New Earth’s Finest: The Rise of Young Thug

Evolution of Thugger Thugger – The Rise of Young Thug

Jeffery Lamar Williams was born in Atlanta, Georgia. The second youngest of ten siblings, Williams and his family were resident of Atlanta’s Zone 3. You may know this man better as Young Thug, a self-proclaimed citizen of the “new Earth”.

Thugger Thugger stepped onto the scene in 2011 with the release of his first installment in his mixtape series entitled I Came from Nothing, the third and final one being released in 2012. His fourth and most critically accepted mixtape at the time, 1017 Thug, released in 2013 and was also the first project he had released on a label.

1017 Thug received major acclamation, ranking as one of the best albums of the first half of the 2010s (Pitchfork), as well as ranking on Complex’s 50 Best Albums of 2013. This was only the beginning considering he was on the verge of releasing the breakthrough song of his career, “Stoner”.  “Stoner” along with “Danny Glover” turned out being some of the most popular songs on the internet and even had Kanye going ignorant in a Paris nightclub.

At the start of 2014, Young Thug was offered a $1.5 million dollar deal by Future’s record label, Freebandz. It has been clarified that Thugger’s affiliation with Cash Money Records was merely a management deal affiliated with Birdman’s Rich Gang, and he remained a signee of 1017 (Gucci Mane’s label). More importantly, 2014 was the year that he became an internet sensation. With the release of the Rich Homie Quan collaboration, “Lifestyle” off the Rich Gang mixtape, Thug’s slurry, whiny, gibberish flow turned him into a Vine and Twitter icon. The Fader compared it to “a beautifully played but broken wind instrument.”

To start off the summer of 2014, he also released “Old English” featuring A$AP Ferg and Freddie Gibbs. In August, he had appeared on Travis Scott’s critically acclaimed mixtape Days Before Rodeo featuring on single “Mamacita” and fan favorite ‘Skyfall’. He is also accountable for making the “Metro Boomin’ want some more nigga” tag you hear at the start and end of the hottest songs nowadays. At the end of 2014 Rolling Stone crowned him “the most exciting new voice of Hip-Hop”.

As we all know, at the latter of 2014 Birdman and Lil’ Wayne had differences that eventually turned into a rift between Weezy and Thug. Young Thug had intentions of titling his debut album Carter 6 as an honor to the continuation of Wayne’s Tha Carter series. Mr. Carter, whom Thugger credits as being his largest influence in music, responded to this announcement, “people shouldn’t listen to people who pose naked on their album covers”.  Thug responded to this comment on Instagram saying that he will not go back and forth with his idol.

Eventually, the album Carter 6 evolved to his mixtape Barter 6 and gained positive reception for other worldly vocals that illustrate every a emotion regarding pussy, guns and drugs. The project’s intro “Constantly Hating” is rapped in a third person perspective as he tells the tale about how difficult it is to be Young Thug. The crown jewels on this project are without a doubt “With That”, “Check”, and “Halftime”, all songs which have had helped gain traction for Young Thug as well as embody the hit-making ability he carries with him on every song he has his hand in.

Boming off Barter 6, on a mid-May evening, over 100 Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan songs leaked to he internet. I listened to every single one of those songs during my summer vacation and enjoyed myself to the fullest extent. Later on, he compiled a few of the leaks as well as some new songs to release his Slime Season mixtape along with Slime Season 2 a couple months later.

After a great 2015, Thug stepped into the new year on another level. After collaborating with Kanye West to feature on The Life of Pablo’s “Highlights” as well as modeling in the greatest fashion/AUX-cord showcase of all time, he had released two more mixtapes in I’m Up as well as the incredibly trendy Slime Season 3. Slime Season 3 showed that Thugger’s melodies are nothing to play around with. He hit every vocal chord a man possibly could on that project. The tape’s intro track “With Them” was premiered at Yeezy Season 3 and has been stuck in my head every single day since.

Now, we’re here. Young Thug turned 25 today and is striving toward being the most genre-bending Hip-Hop artist ever. His persona has changed to a point where he looks as mature as he ever as, and that goes from the perspective from a rapper as well. Thugger’s new mixtape Jeffery will be released later this week.

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