YSL Records

Among the 28 members of Young Thug’s YSL crew who were scooped up in the wide-ranging RICO indictment against them was Walter Murphy, who is accused of co-founding YSL as a “hybrid street gang” along with Thug himself. Murphy turned himself in when the indictment went public, appearing in court on Tuesday for a bond hearing in which his lawyer Jacoby Hudson “went off” after the judge denied Murphy bond. According to WSB-TV Atlanta, Hudson condemned the Fulton County DA’s case against his client, blaming it on the high-profile status of its rapper targets.

“The whole case is about Young Thug — Jeffrey Lamar Williams,” he said. “That’s who they want. My client don’t want to talk about Jeffery Williams.” Murphy, who was sent to prison in 2016 for multiple charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2013 and attempted murder involving four different victims in 2015, said he changed while in prison on those offenses. “I spent seven years in prison,” he said. “While I was in prison, you know, I stayed out the way and I just got my GED, completed all my classes.” Hudson says that since then, Murphy has not associated with YSL or engaged in any crimes.

Meanwhile, many observers have criticized Thug’s inclusion in the case as well, as it was reported that the evidence against him was based on his lyrics shouting out YSL — which could mean Young Slime Life, the alleged gang, or Young Stoner Life, his label. Gunna, another rapper on the label, was also accused of being a lieutenant in the alleged gang, despite the evidence largely amounting to mentions in his lyrics. Kevin Liles, the founder of YSL’s parent label 300 Entertainment, posted a petition on Change.org decrying the case and calling for the federalization of so-called “rap on trial” laws that would limit the use of lyrics in criminal investigations.

Both Thug and Gunna are set for trial in 2023 after being denied bond. Presumably, so is Walter Murphy.

The ongoing racketeering case against Young Thug, Gunna, and YSL Records has drawn increased scrutiny to the use of organized crime laws to prosecute musicians — especially rappers — using their lyrics as evidence of supposed criminal activity. While many have spoken out against this practice, including rival rappers like The Game and YFN Lucci, and YSL’s parent label 300 Entertainment’s founder Kevin Liles has posted a petition on Change.org, the people fans likely most want to hear from are the ones who are currently locked up in Fulton County Jail without bond.

To that end, Gunna has shared an open letter through his publicist asserting his innocence. You can read the letter in full below.

June 14th
2022 has been one of the best years of my life, despite this
difficult situation.
This year I had the whole world pushing P.
Growing up from where I come from in a marginalized neighborhood, I never dreamt my art would change my life and the lives of, my loved ones. My entire life, I’ve seen Black Men, Black Women, and Black Children constantly attacked, hated, murdered, berated, belittled, silenced, judged, used, and held captive.
I used my art form, my gift from God, to change my circumstance. I worked, I honed my craft, I worked, I empowered Black Women in my industry, I worked, I lived in the recording studio, I worked, I lived on the road, I worked. I worked every day to show God how grateful I am for my gift, for my art, for, life and to be able to provide for my loved ones.
For 110, I don’t have my freedom. But I am innocent. I am being
falsely accused and will never stop fighting to clear my name:

The picture that is being painted of me is ugly and untrue. My fans know I love to celebrate life, I love my family, I love travel, I love music, I love my fans. I have all faith that God will grant me justice for the purity in my heart and the innocence of my actions.
Ass Black Man in America, it seems as though my art is only acceptable when Is a source of entertainment for the masses. My art is not allowed to stand alone as entertainment, I’m not allowed that freedom as a Black Man in America. It is a sad reality that slavery is still alive in America today and still affecting my people. In 12 states more than half of the prison population is Black, one of those states is Georgia.
Nothing will stop me from chasing my dreams, I won’t stop being a good person, even if some unnamed and unknown accusers want the world to see me as a bad person. When I was free, I tried to be good and kind to the community around me and, when I am released, I will do the same thing all over again.
We still pushing P: Power, Prayer, Progress, Passion, Productivity, Praise, Precision, Peace, Prosperity, Patience, Pride, and Persistence.

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

When 28 members of Young Thug’s Atlanta-based YSL crew were arrested for racketeering — including Gunna and Young Thug himself — fans were understandably distraught. However, one fan, in particular, took things a little too far according to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department, which told FOX5 that it had arrested the teenaged offender after he made death threats against the Sheriff and the Fulton County Clerk.

18-year-old Quartavius Mender was taken into custody on May 26 after commenting on Sheriff Pat Labat’s Instagram posts, saying that he would kill Labat, Labat’s wife Jackie, and Atlanta Public Schools Police Chief Ronald Applin unless the defendants in the case were set free. While Fox’s report is vague about just which defendant Mender was referring to, it’s probably safe enough to guess who the “high-profile defendant” was. Mender has been charged with 23 counts of terrorist threats, which are all felonies, and he has not been granted bond as yet.

“We take these kinds of brazen threats seriously,” Labat told the local news. “Social media cyberbullying, and hiding behind a keyboard will not protect someone from criminal prosecution. Our investigators are diligent in seeking individuals who mean to do harm to anybody, and I am grateful to them for ensuring the safety of myself, my wife, and all citizens of Fulton County.”

Young Thug, Gunna, and their YSL cohorts were all arrested and charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act for being a hybrid street gang responsible for dozens of counts of violent crimes, from armed robbery to murder. However, the case has also drawn criticism for including the two rappers, as the majority of the evidence listed against them in the 88-page indictment came in the form of their own lyrics, which prosecutors used to draw the connection between them and the alleged gang. Most recently, Young Thug and Gunna were both denied bond, as the judge felt they could both be flight risks or even tamper with witnesses.

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

According to Billboard, Atlanta rapper Gunna is being accused of directing gang members to commit violent acts in the ongoing racketeering case against Gunna’s label, YSL Records. Prosecutors have called the label part of a hybrid street gang, blaming dozens of incidents of violence on the gang’s activity.

Billboard‘s Jewel Wicker reported on the case from the Fulton County court via Twitter, writing that a judge denied Gunna’s bond request as prosecutors described his alleged role in the suspected gang as a “command” role in which he’d “direct their troops” to commit violent acts. Wickers reports, “The judge said his biggest concern was witness tampering.”

In addition to denying Gunna’s bond request, the judge also set the rapper’s trial date: January 9, 2023.

Gunna, real name Sergio Kitchens, was one of 28 suspected gang members arrested, along with fellow rapper and YSL Records founder Young Thug. The 88-page indictment against YSL cites 56 counts of various offenses ranging from armed robbery to murder, with both big-name rappers accused of conspiracy to violate the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, explicitly using lyrics from their records to show their ties to the group.

The case has been criticized by YSL associates like Metro Boomin, who insisted that “YSL is not a gang and never been a gang.” The arrests came weeks before New York’s State Senate passed a bill that would limit the use of lyrics in criminal trials. The bill is currently awaiting approval of the State Assembly before going to the state’s Governor to be signed into law.