Music

While the Young Thug trial took a break, the Atlanta rapper wound up trending for something else entirely last night. Late in the afternoon, a clip of a video call between Thug and his rumored girlfriend, Atlanta singer Mariah The Scientist, began circulating on Twitter (in case you’re new here, I refuse to call it “X”). While the content of the call was pretty wholesome, tame, and tender, it’s got one person specifically riled up.

Drake, who has been notable throughout his career for skirting issues of politics and current events, commented on a post about video on Instagram, then took a screenshot of his comment, posting it to his Instagram Story for the world to see. “This gotta be some form of jail misconduct,” he argued. “You gonna drag this talented man then not be able to control your employees using his personal business for their own gain?”

“Somebody benefitted from this video even existing and that’s shameful,” he explained. “Whole case is a wash. Just [free] the guy and let him come home and continue bringing light to Atlanta.”

Why Is Drake Upset About Young Thug’s Jail Call With Mariah The Scientist Leaking?

So, Drake has a point. While inmates can have their calls recorded on visitation day, the way the phone system is set up, the recordings go to a server within the jail which only specific jail employees have access to. I confirmed this with a family friend who installed and set up similar systems at other jails. Virtually the only way that gossip sites could have accessed this recording is for either a jail employee or the contractors who maintain the system (all employees of the state) to save and send the snippet, likely for money being paid by the gossip site.

This is almost definitely a misuse of that authority, which underlines the perception of corruption in the penal system that both rappers and cultural critics alike have been pointing out for years. Young Thug’s case is already under intense scrutiny due to its use of the rapper’s lyrics as evidence of violations of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law, with observers questioning the state’s interpretation of Black music as documentary rather than literary.

Drake’s Story post included an addendum; calling the case “disgraceful,” he wondered, “Is this a criminal case or Atlanta social media promo, Ural Glanville?” Here, he alludes to the sentiment that the authorities involved in the case are merely using Thug’s status as a famous rapper to raise their own political profiles. While District Attorney Fani Willis is the one who prosecuted the case in the first place, Judge Glanville is the one who allowed the use of Thug’s lyrics as evidence. Notably, Willis is also prosecuting Donald Trump for his attempt to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election — and not coincidentally, that case also alleges a “criminal racketeering enterprise.”

However, Thug’s case has devolved into what could ungenerously be described as a media circus. Earlier this week, prosecutors moved to make witness testimonies audio-only, and the proceedings have been interrupted numerous times. In one incident, the Zoom call allowing several participants to attend virtually was broken into by a fan yelling “Free Young Thug! Mistrial!” All of this has drawn more eyes to the case but sapped the court and District Attorney of credibility. With employees of the state also trying to enrich themselves inappropriately with footage of Thug and Mariah’s intimate moments, public sentiment toward the case has to be at an all-time low.

Whether or not Young Thug actually headed up a violent street gang is almost beside the point. It’s the prosecution’s job to find real evidence that he committed crimes, not to try to criminalize artistic expression. There’s a belief that Thug could do more to benefit his hometown using the fruits of that expression to give back — in Drake’s words, “bringing light to Atlanta” — than languishing in a cell for things he only rapped about. As it stands, it looks like the only people benefitting from Young Thug’s incarceration are corrupt officers of the state.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.