Atlanta, GA · hip hop · trap

Young Thug

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One of the most imitated voices in modern rap — an elastic, unpredictable melodist who rewired what a trap vocal could do.

Born Jeffery Lamar Williams II in Atlanta, the tenth of eleven children, Young Thug began releasing mixtapes in 2011 with I Came from Nothing. Signing to fellow Atlanta rapper Gucci Mane's 1017 Records in 2013, he drew wider notice with the label debut 1017 Thug.

Mainstream attention followed in 2014 through singles 'Stoner' and 'Danny Glover' and guest spots on T.I.'s 'About the Money', Tyga's 'Hookah' and Rich Gang's 'Lifestyle'. That momentum carried him to a solo deal with 300 Entertainment, an Atlantic Records imprint, setting up the run of mixtapes that made his name.

His approach to vocals, sliding between singing, yelping and half-rapped melody and often treating words as texture rather than plain speech, reshaped how a generation of rappers approached trap, feeding directly into mixtapes like Barter 6 and the Slime Season series.

His guest verse on Camila Cabello's 'Havana' became his first Billboard Hot 100 number one, and in 2018 he won the Grammy for Song of the Year for his contribution to Childish Gambino's 'This Is America'. So Much Fun topped the Billboard 200 in 2019, and further hits followed with 'Go Crazy' alongside Chris Brown, 'Franchise' with Travis Scott and M.I.A., and 'Way 2 Sexy' with Future and Drake.

In 2022 he was indicted alongside dozens of YSL associates under Georgia's RICO Act, leading to a trial that became the longest in state history; he was released in 2024 after a plea deal brought a sentence of time served and fifteen years' probation. He kept releasing music through the process, with Punk in 2021, Business Is Business while incarcerated in 2023, and UY Scuti in 2025 after his release, alongside YSL compilation albums under the Slime Language name.

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