More 'eezy'? Pleezy

In the last 24 hours, a kind of cultural tipping point has been reached in hip-hop: Nicknames rhyming with “eezy” have jumped the shark.

Tuesday night, during a broadcast of the star-studded Fashion Rocks charity fundraising concert, as multiplatinum-selling R&B phenom Chris Brown performed onstage wearing a pair of high-waisted chinos and neckkerchief, the word “BREEZY” was projected above him in an ornate font. It was an assertive corruption of his last name, a kind of street cred signifier for those versed in the argot of ghetto fabulism.

Then, this morning, the braggadocious Southern trap-rapper Young Jeezy captured the No. 1 spot on the national albums chart, moving more than 260,000 copies of his new CD, “The Recession,” during its first week of sales.

Both events arrive as the latest indications that nicknames rhyming with “eezy” have usurped the prefixes “Young” and “Lil” as hip-hop’s identifier of choice. (With all necessary condolences due to Lil Jon, Lil Kim, Lil Scrappy, Lil Cease and Lil Mama, as well as Young Buck, Yung Joc, Young Dolla and Yung Berg.) But by making its come-up, “eezy” has also moved that much closer to its inevitable obsolescence.

The trend finds its genesis in 2005, when Young Jeezy burst on to the scene with his debut album, “Thug Motivation 101: Let’s Get It.” The following year, Lil’ Wayne began referring to himself as “Weezy” in songs. Neither was apparently aware that such self-infantilization would be largely put out to pasture before the end of the decade. Jumping on the “eezy” bandwagon earlier this year, Kanye West anointed himself with the nickname “Yeezy” in the song “The Glory” with this rhyming couplet:

It’s easy
The 'hood love to listen to Jeezy and Weezy
And, oh yeah! Yeezy!
I did it for the glory

According to urbandictionary.com, Brown embraced Breezy as his sobriquet at some point in 2007. But the name remained confined to bulletin board chatter and Chris Brown fan sites until Fashion Rocks gave Breezy its widest public exposure.

In an unmistakable sign that the “eezy” era is reaching its saturation point, on West’s Facebook page under the topic heading, “WHO SHOULD KANYE HOOK UP WITH FOR A HOT SONG,??” [sic], one responder recently posted this helpful suggestion:

“he should make a song with Chris Brown, Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne. And the song should be called ‘Breezy, Yeezy, Jeezy and Weezy.’ ”

-- Chris Lee (Yung Leezy)

Photo of Young Jeezy arriving in his Lambourghini during CTE's Voter Registration on September 4, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia by Rick Diamond/Getty Images