Jeezy Sets Guinness World Record With 101-Piece Orchestra in Las Vegas

One of trap music’s foundational voices just made history on the Strip. On Nov. 1, Atlanta rapper Jeezy opened a limited residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino with an audacious twist: a full 101-piece orchestra arranged to reframe his hard-charging catalog in sweeping, cinematic form.

By night’s end, a Guinness World Records adjudicator walked onstage to certify the feat, the largest orchestra assembled for a hip-hop concert.

Backed by the Color of Noize Orchestra and conducted by Derrick Hodge, the performance fused strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion with sub-rattling 808s, recasting staples from Jeezy’s two-decades-deep discography. The idea, the rapper suggested, was less novelty than declaration—a way to elevate trap’s textures without abandoning its grit.

“It has always been my purpose to motivate and inspire my culture,” Jeezy wrote after the show. “Thank you to everyone involved for believing in my vision. This one’s for the books … literally.”

The record recognizes both scale and ambition. Jeezy has experimented with orchestral accompaniment throughout the year, including on dates tied to his TM:101 celebrations, but the Las Vegas configuration pushed further, tightening arrangements, expanding sections, and leaning into dynamics that turned familiar hooks into call-and-response suites.

Where horns once punctuated beats, full brass choruses now surged; where synths once carried melodies, violins and cellos unfurled counter-lines that added drama and depth.

The residency also set a separate Las Vegas mark for the largest orchestral assembly at a concert across any genre, a reminder that Sin City’s lavish stages still reward big swings.

In a city accustomed to spectacle, Jeezy’s staging found its power in contrast: tuxedoed musicians flanking a rapper known for street reportage, luxury-brand imagery sharing the spotlight with timpani rolls and harp glissandos. The juxtaposition underscored what trap has long argued—that ambition and elegance can coexist with the realities from which the music springs.

For Hodge and the Color of Noize Orchestra, the assignment was as much translation as tribute. The conductor guided tight rhythmic handoffs between drumline cadences and hip-hop percussion, carving space for Jeezy’s cadence to sit atop dense arrangements without losing clarity.