Young Thug

Atlanta's rapper Jeffery "Young Thug" Williams became an auteur (not only star) of trap not only with the singles Stoner (2013) and Danny Glover (2013) but also with the mixtapes I Came From Nothing 3 (2012), although a bit too chaotic, and 1017 Thug (2013), which contains the delirious, feral 2 Cups Stuffed (produced by Jonathan "Supah Mario" Priester) and the drunk, Jamaican-infected Picacho (produced by Jay Neutron). Couple to creative productions, his eccentric mumble rap (often a high-pitched warble) shone on his first major mixtape, Barter 6 (2015). Wesley "Wheezy" Glass produced Constantly Hating, a spectral duet with his label boss Bryan "Birdman" Williams over a slow tom-tom beat, the funereal atmosphere of Never Had it, the minimal street rap Amazing, and Young Thug's most frantic performance, Just Might Be. London "London on da Track" Holmes produced With That, wrapped in ominous synth lines, Halftime, against neurotic ticking and haunting female vocals, and the theatrical Check (2015), over a delicate malimba sonata, with the immortal nonsensical lines "If the cops pull up, I put that crack in my crack / Or (pause) I put that brack in my brack."

He was catchy while being avantgarde on Slime Season (2015), a collaboration with several producers that yielded his classic Best Friend, followed by the overlong Slime Season 2 (2015), that contains Thief in the Night, and the very brief Slime Season 3 (2016), that contains With Them and Digits. If the "Slime Season" trilogy were condensed in a six-song EP, it would be the masterpiece of trap.

The ridiculous mixtape I'm Up (2016) nonetheless contains one of his best songs, F Cancer, as well as the previous single Hercules.

His delirious apex was the mixtape No My Name is Jeffery (2016), produced by Bryan "TM88" Simmons and Wheezy. It contains both virtuoso vocal performances and virtuoso beats. The former include Wheezy's dub-infected Swizz Beatz, and especially the two produced by Michael "Billboard Hitmakers" Jones: Harambe, a cross between a gospel preacher and a blues shouter, and RiRi. The latter include TM88's Future Swag and especially Wheezy's Afro-calypso Kanye West/ Pop Man. On one hand Young Thug can be radio-friendly like in as well as the singles Wyclef Jean, a tuneful reggae number arranged by TMM and Supa Mario; on the other hand, he can glide into Pick Up the Phone, a collaboration with Travis Scott blessed with an abstract soundscape sculpted by Anderson "Vinylz" Hernandez, Adam "Frank Dukes" Feeney and others.

The mixtape Beautiful Thugger Girls (2017) was terrible (if polished) in its attempt to cross over into tuneful pop and country (basically his attemp at doing what Lil Wayne already failed to do with Rebirth), but not as bad as the collaboration with Future, Super Slimey (2017). He could care less: he was topping the charts with Havana (2017), sung by Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello.

Slime Language (2018) is a compilation.

His debut album So Much Fun (2019) sounds like the continuation of Beautiful Thugger Girls. It contains 19 songs including the single The London (produced by Tyler "T-minus" Williams), the catchy Surf (produced by Jordan "Pierre Bourne" Jenks), Big Tipper (produced by Joshua "Southside" Luellen with macabre organ lines), Wheezy's solemn Hot, and What's the Move, backed by chirping birds.

He also co-wrote Donald "Childish Gambino" Glover's hit song This is America (2018).

The 20-song Punk (2021) incorporated a singer-songwriter vibe into his brand of trap, but the result was mellow, the exact opposite of "punk" (Livin It Up, Love You More).

Young Thug indirectly topped the sales charts thanks to his collaboration with Drake in Way 2 Sexy (2021).

In 2022 Young Thug was arrested because his record label YSL was accused of being affiliated with Bloods gang.