Young Thug briefly performs at first Atlanta concert since jail release
Atlanta rapper Young Thug will always keep you guessing.
On Sunday afternoon, he hosted a free concert outside of Fulton County Courthouse in downtown Atlanta —four hours after he announced it on social media.
The short notice didn’t stop the hundreds of fans who wrapped around the courthouse. Sunday’s show, which was livestreamed on YouTube and Twitch, marked the rapper’s first public performance in Atlanta since his release from Fulton County Jail in October.
“This is not a flex,” Young Thug said during the event. “This is nothing crazy. This is just the perfect place for me to perform.”
Around 5 p.m., he opened the show with “RIP Big & Mack,” a T.I.-assisted track on his new album “UY Scuti,” which he dropped on Friday. The 20-track project features Cardi B, Travis Scott and Mariah the Scientist.
He walked across the courthouse steps and smiled at the audience throughout his performance. Young Thug frequently encouraged his fans not to engage in violence. He thanked Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat for allowing him to be there.
The Grammy winner noted that Sunday’s show was strictly for the “greater good.”
“This place changed my life for the better,” Young Thug said about the courthouse, the site of the YSL trial. “This is not the place you want to be, on the bad side. When you come here, you want to be a lawyer, you want to be a D.A. You want to be on that side. You don’t want to be on the defendant side.”
He performed eight songs in roughly 30 minutes, including the hit “Ski” and “Whaddup Jesus,” his track with former rival YFN Lucci.
The Atlanta rapper was released from prison in January after pleading guilty to a single gang charge, and on Friday, both rappers dropped their first albums since their incarceration, and made appearances on each other’s projects.
“We came a long way from the trenches,” Young Thug said about squashing his feud with YFN Lucci. “I hope y’all find a way to get rid of the problems y’all got in y’all‘s life and just be better. Life is precious, so I just want everybody to be better for Atlanta, for the community. We’re tired of losing people.”
The show was performed as part of Young Thug’s sentencing terms after he pleaded guilty to drug, gun and gang charges last year during the lengthy YSL trial, which occurred inside the Fulton County Courthouse. In October, Judge Paige Reese Whitaker sentenced him to time served and 15 years of probation.
Part of the 34-year-old’s probation conditions initially included a 10-year ban from metro Atlanta. However, in December, Whitaker said he can stay at his Atlanta home starting Oct. 31, 2027, provided he doesn’t violate his probation terms.
He’s required to return to Atlanta for four anti-gang presentations per year, which can be in the form of a concert. In August, Young Thug hosted his first anti-gang presentation at Skyview High School in College Park.
Sunday’s high-energy performance saw Young Thug heavily engaging with the crowd, even hugging some of his fans. His father, Jeffery Williams, Sr., also attended the concert.
“It was refreshing to see him at home for one thing,” Williams told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the concert of his son, who was born Jeffery Lamar Williams II in Atlanta in 1991. “On top of that, he’s doing something that he’s entitled to do. I’m just glad that people can see him. We’re going to be all right.”
The event ended abruptly at 5:30 p.m., with Young Thug about to perform another song.
Natalie L. Ammons, director of communications for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, said 5:30 p.m. was the show’s predetermined end time.
In an email, she told the AJC that Labat saw the concert as “an opportunity to bring awareness to the unnecessary violence in our community and shine a light on second chances.”
She shared that the rapper is committed to donating to charities across metro Atlanta that support youth and leadership training for law enforcement agencies.
Before the show ended, Young Thug, who is slated to perform at California music festival Coachella next year, shared a final message with the crowd:
“Stop the violence. We pushing anti-gang. We pushing anti-guns....that s*** always ends bad.
About the Author
DeAsia is a music and culture reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She focuses on the intersection of arts, culture and diverse communities, as well as how emerging social trends are being expressed through the lens of the Atlanta aesthetic. DeAsia's work can be seen in Pitchfork, Essence, Teen Vogue, Elle and more.
