A year ago, Young Thug was released from jail. His new era is complex.
“Ninja,” the first track from Young Thug’s 2025 album “UY Scuti,” opens with an audio clip during a bond hearing after his May 2022 arrest.
“He’s the one directing traffic,” former Fulton County prosecutor Don Geary told Judge Ural Glanville of Young Thug. “He’s the one they’re all afraid of. He’s the one that’s King Slime. He’s pullin’ the shots. He’s the most dangerous of the 28 (defendants).”
The rapper, born Jeffery Lamar Williams, was denied bond — spending over two years in jail. Last year, on Oct. 31, he was released from Fulton County Jail after pleading guilty to drug, gun and gang charges during the lengthy YSL trial. Throughout the racketeering case, which served as the longest in Georgia’s history, prosecutors alleged Young Thug’s label (Young Stoner Life Records) was a criminal street gang called Young Slime Life (the defense denied such claims).
Judge Paige Reese Whitaker, who replaced Glanville in 2024, sentenced him to time served and 15 years of probation.
Young Thug’s post-jail era includes leaked jail calls and viral podcast clips that became public fodder. But those activities also revealed another truth: Young Thug is aware of his wrongs and simply trying to adjust to life after being detained for multiple years and losing friends along the way.
Young Thug’s complicated new journey climaxed in September with the release of many conversations he had (some with rapper 21 Savage, some with his girlfriend and R&B singer Mariah the Scientist, some with a voice presumed to be his manager) while incarcerated. The leaked calls stirred controversy, infiltrating social media timelines every day as if it were the morning news — making Atlanta’s rap scene feel synonymous with The Shade Room-esque gossip.
In the calls, Young Thug can be heard dissing GloRilla (calling her ugly), Kendrick Lamar (saying he will “never be bigger than Drake” after Lamar allegedly declined to give Young Thug a feature) and André 3000 (claiming he “ain’t put nobody on”), to name a few. He criticized Future’s relationship with his kids (“you supposed to be locked in 100% with your kids”) and admitted to cheating on Mariah the Scientist (multiple times).
The conversations revealed a Young Thug who drowned himself in a godlike persona. He later apologized to everyone involved.
“I’m sorry this is happening and I hope u guys can forgive me, I’m moving forward with my life -THANK U GOD,” the artist wrote on X.
But in his podcast appearances that followed, it’s clear that Young Thug still has a heightened sense of self that blocks his growth. The interviews are probably Young Thug at his most candid, but also his most self-absorbed.
In a nearly three-hour conversation with Atlanta rapper and podcaster Big Bank Black, Young Thug constantly repeated “I’m a man” as a makeshift philosophy for how he approaches life. He also flaunted responsibility for the success of his former friend and collaborator Gunna (“I created you”), later clarifying, “Well, God created you, but I helped.”
Young Thug seems to abide by a hypermasculine street code, one that believes real men don’t snitch. And real men don’t get therapy, and a man isn’t doing his job if his partner seeks therapy, as he grossly stated on “The Pivot Podcast,” a popular show hosted by retired NFL players.
Still, viewing his comments without a glimmer of compassion is difficult. In the interview with Big Bank Black, he shed tears when reflecting on the friendships he’s lost since his May 2022 arrest, specifically naming Gunna. Gunna, Young Thug’s fellow labelmate, was among the original defendants in the YSL indictment but was released after taking an Alford plea (pleading guilty while maintaining his innocence).
Although Gunna never testified during the YSL trial, Young Thug’s allegiance to a faulty street code won’t allow him to forgive his former friend. He viewed the plea as sign of betrayal.
“I’m f---ed up. I don’t know what to do,” Young Thug tearfully shared.
It was a rare admission of vulnerability for the often guarded rapper, highlighting another fact: Young Thug is returning to a lifestyle that’s vastly different from when he left it.
Young Thug, who now resides in Miami, cannot freely return to the city that raised him. His strict probation terms 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. The following month, he hosted another — a benefit concert outside of Fulton County Courthouse. In December he’ll perform a benefit concert at State Farm Arena, marking his first major hometown show since his arrest.
During his incarceration, his collaborators and friends Lil Keed and Takeoff died, and the mom of one of his six children was fatally shot after an argument over a bowling ball. That’s an insurmountable amount of loss for anyone to experience, especially while being isolated from the world.
Too bad none of that reflection seemed to be the primal focus on “UY Scuti.” Instead the comeback album, named after a red supergiant star, sounds more attracted to gimmicks and virality (underscored by the cover art featuring Young Thug in whiteface, which could be satirical if inspired by more intentionality).
So, who does Young Thug want to be now? The artist who could seem sincere if he leans more into the vulnerability that’s become a rarity. Or someone who shields that vulnerability by doubling down on the vanity created after becoming one of the most influential rappers of his generation.
The former is the least self-destructive path.
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.
