drummers with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker EP (2019).
- Load It Up Volume 1 with fellow Watts owner, Ron Ron the Producer (2020).
- 03 Inna Key EP in (2021).
Now that the Grape Street Wolf is now free, he and his fans will finally celebrate new music together with a new collaboration project with Mike Free titled, “Free 03”. It was released in January 2023.
In a DJ Vlad interview, he stated, “I was always that nigga I just always went to jail”.
Welcome Home 03 Greedo!
