Throughout his career, the Compton-bred rapper YG has proudly flaunted his affiliation with the Bloods street gang, which extends to everything from his spelling of the Hub City’s abbreviation (“BPT” as opposed to “CPT”) to his wardrobe choices. On Sunday, he used his standing as both a lifelong member of the Treetop Pirus faction and his celebrity status to help broker a peace with a rival Blood faction, Fruit Town Pirus, with a Peace Walk through his hometown alongside fellow Compton native rapper The Game and hundreds of members and their families.
YG, who just released his new album, Just Re’d Up 3, hosted a similar march in 2020 to protest the then-recent police shooting of Louisville native Breonna Taylor at her home. At the time, the march drew around 50,000 protestors, but YG’s involvement was criticized when it was revealed he would use footage of the protest in the music video for his song “FTP.”
However, he hasn’t yet let that stop him from trying to use his influence as a force for good. He donated $100,000 to Los Angeles families, then handed out nearly $20,000 worth of his sneakers to ex-inmates and vehicles to the Telehealth program. Sunday’s peace walk is just another example of YG using his stardom to give back.