The man, dressed in all black and wearing dark sunglasses, was looking to keep a low profile in the back of the red 2013 Ford Explorer.

Tanner Donahoo, his UberXL driver, couldn’t place him by name. But the 28-year-old sensed his passenger was precious cargo, and not just because he was joined by a muscular security guard and a DJ named Ace.

Suddenly, the man — seeing flight cancellations, running out of options — yelled a Hail Mary: “Hey, Mr. Uber Driver, do you want to take us all the way to Baltimore?”

Thus began the 10-hour ride from South Carolina that saved Jeezy’s Aug. 1 concert at the Lyric. Thanks to Donahoo’s heavy foot, the four-time Grammy nominee arrived just in time for his sold-out performance. The Atlanta legend was in town to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his album, “Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101,“ alongside a live orchestra.

On stage, Jeezy introduced the audience to Donahoo, who was greeted by cheers.

“Shout out to the real MVP, my Uber driver Tanner! Not all heroes wear capes! P.S. There was no way I was missing out on Baltimore!” Jeezy wrote afterward on Instagram.

“Bringing the Uber driver on stage to a standing ovation really spoke to Jeezy’s dedication to his fans,” Lyric Baltimore marketing director Samantha Herr said in a statement. “Jeezy has talked about his strong connection and love for Baltimore before, and I think it’s safe to say he proved it that night at the Lyric.”

Donahoo’s story has gone viral at a time when the Clemson, South Carolina, resident is turning a new corner. He’s coming out of a “mental rut” and has lost 115 pounds. This moment of hip-hop serendipity showed him that good things can come from unexpected opportunities. You just have to be willing to embrace them.

“Everyone struggles at different parts in their lives, but if you work on yourself and put positivity out into the world, good things will come to you,” he said.

Donahoo, speaking in depth for the first time, said the experience has become about much more than giving a famous musician a ride. This interview has been edited and condensed.

Take me through your thought process. When you were asked to make this long drive to Baltimore, what were you thinking?

So one of the first things they say is “Hey man, we’re in a hurry. We need to go.” OK, let’s go. I’m cool with that. I get that sometimes. So I’m driving pretty good … and then Jeezy’s like, “You know, this is a nice car. I like this car. Let’s try to ride this car.” So he says, “Hey, Mr. Uber Driver, do you wanna take us all the way to Baltimore? What would that take?”

At first I really hemmed and hawed. I was like, I don’t know — that’s gonna wipe out my entire weekend and I gotta get a bunch of rides in this weekend. He said we’ll make it worth your while. We had some details back and forth and then we ended up settling in, made an agreement, and he put me up in a hotel and compensated me, and that was that.

Did you know it was Jeezy from the start? How familiar were you with his music?

So I like Jeezy. I wouldn’t consider myself a super massive Jeezy fan. I used to listen to a little bit more Jeezy on some older playlists. But I am a rap fan and I listen to a lot of new stuff, so I knew who he was. I didn’t recognize him immediately when I went to pick him up because he was kind of dressed all stealth and incognito. He was wearing all black and had the black hoodie and the sunglasses. They were trying to be low-key with him.

But I could tell it was someone important because I could tell Mike was security. I was like, “OK, so this is some kind of VIP I’ve got in the car.” Then I actually didn’t even realize completely who it was until we made our first stop for gas probably about five or six hours into the ride and then I got a chance to secretly Google who I was driving.

So there was never a point where they said, “This is Jeezy.”

No, they kept it nonchalant. They acted like important people but never said, “Hey, this is Jeezy, we need to get to this concert tonight.” It was more, “We really need to get to Baltimore. It’s important.”

How did you determine it was him?

They went in and got some Subway to go to eat in the car. While I was pumping gas or while I went to the bathroom, I just googled the venue that we were driving to.

Are you willing to say how much you were paid? I’m curious what made you decide this would ultimately be worth your time.

I don’t wanna go too much into the details on the money. He took care of me and it was a great night. I will say I’m a huge music fan and I love going to concerts. I listen to a lot of music. I could kinda tell he was a rapper at this point and one of the things he mentioned was, “We’ll give you this [much money], make you a guest VIP at my show and we’ll put you up in a hotel.” Once it was all three of those things, I was like, OK, this sounds like a fun night. I like concerts. I would probably drive this far to do that anyway.

What was the vibe like in the car? Ten hours is a long time with strangers.

It was pretty relaxed and laid-back. You know the music kind of kept things chill. There was a little bit of talking here and there, but other than that, it was eyes on the road. I was driving pretty good. Jeezy, more than once, piped up about how much he liked my driving. So that made me feel good. [laughs] He was like, “Hey man, I like the way this kid drives!”

Is it safe to say you can have a heavy foot?

When I’m trying to get to a Jeezy concert on time. [laughs]

How was the show?

It was so much fun, man. It had been a while, to be honest with you, since I had really pulled up some Jeezy stuff. I was really surprised to see that there was an orchestra, and I really, really loved that aspect of it. … But then also, the classics and the bangers and getting hyped up. I’m a huge music fan so I was really into it. When you see the video of me walking out there, that’s probably more confident than I am usually. It’s all because I was feeling Jeezy.

It’s a great story. Anything else you’d like to add?

Just a message of positivity. I’ve been in a mental struggle for a long time and I’ve recently been coming out of it a lot. I’ve lost over 100 pounds and I would just say to anyone that’s struggling or going through a rut in life: Get your mind right, get your body right and, one day at a time, good things will happen to you. All you have to do is accept the first ride.