I'm at a studio on the west side of Manhattan, where Young Jeezy is scheduled to shoot a music video. It's dead quiet: White guys in streetwear are walking softly around editing suites; a flat-screen is noiselessly flashing the DVD menu page for Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Then Jeezy rolls in. He sets himself up in a fluorescent-lit conference room, where an on-call barber has been waiting. And while Jeezy's draped in a "BET Hip Hop Awards 2011" barber cape, a swirl of activity — a circle of publicists, stylists, and cronies — forms. Along with a string of other reps, Def Jam senior VP Shawn "Pecas" Costner is trying to talk Jeezy into attending a party later that night. Apparently, there is some high-level exec whose ass has to be kissed. Jeezy brushes this off, and rattles off an amusing story about a particularly hood strip club in Detroit in which he partied last night. The punchline: "So I quit drinking again. This morning." Nearby, video chicks in skintight dresses get their makeup and hair done, and discuss the shoot. Girl A: "He said 'club experience.'" Girl B: "Well, those leggings are not [DRAMATIC PAUSE] I'm not gonna let you look crazy."

The New York rapper Fabolous, here for the shoot, shows up and directs a question to no one in particular: "Where's the smoke balcony? Let's visit that place." A fortysomething Russian guy in a leather jacket follows, rocking two gold Jesus pieces. He hands them over to Fab and explains, in a heavy accent, that "gold I usually like is much thicker." Fab responds by suggesting that these particular Jesuses have a passing resemblance to Osama bin Laden. Then a miscellaneous lackey rolls through with a stack of Styrofoam takeout boxes marked "NACHOS," "CAESAR SALAD," "NEW YORK STRIP WITH EGG," and everyone starts grubbing.

In the middle, Jeezy's still getting his beard lined up, still getting stray bits of head stubble shaved away,1 and still fielding questions about scheduling and availability and the clean ve...