Young Thug

Another member of the Atlanta rap scene is Young Thug, who was born Jeffrey Williams in 1992. He is the second youngest out of 11 children, and grew up in a neighborhood that was ravaged by crime. Young Thug understood that he had the potential to rise above his surroundings, which is exactly what he did beginning in 2010 when he started to rap and create lyrics with a unique touch to his style. He released a three-part mixtape entitled I Came from Nothing in 2011 and 2012, which caught the eye of rapper Gucci Mane. Mane then signed him to his 1017 Brick Squad Records label in 2013, which gave Young Thug the impetus to release a mixtape under this new label entitled 1017 Thug that same year.

 

One of the first singles off the mixtape to become popular was “Picacho”, which did well commercially and was lauded as one of the best songs of the year by Rolling Stone. 2014 was the year in which his single “Stoner” gained immense attention, and it was quickly all over the radio stations seemingly out of nowhere. Young Thug then signed with Future’s label Freebandz, and has since had the opportunity to work and collaborate with Kanye West, Rich Homie Quan, and Chief Keef, among others.