Young Stoner Life

Young Thug’s YSL RICO Trial: Everything That’s Happened So Far In The Trial (Update For January 2024)

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It has been a little over two months since our last Everything To Know post about the ongoing Young Thug racketeering trial, and a lot has happened since then. We’ll cover the basics, but also everything that we weren’t able to update as the trial continued.

What Is Young Thug Charged With In The YSL RICO Trial?

Young Thug was accused of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The RICO law was intended to curtail organized crime — think the “leave the gun, take the cannoli” guys — but a broad application of the law is being used to prosecute this case. The state argues that Young Stoner Life, Thug’s label, is actually a cover for Young Slime Life, a violent street gang responsible for assault, dealing drugs, and murder in the Atlanta area.

28 members of YSL including Gunna, Yak Gotti, and Unfook, Young Thug’s brother, were indicted, with Thug being accused of being the leader of this gang. Although he was only accused of violating the RICO Act at first, a raid of his home added charges of possession of illegal firearms and possession of drugs with intent to distribute.

Who Are The Prosecutors In The YSL RICO Trial?

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Taifa Willis brought the case, one of several focusing on organized crime including one against Donald Trump.

Who Is Young Thug’s Lawyer In The YSL RICO Trial?

Veteran Georgia defense attorney Brian Steel is working with Young Thug. Steel claims the use of Young Thug’s lyrics as evidence is racist.

Why Are Young Thug’s Lyrics Being Used As Evidence?

The state’s case against Young Thug hinges on proving his membership and leadership of YSL as a gang. Young Thug’s lyrics made frequent mention of YSL, so they would like to use his own words to prove that he is the YSL shot caller — but they also have to prove that YSL is a gang in the sense of committing organized criminal activity.

Which Young Thug Lyrics Are Being Used As Evidence In The Case?

The lyrics in question come from a variety of songs, including “Just How It Is”:

“I just beat a murder rap, paid my lawyer 30 for that”

2014’s “Eww”:

“Honestly truth be told YSL won’t fold / Pick his ass off from the balcony/ YSL wipe a n**** nose”

“Bad Boy” with Juice WRLD:

“I shot at his mommy, now he no longer mention me”

“Take It To Trial” with Gunna:

“I rep my life for real/For slimes you know I kill”

What Are The Updates In Young Thug’s YSL RICO Trial?

Since the start of the trial, it’s been delayed a number of times. In December, the trial was paused after a co-defendant, Shannon Stilwell, was stabbed in jail.

As the trial continued in January, Young Thug’s verse from “Lifestyle” was played in court, a TikTok of LeBron James was presented as evidence, and the prosecution has asked to ban cameras during witness testimony.

Meanwhile, video from a jail call between Thug and his girlfriend Mariah The Scientist was leaked online, prompting Drake to call out the authorities for failing to take the case seriously.

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

The Young Thug RICO Trial Was Postponed After One Of His Co-Defendants Was Stabbed In Jail

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The ongoing RICO trial against Young Thug and YSL was unexpectedly suspended due to a stabbing at Fulton County Jail. The victim was one of Young Thug’s co-defendants Shannon Stillwell, according to local news, with Judge Ural Glanville telling the jury, “We had a medical issue come up with one of our participants, so we’re going to recess for the day.”

Fulton County Jail has had a well-publicized recent history of violence, with a capacity of just 1,125 inmates and a population nearly three times that at 3,000. A November report counted 10 inmate deaths this year alone, making Fulton one of the nation’s deadliest. In fact, Young Thug and Gunna paid bail for 30 inmates in 2021 so they could go home and be with their families after being held on minor charges but being unable to pay their bonds.

Thug and Gunna both repeatedly requested bond hearings in the lead-up to the trial, only to be denied each time, with prosecutors arguing they were a danger to the community and a flight risk. Gunna eventually accepted a plea deal in which he pled guilty to being part of a gang in exchange for time served. While it’s clear the prosecution wants to use plea deals like Gunna’s as evidence that YSL is a gang rather than a music label, some fans (and peer artists) remain convinced Gunna “snitched” for his reduced sentence — even though they maintain, like the defense, that YSL is not a gang (and thus, Gunna wouldn’t have anything to tell in the first place, right?).

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

How Did Young Thug Get His Name?

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As the RICO trial against Young Thug continues, more details about not only Georgia’s case against him but also about the rapper himself have emerged. During his opening statement, Young Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, explained both how Young Thug and his label got their names in an effort to undermine the state’s characterization of the rapper as leader of a criminal street gang.

With a stage name like Young Thug, you could almost say it’s no surprise that authorities would choose to make an example of Jeffery Williams. But according to Steel, the government has the origins of his name figured all wrong. Thanks to Atlanta-based culture reporter Jewel Wicker (who already figures to be to this high-profile case what Meghann “Thee Reporter” Cuniff was to the Tory Lanez trial), Steel said Thug’s nom de plume was inspired by another revered but controversial rap icon: Tupac Shakur.

Shakur’s 1995 feature appearance on Smooth’s “P.Y.T. (Playa Young Thugs)” inspired Williams to adopt Young Thug as his name, turning the “thug” part into a backronym meaning “truly humbled under God.” Likewise, YSL (short for Young Stoner Life) was “a nod to the tight-fitting designer pants Thug used to see women wear.”

This explanation has been used in the past. Last December, his sister Dora Williams tweeted the same breakdown of his name’s acronym. While the explanation drew some skepticism from the app’s users, it looks like his defense is sticking to that story, which paints a brighter picture of the rapper and probably won’t hurt in the eyes of the jury.

Young Thug’s YSL RICO Trial: Everything To Know Including Updates, Charges, Lawyers & More

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The Young Thug/YSL RICO trial has officially begun. On Monday, November 27, the trial kicked off after months of delays with the opening statement from the prosecution, which was delivered by Fulton County Chief Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love. Love reiterated the state’s assertion that Young Thug — real name Jeffery Williams — was the leader of a criminal street gang, Young Slime Life, operating under the cover of a record label. The evidence against him largely comes in the form of lyrics from his hit songs, prompting a public outcry over the use of art as evidence.

Here is everything you need to know about Young Thug’s RICO trial.

What Are The Updates In Young Thug’s YSL RICO Trial?

So far, only the prosecution’s opening statement has been given, although Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, moved for a mistrial after Love presented evidence during the statement that had already been banned. Judge Ural Glanville denied the motion but did warn the state to play things by the book from here on out. Attorneys for Young Thug’s codefendants also argued that Love’s statement attempted to shift the burden of proof from the state to the defense, which goes against trial protocol (the burden of proof always rests on the prosecution).

Only one defense attorney presented an opening statement, while the rest are due to do so on Tuesday, November 28.

What Is Young Thug Charged With In The YSL RICO Trial?

Young Thug was accused of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and participating in criminal street gang activity in the original indictment, which named 28 members of YSL including Gunna, Yak Gotti, and Unfook, Young Thug’s brother. After a raid on his home, additional charges of possession of illegal firearms and possession of drugs with intent to distribute were added with gang enhancements, making for a total of eight charges.

Thug’s codefendants, including Marquavius Huey (known as Qua), Deamonte Kendrick (Yak Gotti), Quamarvious Nichols, Rodalius Ryan, and Shannon Stillwell, are all also charged with violating the RICO law. Kendrick, Nichols, and Stillwell are charged with murder. 13 of the original 28 defendants had their cases separated, while nine, including Gunna and Unfoonk, pled guilty to violations of RICO and were released on suspended sentences with time served.

Who Is Young Thug’s Lawyer In The YSL RICO Trial?

Young Thug is being represented by veteran Georgia defense attorney Brian Steel. Steel was recently named one of Billboard‘s Top Music Lawyers, and handles “cases ranging from RICO, wire fraud, immigration fraud and money laundering to murder, armed robbery, drug offenses,” and more, according to his firm’s website.

Who Are The Prosecutors In The YSL RICO Trial?

Fani Taifa Willis is the district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, the first woman to hold the office. She’s made it a point to go after Atlanta gangs, but first rose to prominence for her 2021 investigation of former Oval Office holder Donald Trump, which resulted in 19 indictments earlier this year. Her actions also prompted Trump to make some truly wild claims about the public servant, who shot them down in short order. Willis has drawn criticism for using lyrics as evidence in Young Thug’s case, with detractors arguing that it constitutes a racist understanding of hip-hop and rap (despite Willis also being Black).

How Long Will Young Thug’s YSL RICO Trial Last?

The trial is expected to run up to nine months (with six defendants, which isn’t unusual). After the jury selection process lasted nearly 10 due to various disruptions and delays, don’t be surprised if it takes even longer.

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

How Much Jail Time Is Young Thug Facing?

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After over a year of delays, the racketeering trial against Young Thug and YSL began yesterday with opening statements. Fulton County Chief Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love reiterated the state’s assertion that the rapper was the leader of a violent criminal gang that “created a crater in the middle of Fulton County’s Cleveland Avenue community that sucked in the youth, the innocence and even the lives of some of its youngest members.”

For his alleged role in the creation and leadership of said gang, Young Thug could end up facing up to 120 years in prison if convicted. Initially only charged with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and participation in criminal street gang activity, Thug was also charged with possession of an illegal machine gun and possession of a firearm by a felon after a raid of his home.

Due to the way Georgia’s state RICO law is structured, the state does not actually have to prove that Thug ordered or even knew about criminal activities carried out by the gang, only that he held a leadership position within it. To that end, the Fulton County DA’s office has decided that Thug’s lyrics are all the evidence they need — a decision that has proven controversial and been characterized as racist by a number of observers.

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Young Thug’s Dad Spoke In Support Of Gunna And Said The Rapper ‘Can’t Hurt Us’ In The YSL RICO Case

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“F*kumean” rapper Gunna’s return to rap hasn’t been smooth sailing. Still, he’s at least managed to land on several top music charts with the release of his latest album, A Gift And A Curse. However, hundreds of hip-hop fans refuse to throw their support behind Gunna due to rumors that he snitched on his Young Stoner Life label head, Young Thug (real name Jeffery Lamar Williams). Given that Young Thug is still behind bars as he fights the YSL RICO case brought up against him, he hasn’t released many public statements.

On the other hand, Young Thug’s dad, Jeffrey Lamar Williams Sr., more affectionally known as Big Jeff, has remained vocal in the press. In an interview with YouTuber Infamous Sylvia, Big Jeff spoke in support of Gunna, shutting down rumors that the rapper is a snitch.

When asked about his thoughts on Gunna, he answered, “I love Gunna.” Shortly after viewers flooded the video’s chat forum to ask for clarity on the claims that Gunna had snitched on his son, he replied, “Let me try to help the attorney clarify that a little simpler. Gunna hasn’t done anything whatsoever that can hurt us on this case, period.”

Further into the interview, Williams Sr. said that he feels Gunna was railroaded and encouraged him to jump back into releasing music to help bring in money for the YSL label. Gunna was charged as a co-defendant in the YSL RICO case, but when offered a plea deal in December, he told it and was released shortly after.

Listen to the full interview above.

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

Young Thug Was Denied Bond For A Fifth Time, Despite Numerous Delays To His Racketeering Trial

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Young Thug has been awaiting trial on racketeering charges for over a year, but was once again denied bail today, making it the fifth time he was denied bond since being taken into custody on May 9, 2022. According to Rolling Stone, both Thug and his YSL signee Yak Gotti were denied bond at a hearing today despite numerous delays to the start of the trial, which was supposed to begin in January. However, jury selection has taken well over six months, during which time, Thug’s lawyers say the rapper has faced a torturous state of existence.

“Sleeping with bright lights all the time, if he can get to sleep, that is a form of torture which is not compatible with necessary restoration,” said his attorney, Brian Steel. “This lifestyle for the last 14-plus months has caused physical harm to Mr. Williams.” However, Judge Ural Glanville did not see it that way, siding with prosecutors who said Thug presents a danger to potential witnesses, citing one who claimed Thug threatened them in a prior case with a text reading, “Snitch hoes get murked. Them and their kids.”

Thug was one of 28 people indicted on 56 counts of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Since then, several defendants have accepted plea deals, pleading guilty to violating the RICO Act in exchange for their freedom, including Gunna, who has been branded a snitch by former collaborators like Lil Durk.

While the trial proper has yet to start, there have been numerous disruptions to the pretrial court proceedings YSL attorneys being arrested for bringing contraband to the courthouse to co-defendants making wild political claims. Young Thug recently released an album titled Business Is Business, but it looks like justice remains slow.

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Young Thug’s ‘Business Is Business’ Proves The Importance Of Album Sequencing — And That His Incarceration Is A Loss For Hip-Hop

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Over the past year, Metro Boomin has had an incredible run. While he is already widely known as the face and sound of modern-day trap music, on his last two projects, the album Heroes & Villains and the Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse soundtrack, he stepped his game up to unexpected levels. Now, he’s credited as the executive producer on not just one, but two versions of Young Thug’s new album, Business Is Business — the original and the rejiggered Metro’svb Version.

Of the two, Metro’s Version is — unsurprisingly — superior, despite having all the same tracks and only two new songs. Its success highlights the importance of sequencing on a project, an art that goes overlooked by fans all too often. Business Is Business presents a unique opportunity to explore how sequencing changes the tenor and direction of an album because while “deluxe editions” of albums have proliferated in the streaming era, rarely have they experimented with song order the way Metro does here.

For instance, on Metro’s Version, the late-album standout “Jonesboro” is repurposed as the intro; while it gets lost in the shuffle amid the original 15 tracks, popping up around the time that most albums tend to start dragging, on the deluxe edition, it sets the mood for the whole project. Although the vibey, melodic track “Parade On Cleveland” with Drake is probably one that fans were itching to get to upon the album’s release, “Jonesboro” more accurately predicts the… well… businesslike tone of the project.

Business Is Business is a much more somber effort than Thug’s prior releases So Much Fun and Punk, owing at least partially to his present circumstances as a guest of the Fulton County Jail. It also makes sinister tracks like the 21 Savage-featuring “Want Me Dead” and “Hoodie” featuring BSlime and Lil Gotit a bit uncomfortable to listen to, considering it was Thug’s lyrics about sliding on enemies that initially tied him to the Fulton County D.A’s racketeering case against gang/label YSL.

Likewise, the celebratory overtones of “Oh You Went” with Drake and “Hellcat Kenny” with Lil Uzi Vert are undermined by the looming threat of a prison sentence reaching football numbers hanging over Thugger’s head. And, of course, there’s another elephant in the room. Although incarceration isn’t the same as death, the album’s compilation of old verses and guest appearances makes it feel almost cobbled together the way some notable posthumous releases have been and raises the question of how much of this was what Thug actually wanted versus how much of it was just feasible over the past few months.

Similar projects recorded or released by incarcerated rappers like Drakeo The Ruler and 03 Greedo attempted to answer these questions with incomplete results, and Business Is Business rarely does better at doing so. Thug’s vocal and lyrical dynamism helps, as does his well-established chemistry with Metro as a producer and the team of beatmakers employed on the project. But you can’t help but wonder as you listen whether he’d have made changes to the beat selection or to his partners’ verses if he had true access to the process of putting things together.

The lack of Gunna and Lil Keed’s voices on the album only twists the knife. While Gunna was able to process his feelings about the past year on his own new album, he was only free to record it by potentially betraying his longtime mentor, benefactor, and friend. Meanwhile, even if Thug truly believed that Gunna isn’t a “snitch,” they’re barred from associating by the courts anyway, breaking up what has been a lucrative and creatively fruitful musical partnership, if not a criminal one.

Metro does a superb job of tying the disparate elements of the album together enough to sound like a cohesive project on the original but truly works wonders on the resequenced version bearing his name. If his efforts weren’t undermined by the above concerns, Business Is Business might have been a triumph in the same order as his and Thug’s last handful of releases. As it stands, the project is a testament to the value of sequencing and an emblem of what the music world might lose if Young Thug loses his case.

Business Is Business is out now on Young Stoner Life Record / 300 Entertainment.

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

Gunna’s New Album ‘A Gift And A Curse’ Proves Hip-Hop Should Move Beyond Its Gangster Trappings

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I’ve been rewatching The Sopranos this year. It’s been a long process – partly because of the density of the average Sopranos episode and partly because of the glut of new content to keep up with that has been released over the past couple of months. Also, I took February off because who wants to spend Black History Month being called an eggplant?

In the meantime, I’ve been following the racketeering case against Young Thug, Gunna, and the rest of Young Stoner Life Records – or the Young Slime Life gang, if you buy the Fulton County District Attorney’s account of events of the past eight years. I watched as Gunna, Unfoonk, and nearly a dozen other members of the group accepted so-called “Alford Pleas,” admitting to lesser charges in exchange for shorter sentences while maintaining their innocence.

Hip-hop fans and artists alike turned on Gunna, declaring him a “rat,” someone who should be excommunicated from the community. His longtime producer Wheezy deemed him persona non grata; Lil Durk assumed he must have given information about the so-called criminal dealings of Young Thug (who most rappers and producers maintain hasn’t done anything illegal, so somebody has to explain to me the logic on that).

This has all both amused and frustrated me – a lot like my Sopranos viewing of late – probably because my recent rewatch has illuminated to me just how ridiculous the show wants us to know its characters really are. The members of the DiMeo crime family are, to put it bluntly, a bunch of petty, ignorant, emotionally-stunted goobers; their entire system of rules and honor codes ultimately amounts to a grown-up version of the He-Man Woman-Haters Club from Our Gang and The Little Rascals.

The gangsters of the show are men with the mindsets of little boys, all trying to prove to each other how “manly” they are, based on a concept of manhood out-of-sync with the world around them. This holds true of most mafia-centric entertainment: The Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino, The Gangs Of New York, and yes, the hip-hop whose artists have based their stage personas (or past criminal activities) on these characters and “this thing of ours.”

Which makes it all the more baffling why Gunna is being held to these standards, when all he’s ever really claimed to be is a rapper. Yes, he’s rapped about illicit activities, but it’s been pretty firmly established by now that lyrics in rap should be understood to be exaggerated, fictionalized, or outright made up. No one believes Lupe Fiasco has a mecha in his backyard. Jadakiss’ bathtub most definitely does not lift up, nor do his walls do a 360.

Rappers are often playing roles, but what happens when those roles blur the line between creativity and reality? To take it even further, what happens when they drop the facade entirely and get “real” again? Gunna attempts to answer these questions on his new album, A Gift And A Curse, but honestly, I’m more interested in the response than I am in the music, which is as technically proficient as we’ve come to expect from Gunna – if a bit more earnest, humble, and soul-searching.

While social media was awash in posts claiming that Gunna’s career was over due to his “snitching” – something no one can confirm or do anything other than speculate about until the actual trial starts – most recent projections put the album at just under 100,000 equivalent units. That’s certainly a dip from his past projects, but it’s also far from “imminent retirement” numbers. It undermines the thesis that hip-hop and this mafioso-lite “honor code” are as closely bound as outsiders and parasites like DJ Akademiks seem to think.

And that, ultimately, is a good thing. As much as hip-hop is influenced and impacted by money from crime (after all, it costs a lot to get started in the music business, and there are few other options for many folks from America’s inner cities), it’s also taken lots of inspiration from mobster movies, leading to this impression even among the staunchest rap insiders that “keeping it real” is synonymous with acting like a Tony Soprano or Henry Hill.

But, spoiler alert: We know how their stories turn out. Hill not so coincidentally turns state’s evidence in an effort to save his own life. Tony’s fate is left to the viewer’s imagination, but that smash-cut to black bodes ill for someone whose “honor code” included murdering men he’d known since grade school, employees who he himself characterized as “good earners,” and even his own nephew (who was, admittedly, a f*ck-up of the highest order whose loose-cannon behavior often threatened the family business).

Whether or not you believe YSL was a gang or a label – and it matters, because you can’t really have it both ways in this case – holding someone who the vast majority of us only ever knew as an artist to the outdated, self-destructive rules of a pack of overgrown children is about as dumb as idolizing wiseguys who openly view the Black creators of hip-hop as “ditsoons,” “mulignans,” and “butterheads” in the first place. (Tony fainting at the sight of a box of Uncle Ben rice will never not be funny.)

And as for A Gift And A Curse, my big takeaway was this: Gunna has made some of his best music by stripping away the artifice and the trappings of gang life. That should tell us a lot about the direction hip-hop should be going instead of trying to rehash the same old stories – all of which have tragic endings.

A Gift And A Curse is out now on Young Stoner Life Records/300 Entertainment.

Gunna is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Young Thug’s Brother Unfoonk Was Sentenced To 9 Years In Prison For A Probation Violation

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Young Thug’s brother Unfoonk has been sentenced to nine years in prison for violating the terms of his probation, according to Rolling Stone via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Unfoonk, whose real name is Quantavious Grier, pled guilty to violating Georgia’s RICO Act and theft by receiving stolen property in December and was granted release with time served. He was given 10 years probation in lieu of 12 years in prison.

However, on May 4, he was arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, violating his probation. Some of the other terms included not associating with any other suspected member of the alleged YSL gang/record label, 750 hours of community service, and a 10 am to 6 pm curfew. During the sentencing hearing on Monday (June 5), Judge Ural Glanville noted Unfoonk hadn’t begun his community service or paid his probation fees: $141.08. He’s quoted in Rolling Stone‘s report saying:

“The issues I find aggravating in this particular circumstance are several. You got arrested with a gun within six months of you being placed on probation. All you had to do was complete your probation and do what you were supposed to do. Instead, you were out riding around with a gun in your car.”

Unfoonk was among a dozen alleged YSL co-conspirators to accept a plea deal in exchange for his release, including Gunna. All of them maintain that their Alford pleas do not constitute “snitching” — although the hip-hop community at large appears to disagree.

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