03 Greedo was released on Thursday, January 12, after being in prison for the last four and a half years. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Los Angeles rapper was scheduled to be released on parole. Vulture has reached out to Greedo’s attorney for comment. The news of his impeding release, first reported on January 8 by Jeff Weiss, comes as Greedo, who has not let up releasing music since his sentence began in 2018, dropped the new mixtape Free 03. That tape, his first full-length project since 2020, is produced by L.A. mainstay Mike Free and features rappers OhGeesy and the late Drakeo the Ruler, a regular collaborator of Greedo’s. “To loose your niggas you made your first millions with before even coming home to enjoy it, is mind blowing,†Greedo wrote last year, remembering Drakeo after his death.
Greedo, born Jason Jackson, has been serving a 20-year prison sentence for drug and firearm charges after taking a plea deal. His co-defendant, Justin Scott, got probation after claiming methamphetamine and two pistols were found in their car in 2016 only by an illegal stop and search. However, Greedo’s lawyers at the time didn’t make the same argument, leading him to take a plea deal out of fear of a larger sentence. (He was facing up to 300 years.) Greedo’s current attorney, Morris Overstreet, has argued his previous lawyers did not perform up to an objective standard in their defense. The sentence came shortly after Greedo’s breakout in 2016 with the mixtape Purple Summer. Listen to Free 03, below, as we await the real thing.
This post has been updated.