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.”
One of Young Thug’s co-defendants was stabbed in jail. Looks like the RICO trial may not be going today. https://t.co/HiYsxqW0vv
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.
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.”
According to Steel, the rapper’s stage name came from the Tupac’s “P.Y.T. (Playa Young Thugs.)” The attorney says Thug’s stage name stands for “truly humbled under God.”
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.
THUG = TRULY. HUMBLE, UNDER. GOD. YOUNG TRULY HUMBLE UNDER GOD. YOUNG-THUG
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.
Young Thug is facing additional felony charges after investigators discover drugs and guns while raiding his Buckhead home. @wsbtvpic.twitter.com/gWDtmYVGza
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.
Yesterday (November 27), the racketeering trial against Young Thug officially began with the Fulton County District Attorney’s prosecutor delivering their opening statement. Young Thug is charged with violating the Georgia state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and engaging in criminal street gang activity. According to the state, Thug is the leader of a violent street gang, YSL, which has been responsible for dozens of crimes including murder and armed robbery.
However, Thug’s defense attorney, Brian Steel, has argued that the state’s case is flimsy and based on a literal reading of the rapper’s song lyrics with no benefit of the doubt for creative license. According to the New York Times, Steel said, “Despite the unthinkable oppressive, impoverished and cruel conditions of his upbringing, [Thug] has been able to cultivate his creative genius to lawfully and ethically attain phenomenal worldwide success.”
Steel is a veteran defense attorney who runs a firm alongside his wife, Colette, after spending the earliest part of his career as a public defender. Earlier this year, Steel tried unsuccessfully to get Thug granted bond, calling his life in jail “torture.”
So far, Steel has already tried for a mistrial, noting that Assistant DA Adriane Love showed evidence during her opening statements that had already been banned from the case. While Judge Ural Glanville rejected that proposal, he did admonish the prosecutor for including the off-limits material.
If convicted, Young Thug could be sentenced to up to 120 years in prison (although it would likely be much less).
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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.
The trial for the racketeering case against Young Thug still has yet to begin in earnest but today, the rapper got some bad news. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville ruled this morning that his lyrics could be used against him in court despite the controversy surrounding that aspect of the case.
While the specific lyrics in question have always been public record thanks to the 88-page indictment against Thug and YSL, prosecutors read those lyrics aloud in court, arguing that they “prove the nature of YSL as a racketeering enterprise [and] the expectations of YSL as a criminal street gang,” according to Assistant District Attorney Mike Carlson.
The lyrics being used against Thug include snippets from songs like 2018’s “Just How It Is”:
“I just beat a murder rap, paid my lawyer 30 for that”
From 2014’s “Eww”:
“Honestly truth be told YSL won’t fold / Pick his ass off from the balcony/ YSL wipe a n**** nose”
“I rep my life for real/For slimes you know I kill”
Critics of the case say that it discounts the probability of artistic license, that Young Thug is like an actor playing a role in songs like these, or speaking from perspectives not his own. Furthermore, as HipHopDX notes, some of the lyrics are incorrect or misattributed, pointing to shoddy casework on the part of the DA.
Young Thug is accused of being the head of a criminal street gang, YSL, which is collectively accused of crimes including murder, armed robbery, and more. The controversy surrounding the use of lyrics as evidence prompted an array of bills to limit such use, including one federal bill still in Congress. States such as California have already passed their own versions.
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.
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.
Young Thug’s gone through a strenuous few months as the court attempts to select jurors for the upcoming YSL RICO trial. Although he likely won’t be released until his trial begins, the rapper isn’t leaving fans empty-handed this summer. This morning, the rapper came through with the official release of his new album, Business Is Business. Marking his first full-length LP since Punk, the star-studded affair includes features from artists like 21 Savage, Travis Scott, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, and of course, Drake.
The Canadian rapper was among those who shared the countdown last week that suggested a new Young Thug album was coming soon. However, he pulled through for Young Thug heavily, having dropped off two guest appearances on the project. Drake appears on the album opener, “Parade On Cleveland,” diving into his R&B bag. Still, it’s his feature on “Oh U Went” that became an instantaneous highlight from the 15-song collection.
With Metro Boominhandling the production alongside BoogzDaBeast and FNZ, Drizzy and Thugger deliver a bubbly and soulful offering with “Oh U Went.” Thugger takes the lead on the record, delivering smooth flows with the elasticity of his voice and detailing his wealthy lifestyle. However, it’s Drake that comes through with a stand-out verse filled with opulent flexes and effortless wordplay.
Just before the album went live, Drake shared the cover art on his Instagram page and suggested that he pulled a massive favor for Thug. “You owe me one this time,” Drake wrote on his Instagram page. Few rappers can pull a Drake feature, let alone two. Clearly, Young Thug appreciates Drake’s efforts, writing in the comments, “U will be paid.” Check out Young Thug and Drake’s latest collab above and let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Quotable Lyrics It’s gettin’ hard to put a price on a show, can’t even pick an amount now If a n***a really try to jam me, get jammed first like the countdown I thank God for that flight straight from the 9 side goin’ Southbound They say that life’s about balance, baby, and the balance is in my account now
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.
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