The individual who goes by the stage name 03 Greedo is recognized as Jason Jamal Jackson. He is a native of the Watts community in Los Angeles, California and wears many hats as a rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer. The first major project that brought him attention was his collection of mixtapes known as the Purple Summer series, which began in 2016. His popularity only continued to grow after the release of his mixtape, The Wolf of Grape Street, which reached a more mainstream audience. On June 26, 2018, he debuted his first official studio album, God Level.

During the month of July in the year 2018, he was given a 20-year prison sentence for charges concerning the trafficking of illicit substances and carrying a firearm. An announcement was made on January 8th, 2023 that 03 Greedo would be released from prison on January 12th, 2023. Despite his incarceration, he has continued to be productive in the creation and release of music.

Jason Jamal Jackson was born on July 26, 1987, in West Los Angeles, California, to Michael and Lisa Jackson. When Jackson was just a year old, his father passed away in a motorcycle accident. At the time, the family had recently bought a house in Gardena, California, where Jackson was raised alongside his sister and brother. He was the youngest of the three siblings. Before his father’s death, the family lived near the Chester Washington Golf Course in Los Angeles. As a toddler, he suffered from frequent ear infections, requiring a tympanostomy tube. At 17 years old, Jackson found out that he was going to be a father to a child with his high school girlfriend. To prepare for his daughter’s arrival, he worked several retail jobs and sold his own music beats. However, he eventually resorted to selling drugs to support his family. After his mother grew tired of his disrespectful behavior, Jackson was kicked out of his home. After leaving his previous residence, he sought shelter with different acquaintances, including the mother of his daughter. He also experienced a period of homelessness. Eventually, he relocated to Los Angeles’ Watts district before taking up residence in the Jordan Downs Housing Projects.

In his early days, Jackson went by the pseudonym Greedy Giddy and created six mixtapes including the Bipolar series, Everybody Weak, and Money, Powder, Regrets, which he produced himself. His music in this period was largely inspired by Southern rap, featuring auto-tuned harmonies and melodic trap instrumentals. Despite its fragmented nature, a few recordings from this period can still be found on platforms such as DatPiff, YouTube, and Tumblr.

Between 2014 and 2016, Jackson, also known as Greedy Giddy, released many tracks on SoundCloud. However, in 2016, he changed his name to 03 Greedo and took on the role of self-producing two mixtapes, Purple Summer and Purple Summer 2: Sun Don’t Shine. It was also in that year that he established his own label, Golden Grenade Empire. By 2017, Jackson had produced three additional mixtapes, namely Purple Summer 03: Purple Hearted Soldier, First Night Out, and Money Changes Everything. In 2017, the rising young rapper, Co Signed Drop 3 Hot, out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, caught Jackson’s attention. This led to Jackson signing with Todd Moscowitz’s Alamo Records for a remarkable one million-dollar contract. On this label, Jackson released The Wolf of Grape Street in March 2018, followed by God Level at the end of June that same year.