if you want to watch the extended version of this video with everything I can't show you on YouTube and Spotify head on over to patreon.com tror Ross Young Thug is one of the most creative and stylish rappers to ever emerge from Atlanta Atlanta is the city that gave us trap music legends like TI Gucci Man and the Migos and has become a mecca for modern-day rap music whether it's the Uber creative and conscious raps of outcast to the drugged out autotune Ballads of future in Atlanta there's something for everyone but there's very few people that have been able to successfully combine such a deep level of creativity with hardcore gangster rap but Young Thug is perhaps the most peculiar and interesting rapper to ever emerge from the city as this genderbending gun-toting genius went against every rule in the rap game from painting his nails and infamously wearing a dress on his Jeffrey album cover Thug single-handedly changed the definition of gangster but don't be fooled because behind this dress is allegedly a violent gang leader who won't hesitate to take you out if you cross him because on May the 9th 2022 Atlanta rapper Young Thug was arrested along with 27 other people associated with his YSL collective in a 56c count Georgia State Reco indictment Thug was accused of being the ring leader of a dangerous gang YSL which he was alleged to be running under the guise of a record label and musical Collective but according to the prosecutors Thug was actually the head honcho of this dangerous criminal organization that was responsible for a Litany of murder assault robbery carjacking firearm and Drug offenses and over the course of the trial salacious details of young thugs beef in the streets were dragged out in the courtroom including apparently true lyrics about having had one of his enemy mother's house shut up these charges were extremely serious and Thug was potentially looking at spending decades or perhaps the rest of his life behind bars but considering the seriousness of his charges many people were shocked to hear the news when just over 2 years later Young Thug was released from jail on Halloween October the 31rst 2024 he had spent over 700 days in jail before accepting a plea deal that saw him pleading guilty to several serious charges for participating in the criminal street gang he was ultimately given a 40-year suspended sentence with the first 5 years incarceration commuted to time served meaning that his roughly 2 and 1/2 years in jail awaiting trial would actually allow him to get right back onto the streets this was an absolutely jaw-dropping move by the court which shocked many people were left asking how is it that someone can be the leader of a violent gang that committed crimes as serious as murder be allowed back on the streets so easily well behind the scenes there were a series of insane dramas that played out both inside the courtroom and in the back rooms with one of the most sloppy prosecutions in Atlanta History combined with some ingenious tactics that seem to put Young Thug and his team one step ahead of prosecutors at all times but today with Thug back on the streets many questions remain unanswered was all of this just luck or did Young Thug and his team learn from other body beating rappers like King Von and create an ingenious tactic of playing both sides in the courtroom moves which allowed them to replace unfavorable judges destroy the credibility of key Witnesses and Corner the prosecution in such a way that in the end there was no way of knowing what was truth and what was a lie for years I and many others have wondered exactly what was going on behind the scenes and what was the true motive behind the alleged murder that nearly took Young Thug off the streets for good well today we're going to be blowing that case wide open and answering once and for all why Young Thug wanted certain people dead in his City how him and ysel operated as a criminal organization and how him and his team were essentially able to get away with murder in the courtroom absolutely demolishing one of America's most high-profile District Attorneys and completely robbing the family of a murdered rival of the justice that they so desperately seek this is the story of Young Thug the demon in a dress Jonesboro South Atlanta is on schedule to become the first major city to tear down all of its project housing Atlanta police is is investigating a shooting on Cleveland Avenue fatal shooting on Cleveland Avenue shooting on Cleveland Avenue shot in the head off Cleveland Avenue police tell us that they are investigating another shooting on Cleveland Avenue there have been multiple shootings near this stretch of Cleveland Avenue just in the past couple of months Man swag hey how you say he I'm there stay there still there long timeo I've been nobody believeing Rock crew going rock crew it's something on there called Rock crew what is that how did that come about I mean it's not a crew it's a g I mean it's not a gang or crew it's I I would say it's the melody in this voice one ofg BL I stand blood True Blood In My World of course it don't matter you know you could be uh a gangster with oress uh I would say it's The Bravery he's Brave [Music] yeah yeah I got yeah I'm TR yeah I got I met baby he came to one of my shows in Miami he was like nephew pull up on me at the studio I got one I want you to he hit space the rest is history his earliest mixtapes in 2011 we've seen young buug transformed him shout out to je what is it you want your fans to know more than anything else I just want everybody to know that I'm a genius yeah coming out Friday first show new [Music] beat now you had a close friend named nut yeah was that your best friend that was my one of my best friend big brother I was the that was still with Birdman and Thug that can tell n this what's happening over here but before I could drop it The Murder happened now the beef is on uh what happened with Rich G we could po one our solo career still family I was the first at n Mama house and she grabbed me said they kill my baby pull me on her bed and help me like he crying that they killed her son I saw you um also was tweeting at um Young Thug's fiance and he was saying that you were just trying to come at him cuz he's the hottest V I don't think we can be like how we used to be right he already already did he already just did some bull a 15-year-old boy shot and killed this morning at a Southwest Atlanta apartment complex they said the 15-year-old was a known gang member the medical examiner says 23-year-old shamal drinks was killed near I20 last night thog is scheduled to appear in court today in Georgia on gang related charges he's one of more than two do people arrested as part of a sweeping gang indictment Mr Williams committed no crime whatsoever my son has been i a barly mean to a lot of things it does not matter what your notoriety is what your Fame is if you come to fton County Georgia and you commit crime and we are going to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law and a rapper Young Thug is facing seven new felony charges now BR you can't make this stuff up another day another incident take Mr seal in the Cy please any of the charges related to the indictment points to Young Thugs rap lyrics as well as social media posts as as evidence you said who paid for the hotel yes you said you did not pay for it yeah I didn't pay for it so who paid for it I guess uh young yeah charged in this indictment but he says one to be slime go catch you a body count one Rico my n really be slim and we committing them crimes take this to mother I got my life for real for SL you know I when we heard things like this is all just fantasy your honor that's not fantasy people are dad I take full responsibility for you know my crimes or my charges my right you feel what I'm saying right way Pi it up yeah Pi it up Pi that and I just want y'all to keep streaming his name lonely enough ever let them know they haven't done anything [Music] [Music] to truly understand the man behind the case we have to go all the way back to the St and take a closer look at the Mean Streets that made the artist that we now know as young thug a thug so young real name Jeffrey Williams Young Thug was born on the 16th of August 1991 he was the 10th out of 11 children on his mother's side of the family a position that undoubtedly came with its own set of challenges particularly how the Williams family grew up in extreme poverty Thug spent much of his childhood in Jonesboro South also known as JBS a rough public housing project on the corner of Jonesboro Road and MC Williams Road in the southeast of Atlanta not far from the infamous Cleveland Avenue that Thug and his YSL set would later begin to claim since its opening in the 1970s Jonesboro South was plagued by poor living conditions and it soon became a hub for gangs drugs and violence such as the tragic 2004 shootout that would end up killing a 4-year-old girl named cedria Rossa when speaking with the fader magazine about his come up in these projects Thug would underscored just how rundown and poor the conditions were where he grew up saying how these projects were nothing but rats and roaches as part of Atlanta's effort to get rid of all the large public housing projects in the city that had become synonymous with crime Jonesboro South Apartments were eventually closed in 2007 before being demolished in 2008 Housing Authority is pushing ahead with plans to demolish two public housing highrises some members of the Atlanta City Council are trying to delay the demolition they're concerned about the impact on residents of the Roosevelt Tower and Palmer House but the authori says it's time to make way for something new our government should not be in the business of subsidizing poor living conditions and we're not doing that any longer here in Atlant the Atlanta Housing Authority has already demolished several older public housing complexes the city gave residents vouchers and assistance in finding new affordable housing Atlanta is on schedule to become the first major city to tear down all of its project housing the worst of those projects have been replaced by developments that were once unimaginable Housing Authority contractors began the demolition on Carver homes in late 2001 that cleared the way for private Partners selected to invest in and manage the new developments at Carver and elsewhere across Atlanta Centennial place it used to be Techwood located near Georgia Tech this is the country's first mix income Community built 13 years ago poverty the shootings the drug abuse two guys got in a fight right across in front of my house I saw one Peep's head around the corner pow pow pow it was just like you was in a a movie western movie Eva Davis moved into Atlanta's East Lake Meadows housing project in 1971 wasn't long before murder in Mayhem became a way of life the 650 unit housing project was never great but when drugs took over over and gangs claimed Turf it went from bad to horrible in a hurry they would shoot and cut and stab and kill each other that's what they be by 1995 the crime rate was 18 times the national average but Thug would still seemingly remain living or at least spending time in this area as he and his friends would now move their main hangout spot down to Cleveland Avenue now as many fans of Atlanta rap would know from the music of some of their favorite artists locals commonly divide Atlanta up based on the city's different police precincts or zones that go from one to six the Jonesboro South and Cleveland Avenue belonging to Zone 3 which covers much of the city's Southeast neighborhoods Zone 3 doesn't quite have the same notoriety that its neighbor in the north zone 6 has also known by locals as East Atlanta an area that's been made famous particularly by The Godfather of Atlanta trap music Mr zone 6 himself AKA Gucci M who made his name in those streets whilst living in a Section 8 housing project called the Sun Valley Apartments now known as artisian East Village located on Boulder Crest Road although ironically these apartments are technically located in decor County therefore they're actually policed by the dcor police department not the Atlanta Police Department which is why they're also not officially part of zone 6 but anyway while Zone 3 might not be as famous as its neighbor it's still one of the most active areas in Atlanta when it comes to crime and gangs and it's particularly around Cleveland Avenue where much of this activity takes place police tell us that they are investigating another shooting on Cleveland Avenue we've been looking into crime around this area and realize there have been multiple shootings near this stretch of Cleveland Avenue just in the past couple of months on Atlanta police are investigating a shooting on Cleveland Avenue police say someone shot a person leaving them in critical condition tonight we are learning more about a fatal shooting overnight in Southeast Atlanta it happened just after 11:00 at an apartment complex on Cleveland Avenue several people were shot during this incident including Four Women police confirming a person in a car is at Grady hospital after being shot this happened near I 85 South at the Cleveland Avenue exit police say 34-year-old Kira Baker was found shot in the head outside American wings and Seafood off Cleveland Avenue police is investigating a shooting on Cleveland Avenue officers tell us one victim in his 50s was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene Cleveland Avenue often called Cleveland due to its heavy Blood Gang affiliations or Little Haiti due to how rough the area has been over the years in a comparison to the third world country the area played a significant role in shaping Young Thug's early life sometime during the 2000s Thug would allegedly get involved with a set mon as raised on Cleveland also known as r or the rock crew swag my part man stole his swag now hey how you say he do hold on hold on let me let me it out let me it [Applause] out white swag right one time straight out the godam rocked out R man know what I'm saying all right you check him out now now he said he want to blow the young Christian right here take take p in his camera phone and he don't got a camer do what he do do what he do do what he do when you walk up listen guys this what he doing [Music] his man ain't nothing like that going on y'all believe that I got a bridge in Brooklyn I want to see yeah we down here kicking man every day little Monte right here man man man The Rock crew would rep the color red for their affiliation to The Wider Blood Gang with at least some of the members repping particularly the New York originated xman murder or smm a blood gang faction that's part of the so-called United Blood Nation or ubn an East Coast originated Blood Gang Alliance that also includes gangs like the nin tray gangsters g-shine AKA gangster killer Bloods or gkb and the 183 gangster Bloods money murder is also known as the two gun gang which the gang reps by throwing two guns up making gun fingers with both hands as Thug and other members can be seen doing in this picture because of their blood affiliation The Rock crew would also call their set R5 replacing the C with a five due to their supposed hatred for the Crips with the five also standing for the five-point star the particularly the East Coast Bloods rep as a symbol for the people Nation gang Alliance that originated amongst gangs in the city of Chicago but later spread to other areas Young Thug would later make extensive use of the five-point star and a number five instead of letter in his spider clothing brand as well but anyway the rock crew would also rep their set by doing the famous Diamond hand sign originally invented by Jay-Z for his Rockefeller record label and members of The Rock crew would also show their Alliance by rocking Jay-Z's Rock aware jeans brand now members of The Rock crew in Atlanta would also seemingly rep numerous other monikers and clicks such as Young Loyalty or yl which was known together with the rock crew as yl rock ABC which stands for all about Cleveland and YB which stands for young Bloods YRC stands for young Rock crew or simply young crew which they would call Young Brew again replacing the C with a b or sometimes abbreviating it to y5 with a five also replacing the C the y5 monik is still Reed by many people from the area such as the rapper y5 hit also known as YSL hit also as was popular at the time in many cities The Rock crew would also have a female crew called The Rock girls The Rock crew was also affiliated with numerous other blood sets and clicks from nearby areas such as the red cartel who were also from around Cleveland Avenue and many had seemingly spent their early years in the nearby Gilbert Gardens Apartments that were down in the mid 2000s although the welcome sign for these projects would remain in place until the early 2010s and it was repped by their set in their music videos which would also showcase their heavy blood affiliation some of the sets affiliated with the rock crew were also more far away from Cleveland Avenue such as the Mechanicsville bird gang or MBG who unsurprisingly hell from the Mechanicsville neighborhood near downtown Atlanta MBG were also part of a larger gang alliance called 30 deep from Mechanicsville and the neighboring Pittsburgh neighborhoods which also included clicks like DRC or the robin crew and YRC young Robin crew who were raising hell in Atlanta and the nearby areas during the 2000s and early 2010s by committing numerous burglaries robberies and shootings in fact one of the key members of YSL who later became a household name after his controversial but entertaining appearance during the YSL Reco trial was little Woody he would originally hailed from 30deep being allegedly part of the robin crew and even writing on his Facebook in December 2009 how he had barely avoided arrest where several other members had gotten locked up hey Woody's pretty good at avoiding getting arrested anyway perhaps somewhat surprisingly The Rock crew was also cool with a set called ABG or Atlanta Blood Gang also known as anybody get it who would later become some of the biggest Rivals of YSL but of course ABG is better known for their close connection with yfn or Young Fly nword also known as yfnbc or Young Fly NWS about cash a crew who were made Infamous by Young Thug's future arch nemesis WN Luchi who just like thug has been locked up on Rico charges since 2021 with him eventually agreeing a plea deal with prosecutors and currently having a rumored release date of January 2025 but for some reason the prosecutors in Lucci's RICO case would claim that yfn was formed as a subgroup of ABG around the mid-20s but in reality yfn has actually existed at least since the late 2000s and Luchi has seemingly been involved with the crew since the very beginning ABG and yfn held from the Summer Hill and people's Town neighborhoods that are located on the other side of the Interstate 85 from the Mechanicsville neighborhood of Lil Woody and like the name Atlanta Blood Gang boldly proclaims they rep The Wider Blood Gang just like the rock crew with their main faction of the Bloods seemingly being from the Los Angeles originated Englewood Family gangster Bloods or ifgb also known as the if gang or n de based on the 92nd Street in Los Angeles where the gang originated from which is often stylized as wh92p with the 92 replacing two o's in the word whoop a word that members commonly use to rep the gang however ABG used to also be closely associated with sex money murder with some of their main members like the rapper Ola player repping the gang heavily during the early 2010s there was seemingly great Unity between the blood gangs of Atlanta with ABG members like another one of their main rappers Bloody Jay shouting out numerous gangs sets and clicks on social media such as 30 deep DRC ylc bird gang Rock crew y5 AKA young crew or brew and six money murder The Rock crew and ABG were seemingly getting particularly close around 2012 as young thug would collaborate with them numerous times on the music side with Bloody Jay oler player and Thug even releasing a song called sex money murder a straight up anthem for their gang whilst also making numerous appearances with each other on video with the Bloods relatively United their main beefs were seemingly with other gangs such as the rolling 60s Crypts from the Thomasville Heights neighborhood but in late 2012 a major change would take place in the Rock crew as some of the members would begin to rep a new set called the Young slime life also known as YSL the prosecutors would later claim during the YSL Rico trial that YSL was specifically founded by three people Jeffrey Williams AKA Young Thug Walter Murthy AKA DK and travus Stevens AKA slug or tip however the exact specifics of how YSL came to be is still shrouded in mystery as The Rock crew members weren't the only ones to rep this name as it was also used by sex money murder members associated with other sets such as the ABG of course this is not particularly surprising given that The Rock crew by no means came up with the name on their own as sex money murder members had at this point been calling each other slimes for some time in Atlanta and much longer on the East Coast where the gang originated with the origin of the term slime going back decades with New York City rappers like Nori and vardo having used it at least since the early to mid 2000s as V would explain to DJ Vlad in a 2010 interview I heard you started saying slime like 5 years ago yeah been saying slime so did you make up slime nah I'm not going to say I made it up you know um someone someone in my name neighborhood which is g dog shout out to g dog he used to always say slime he like a big homie to my Camp so I started saying slime but come to find out you know Nori was saying slime so he probably got it from Nori you know but Nori the big homie you know what I'm saying so he the Slime father he gave it to me you know what I'm saying slime gave it to me and I'm running with it you you you slime in a sentence like give us give us like a slime dictionary here hey yo what's going on slime when you sliming through what up that slime was with the other day you know what I'm saying like now a ver it could be everything but slime what's good no himself on the other hand has stated that slime was never supposed to be a gang related term slime was invented let me tell you how slime was invented down Le is the hugest pork eater I've ever known he eats the pigs everything came to me and said slime I'm going to the store to get a a a pepperd sandwich pepper Dy sounded like talkk to me I said no come to find out Peppa Dy was a versin of turkey he comes to the studio I said oh let me get a half this is exactly how slime started he said a slime cuz I also invented the word haterade and jump off this wased up about slang people use that as a gang terminology right they say you slime then you affiliated with a certain gang you dis bosos and it was also kind of to replace the word so it was kind of like positive but anyways before YSL was formed or at least around the same time the ABG rapper Ola player was already calling himself the King Slime a Monica that young thug would later begin to use himself you know that but whoever ultimately came up with the YSL gang didn't matter at the time as they all close to each other and recking that name together when Ola player would release his 2014 mixtape slime season another name that Thug would later use himself Ola would name Young Thug in the features as simply YSL explaining in an interview how Thug was one of his slime little Bros YSL had quickly gained popularity in the streets as Ola would also tell in the interview but of course as we know now it wasn't long after this when these friendships would come crashing down due to the murder of Donovan Thomas aka Big nut in the Atlanta police will truly begin to circle around Young Thug and the YSL gang however before we get to that now that we know a little bit more about the early life of Thug In The Mean Streets of Zone 3 and the formation of YSL the alleged Street gang it's time to take a closer look at the musical career of Thug and the artistic play that would ultimately make this young blood a millionaire clearly growing up in Atlanta's blood dominated Cleveland Avenue was a huge influence on Young Thug's mindset growing up and it would seem like he took this unique and tough gang banging culture that was ingrained in him into his music to create a one-of-a-kind style because Young Thug isn't just any ordinary rapper or gangster the enigmatic Street rapper has had one of the most peculiar and colorful rises to fame that the rap game has ever seen Young Thug begun rapping publicly in 2010 with one of his first recorded tracks rumored to be the later leap song rxs after rxs featuring Jose Guapo and bfpl produced by D deal the song is extremely 2010 with heavy use of syns rolling snares and a heavy dose of autotune to match and the song was painfully generic but it had the seeds of Young Thug's Unique Style that Blended autotune with street talk that would later make him famous he would drop bars ripping in iconic Atlantic culture at the time rapping about shopping in the lenx mall and rocking True Religion fits and shouting out his street Crew The Rock Boys on July the 4th 2010 one of his earliest public appearances in a music video came in the form of a song by true Royal featuring Young Thug titled I'm on or she can go which saw Thug showing off a rapping style heavily influenced by Lil Wayne comparisons that would continue for many more years into his career the video also showed off Young Thug's diabolical crooked teeth proving that there were clearly more guns than dentists on Cleveland a but Thug's snaggle teeth didn't nothing to stop him from spitting hot fire and from here he would continue to record tracks with other local artists on December the 14th 2010 Young Thug would collaborate with Rich Kids on the track $100 autograph where Thug would showcase his early flow and style heavily inspired by Lil Wayne with a light dose of autotune on the track pretty much making Thug sound like a carbon copy of Wheezy and on the track he would wrap back-to-back bars about cooking up dope and selling rocks on his block now this track was apparently an early viral hit with commenters on YouTube actually Reminiscing on hearing this track of parties in Georgia the song song itself would serve as an introduction to Young Thug in the Atlanta underground music scene as from here his name would begin to build up a buzz locally however rapping didn't become something that young thug would take seriously until 2011 following that big bust on the raised on Cleveland gang with the streets hot he would refocus his attention on music with a work ethic match and from 2011 to 2012 Young Thug would drop numerous mixtapes all self-released highlighting his tough come up and experiences with the rock crew on Cleveland Avenue in an old interview from February the 24th 2011 we would get an early look into Young Thug's mindset as a rising 19-year-old rapper saying that he grew up in Jonesboro South and that he loves rapping but nobody believed in you everybody I'm sitting here with young a rapper onene trying to getting his name out here in the hip-hop game so tell the people about yourself and who you are as an artist Young Jeff I'm born there stayed there still there I'm 19 I like rapping I like money too I been new how to rep long time ago I been knew how to rap nobody believe him little Los believe him name Lo shout out to Los abolute but I'm not I like ref I love ref Thug would also touch on the meanings and origins of his Rock crew accidentally slipping up and calling it his gang before backtracking and calling it his family Rock crew don't my mom it's something on there called Rock what is that and how did they come about I mean it's not a crew it's a gang I mean it's not a gang or crew it's a family okay you know what I'm saying so I don't know why they call the Rock crew I guess that's just the name of RC but it should be RF know cuz it's it's a family and shout out to them I love them he would also predict that he would work with Lil Wayne and Young Money pretty much manifesting his future career moves without realizing just how much drama he would be bringing to the crew okay so what's next for young St who should we look forward to you working with do music any mixtapes when it come out what can we expect in 2011 Wayne Young wom I'm working with you you are right now are you are you going to you're going to yeah young man okay Thug was clearly doing the most to promote himself and get his name out there in all the modern methods an artists in 2011 should have been using and he would follow up his social media campaign with solid musical output Thug's debut mixtape I came from nothing one was released on June the 8th 2011 an introductory mixtape to Young Thug it had 13 tracks and it was a tape that complex would later describe as having a heavy influence from Little Wayne he would follow up his first mixtape with a sequel months later and on December the 2nd 2011 Thug would release his second mixtape iame from nothing to and on July the 4th 2012 Thug would dropped the third and final installment in his I came from nothing series of mixtapes and the last entry would prove to be the most successful anticipation for I came from nothing 3 whether it was positive or negative existed months before the mixtape would actually drop with forums buzzing with fans ready to hear the new tape whether it was trash or not the 22 track tap tape would showcase an evolution of Thug style and he was finally finding his own voice I came from nothing three gared more attention than his previous tapes thanks to a high-profile Pitchfork review the review for I came from nothing three despite only giving it a 6.9 rating provided a spotlight to Young Thug and represented a new level of attention for his music nationally and Beyond the mixtape was categorized as a dense ambitious attempt to cultivate an entirely new style the review acknowledged Thug's weirdness not just as a gimmick but as a presence a Persona a Mystique and potentially star interestingly it would be around this time that young thug would first me YSL in a tweet seemingly at this point showing his love for the fashion brand of the same name but we of course know now that YSL will be reused as the future name of his music label and the acronym for his young stoner life movement something that was apparently separate from the young slime life gang but anyway in 2013 it would be a Monumental year for Thug's career and his transition into the mainstream rap game following his impressive mixtape run Thug would attract the attention of influential figures such as Gucci M who would take Thug under his wing early in his career and it would be this Atlanta trap music legend Gucci Man Who Would sign Young Thug his 107 Brick Squad label in a deal apparently offering $25,000 in cash without even hearing Thug's music the month after signing with Gucci on February the 23rd 2013 Thug would drop his first installment of the 2017 Thug mixtape series the title being a clear shout out to Gucci M's label who had signed to this was the tape that many would say officially put Young Thug on the map musically it was on August the 31st 2013 that Young Thug's new song Stoner would be featured on DJ Spins music compilation hpg 3 and released on YouTube at the time the song didn't make that much of a huge splash but over the coming months Thug star would continue to rise and he would later re-release the song with a proper roll out throughout the years Young Thug had given many conflicting definitions of what YSL actually stood for everyone wanted a piece of Young Thug but he was still loading up and cementing his Persona and his Antics on social media would continue to raise eyebrows and Spark conversation with young thug in the spotlight people would start questioning the way that he spoke about his male Associates such as in this post where he says I miss you babe in reference to his incarcerated friend and this was by no means the only example Thug would call Bloody Jay his love and he would also post a picture of himself in a hospital with a friend giving each other sips of lean along with the caption me and my love some people were looking at Thug's behavior and thinking it was a little suspect but he would seemingly take note of the conversation that his zesty Behavior was encouraging and lean into the Persona further and from here Young Thug would continue to go viral for rather suspect reasons on February the 1st 2014 Young Thug would make an Infamous post on Instagram wearing a leopard print dress this naturally sparked intense debate on Young Thug sexuality with Rising rap commentator DJ academics voicing his opinion extensively making a video about Thug's dress wearing and nail painting and dropping a video pondering if Thug was truly the first openly gay trap rapper killing the streets right now but recently he's been seen queening out on Instagram now a quick scroll through his Instagram page I saw another rocking a demonic animal print tutu in another pick he's rocking straight up Uggs in another pick it actually a couple of pcks he's calling another man ba on Instagram and ladies and gentlemen I'm afraid I got to ask is this gay now in my opinion I think he's kicking down the door of the closet and he's in route to becoming the first openly homo Thug trap rapper in the notoriously homophobic world of Hip-Hop Young Thug's feminine habits were challenging norms and pushing the boundaries despite the fact that young thug himself was seemingly extr extremely heterosexual as he made clear on the track Danny clover but these Antics were keeping Thug super viral and challenging the image of what a thug could be in the modern day trap rap era in a February the 4th 2014 article fader would state that young thug was helping to change the rules what it's acceptable for guys to wear obviously questions about his sexuality didn't bother Thug and if anything all of this was just helping him grow his buzz in this clip from a few months later he says that he doesn't get tired of being called gay but he does get tired of sneak dissing hey man I don't get tired of these chilling saying gay I don't get tired of these drinking this mother only thing I can get tired of is a slick dising you know who I'm talking about now get tired of spraying at your pull up boy he was later asked by Bossip what he means by calling guys his babes and his lovers and he would respond saying that it's just a language and there's nothing fruity going on you caused a lot of controversy everybody wants to know what you mean when you call your homies your baby or your hubby your lover can you just set the record streen it's a language it's nothing stupid or fruity going on it's the way we talk it's the way we live those are my babies no my lovers know my H whatever you want to call is it strategic at all you know to get people talking about you cuz you are somewhat of a new artist so is it strategic to be controversial however I don't know I don't know a yes or no to that that's a hard question Thug was becoming one of the most entertaining characters in rap but regardless of all the room and commenters all of this was helping thugs rise and he was about to have his breakthrough moment musically because despite the audio dropping in 2013 and building a slow and organic buzz on February the 4th 2014 Thug officially released the track Stoner as a commercial debut single the song was massive and it's considered his first major hit it would be the track Stoner where Young Thug would begin heavily repping YSL in his music and just in general this is where his young stoner life movement officially began but it would be on this track that young thug would essentially explain the evolution of the rock crew gang which apparently started as the young thugs in charge ytc then turned into the raised on beveland or Ro or r or ro5 crew then six money murder smm and then finally Young Stoner life or young slime life which is YSL Stoner was a huge hit for Young Thug eventually peing at number 47 on the billboard HW 100 charts it became certified gold by the recording industry Association of America on May the 2nd 2016 selling half a million copies and today the tracks official video has 22 million views and the original audio released in 2013 over 42 million views along with 39 million plays on Spotify billboard even called it one of the songs that defines a decade of the 2010s thug had broken through to the mainstream and was becoming the hottest rapper to watch he landed the cover of fader's 90th issue and the record labels were getting more and more serious about snapping up this sassy Street superstar in March 2014 Young Thug's affiliation with Cash Money Records and its CEO Birdman led to speculation about him signing to the label though the labels publicist later denied the rumors Thug would be smart to delay signing any more deals during this time as it seemed that everything he touched turned to gold and his price was increasing by the day on March 17 2014 Young Thug would feature as a guest on another Young Money artist song Tiger the track hooker which debuted at number 94 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and went on to peek at 85 with a catchy beat an energetic flow tiger and Young Thug would take turns expressing their love for the Finer Things in life from expensive cars to designer Brands and of course everyone's favorite Arabic smoking device the hookah the music video currently sits over 547 million views and at the time I remember this song just being everywhere and me loving it th was getting more and more media attention and people were fascinated by his style and Persona The Breakfast Club would react to a clip where Young Thug admits that he indeed was wearing a little girl's dress in the viral clip was Charlamagne actually saying that he respects Thug's zesty gangster there's a lot of Blurred Lines when it comes to dressing now are men going to all start wearing dresses is that the new wave well here is Young Thug and he does admit that it is a dress I do got to ask you about the leprint uh joint you had on now was that was that a shirt or was that was that a dress oh yeah yeah that was a dress that was a dress I think that was like a eight 78y old dress right like a little girl dress you like cop to like like vintage store where you where'd you pick it up at uh unknown place of business I won't let nobody know yeah you tell them where you cop it they want to cop they're going to start wearing it has anyone have you seen anybody start rocking them now since of course I've seen a lot of these punks biting now I respect Young Thug's gangster okay all you punks biting him by throwing on dresses Okay Thug's formula was working and it seemed the internet would become fascinated by Thug's fruity Fashion scense on March the 27th 2014 a picture claiming to be Young Thug wearing a minis skirt and a fishnet vest would appear on the internet further fueling speculation about his sexuality and while the resemblance is uncanny the picture was debunked by complex to not be young thug specifically due to the person not actually having any tattoos and the real young thug actually being covered in them at the time not that I think he wouldn't wear something like this but that wasn't actually him but the fact that people believed it also said a lot but anyway behind the scenes things were apparently getting complicated for Thug and his status as a signed artist on March the 28th 2014 it's revealed that young thug signed a man deal not a record deal with Birdman's Rich Gang but he would apparently also still officially be signed to Gucci M's 1017 Brick Squad it's unclear how business worked out with Gucci but this $25,000 deal he signed early in his career clearly didn't match the level that he had reached in his career at this point so in April 2014 Young Thug officially signs a big deal joining 300 entertainment home of fellow Atlanta Track music stars the Migos and in an interview with DJ Vlad liar Cohen of 300 would explain what he saw in Thug explaining the bravery and creativity that he saw in Thug on his career at this point what was it about Young Thug that made you sign up because he's a very different hip-hop artist I mean I don't even know if you can call him hip-hop it's almost like a new genre that he created I I would say it's the melody in his voice uh I would say it's The Bravery he's Brave like he's not how about this what pissed me off is he didn't even know who Run DMC was okay I was so pissed off but intrigued too like wow RS that old yeah but anyway with Gucci man in jail at the time and Thug finally out of the lowball deal that he signed early in his career another gangster rat veteran would ultimately take him under his wing Thug's relationship with cash money Mogul Birdman would flourish during this period and being the person who discovered and groomed Lil Wayne for stardom this connection with Birdman was getting Thug closer to his rap idol another questionable post is made on Instagram of Young Thug with Lil Wayne tagging Birdman with the caption you can tell that we're in love another Rising artist who would get tangled up in the relationship between Thug and Birdman would be Rich Homie Quan Young Thug would post himself and Quan on Instagram with the caption me and my hubby setting aside the suspect caption Thug was building a close relationship with Rich Homie Quan as well as Birdman and on September the 16th 2014 Thug would again post himself and Birdman on Instagram with the caption me and my lover on October the 5th 2014 Thug would wish a happy birthday to Rich Homie Quan with the caption happy bday to my love on November the 20th 2014 Thug would post a picture of himself and Quan with the caption me and Bae Thug's ICS were perhaps a joke but he was indeed getting closer to this group of Atlanta music Moguls as he reached the very top of the industry at the end of the year Rolling Stone would declare Young Thug as the hottest voice in rap at the time Thug was on top of the world and off the back of his enigmatic personality viral stunts and Quality Music output he had proven that he was here to stay but despite all the success behind the scenes things were getting tricky in the industry as it would later turn out that young thugs association with fellow blood member turned rap business Mogul Birdman would get complicated and his relationship with Rich Homie Quan and an alleged desire to take control of his career would lead to tension in the city as rival Crews and gangsters would ultimately wind up going to war over dominance of the Atlanta Street music scene with this battle unfortunately leading to the demise of an Infamous Atlanta Blood gang member with the consequences ultimately catching up to Young Thug nearly a decade later after he'd spent years building his career and reaching the top of his industry it would be this 2015 murder that would nearly cause him to lose everything by mid 2014 after signing a deal with a prominent label and positioning himself as one of the most buzzing gangster rappers in Atlanta Young Thug had truly made it transcending the cycle of poverty and violence that him and his peers had suffered growing up on the desolate streets around Cleveland Avenue but this wasn't enough for Thug who wanted a bigger slice of the pie in the Atlanta rap scene that was incredibly competitive around this time and Thug wasn't by any means the only one getting a major bag off the rap game in his city as numerous Affiliated but also competing groups were battling for dominance over the industry and interestingly it seemed that a lot of these groups were affiliated with different major Nationwide factions of the blood gang such as money murder also known as two gun gang blaz and Billy or bbo for blazing Billy only as well as the Englewood Family gangster Bloods also known as ifgb if gang or 92 family and the nin tray gangster Bloods also known as Billy badass or BBA at one point these groups were on friendly terms but over time it seems that the competitiveness in the scene and possible Gang Related rivalries would lead to Bitter conflicts that would eventually turn deadly Young Thug's Life at this time was busier than it had ever been he was touring all over the country often joined by his Rich Gang Affiliates Rich Homie Quan and the five- star stunner himself Birdman who is also known to often flaunt his own blood affiliation sometimes even seemingly indicating to also be part of this money murder faction of the gang however along with those highly famous blood Affiliated artists there would also be some high ranking blood members who were perhaps unknown to the broader public but whose names held enormous weight in the Streets of Atlanta in one Rich Gang tour Vlog posted on World Star hip hop around this time Young Thug would introduce one of these people to the camera describing him as one of the biggest bloods in America be right I got one of the biggest bloods in America the man introduced by Thug was none other than Donovan Thomas Jr better known in the streets as big nut big nut was born on April the 4th 1988 and despite being only 26 years old in 2014 he was a Bonafide OG in the Streets of Atlanta even with his nickname nut short for peanut coming from the fact that he was a small kid who according to his mother looked like the cutest peanut would you tell the jury who it is that is depicted on St three y um that's my son Donovan Thomas Jr and did you call him Donan Thomas Jr did you have another name for him yeah we called him peanut where did that name come from I'm just him growing up he was just the he was smaller than he was and as you know now we just thought when he was born he was just a cute little peanut and that name just grew with him not grew up in University homes public housing project that was located in the West Atlanta near downtown before being torn down in 2009 and he attended the nearby Booker T Washington High School at some point not would become affiliated with a gang that reps the old Fourth Ward neighborhood often known as simply Fourth Ward this gang sometimes being referred to as the bird gang in in fact if Atlanta law enforcement are to be believed not wasn't just any member but the second in command in the bird gang this set is or at least was also known as the pink City bird gang the pink city name According to some redditors allegedly comes from where nut and his friends used to trap at however the name Pink City bird gang could also be a play on the Classic 2003 song Purple City bird gang by Harlem rapper Jim Jones now the bird gang is known as the BG CMB the CMB at the end standing for their late member L Chris real Nam Christopher M Bennett who was killed in 2011 According to some people Chris was in fact nuts brother brother his death hitting nut seemingly very hard and he would even get a large cmbb tattoo on his chest as well as several huge diamond chains made in his honor as already hinted bird gang is also another Blood Gang with their members seemingly primarily identifying as the Inglewood families like the ABG at least according to Atlanta law enforcement n himself would seemingly often rep the gang on social media throwing up different hand signs associated with that gang but nut wasn't just an alleged high-ranking member but he was also seemingly a successful businessman in the music industry too who was very close with industry Titans like Birdman posing with him in photos numerous times n also went seemingly way back with the Baton Rouge rap Legend booy badass as well as apparently being close with the pioneer of the modern Atlanta trap sound Walker flocker and of course nut was also very close with yfn Luchi who allegedly said the same Englewood Family Blood gang ties with him as nut himself would State his name held weight likely both in the streets and in the Atlanta rap industry where he was part of different music industry Ventures most notably the record label called think it's a game or TIG which was founded by nuts forend geran fly Henry who was one of the most well-known industry players in the Atlanta rap scene as well as being known and awarded for his philanthropy and even getting knighted by the city and having an official day named after him in fact it would actually be nut who would introduce yfn Luchi to Henry and Landing him his deal with think it'ss a game records and man you know he introduced me to fly he was like let fly know like man sh it's hard ain't nobody harder than him man he you know he want to do it he love doing it so he going to do it and he going to listen so you know he he a good person you know to have in your come and fly you know fly but that were him man and he believed in them and we made it happen Luchi and nut had developed a strong relationship and nut would continue praising Luchi early in his career commenting on his posts how Luchi was about to murder the rap game Nut would even bring Luchi around his mother from time to time which nut's mother would actually speak on from the stand at the eventual YSL trial did your son ever bring Luchi to your house yes did did you ever see your son interact with Lui yes was Lucci one of the artists that your son worked with yes Iain the objection as a form you can phas what was the relationship between your son and Luchi uh just entertainment um music by all accounts nut was an instrumental player in getting yfn Luchi into the rap game and nut's untimely demise allegedly caused by members of yl would lead to an intense and violent war between Thug and his YSL crew and yfn Luchi and his yfn crew and their Affiliates like the ABG however there's much more puzzle pieces that would allegedly play key roles in nuts murder going far beyond the beef between YSL and yfn so if you want to know more about that years long back and forth between those two factions you can go and watch my deep dive documentary I already did about that whole beef because with regards to the YSL RICO case it would actually be another artist whose connections to both Thug and nut would allegedly be crucial in not losing his life and that person was rich homi Quan rich homi Quan real name Dantes Devonte Lamar was born on October the 4th 1989 and from a young age he would show an interest in becoming a musician ition even getting a tattoo of a microphone on his body at age 16 stamping the rap game on his skin and setting his intention on making his way in music by any means necessary I go to jail I got a microphone telling me in high school you know what I'm saying but I I went rapping out with Shadow you know what I'm saying so I'm in jail so D like you got that M youpp you know be rapping everybody rapping you know what I'm saying like no man so a dude com in name Tom I remember like it yesterday it was in May I had been locked up 4 months brother so he rapping he got the whole dorm on locked you know what I'm saying I was like he ain't doing nothing I can't do he be he being with his hands on the table but shining so I like man that's when I really got to Hur about I'm going to get back on new music man however before embarking on his musical Journey Quan would initially pursue a career in professional baseball as a way for him to get out of the streets even receiving a college scholarship based on his talent in the sport but due to baseball being a majority white sport apparently Juan knew that it likely wasn't going to work out for him unless he had exceptional Talent did you graduate from high school with something like a threo 2 GPA yeah I graduated from high school with a 3.2 GPA yes sir graduated uh I had a scholarship to go to Fort Valley the Fort Valley University to play baseball but I you know what I'm saying I didn't get a scholarship for academics my scholarship was for baseball but with my academics being that I didn't have to pay for school at all you know mhm but okay go ahead I'm sorry yeah but my mind was on rapping though like baseball cool but in the back of my mind I really want to rap out cuz as I'm getting older I'm noticing like my favorite players growing up S SAA Andrew Jones but yeah they black but I'm think I'm here I hear Andrew Jones talk like what the hell Andrew Jones I thought you were black black so as I start getting old I started realizing like the percentage of black men in the MLB is very small so I'm like I'm good but I ain't that good he would eventually end up following the college path for a couple of weeks before dropping out due to having to commute a whopping 4 hours to school every day Quan would then turn to a life of crime in order to make ends me and he and some friends would begin breaking into houses when Quan was about 19 stealing televisions and other electronics while also seemingly dabbling with music like making a song called stay down in 2008 with a rap group called The Stack money boys which had all the essentials of the Atlanta sound at the time being a highly upbeat Party Anthem in the style of Rosco Dash Travis Porter and other Atlanta legends from that time period however Quan's brief stint in the life of crime came to an abrupt Hall after a few months when his crew was caught and Quan was sent to prison following his release from prison in February 2011 qu was determined to turn his Newfound passion for music into a full career and soon he would join an Atlanta rap crew called loyalty over royalties and began putting out music again being part of the crew granted him access to Studio sessions and an ability to print mixtapes at a good rate which was through his friend CEO Tey but tragically Tey was killed later that year which would end up discouraging Quan and delaying his plans with music at this time Quan was struggling financially living in the basement of his mother's house but still keeping himself occupied and recording every day on his mattress and by April 2012 Quan would be gaining traction with the mixtape I go in on every song which would eventually end up gaining the attention of ger and fly Henry the head of think it's a game Records who would hear Quan's mixtape in his fly kicks shoe store leading fly to then end up signing Quan for $199,000 which Quan would receive in $400 installments every week Quan would then start dropping mixtapes under the label starting with the tape still going in released in September 2012 this tape would include the single differences which now has over 20 million views on YouTube according to Quan at this point he was already getting thousands for his shows but things would really change for him after he would drop still going in Reloaded in February 2013 which would include the song Some Type of Way or simply type of way this will be Quan's first mega hit peing at number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number eight on the hot rap songs chart becoming a fan favorite the music video for the song released in July 2013 now stands at over 300 million views on YouTube while the song has over 100 million plays on Spotify but the track resonated beyond the charts becoming an Anthem for the 2013 Michigan State Spartans a football team that was on fire that year with the team actually being invited to the 100th annual Rose Bowl one of the biggest events in college football and Rich Homie Quan would even join them for the celebration and this was nearly a year before Young Thug would start getting his own Billboard hits which is often forgotten when discussing the rich gang era and the influence that both Quan and Thug had in the group's success as early as February the 12th 2013 Thug was well aware of Quan's meteoric rise in the Atlanta rap scene and he would take to Twitter to hype and tease an upcoming collaboration between Chicago born and Atlanta raised Lil silk and Rich Homie Quan as well as posting cover art for the song a few days before it release Thug seemed to be a genuine fan of Quan's music and would respond to a fan that suggested a link up between him and Quan would be hard with the hash vs but it also made sense for Thug career-wise to align himself with the hottest new Prospect in his city as Thug was still more of an upand coming rapper at this point while Quan's career was going from strength to strength more rapidly and at the end of 2013 Rolling Stone would even name Quan's still going in reloaded as the 10th best mixtape of the year and in May 2013 fans of the two rappers would be blessed with their first collaboration when both featured on Gucci M's Trap House 3 album on a song titled Chase in paper Gucci being one of the biggest artists to come out of Atlanta trap in history this was a major look for both artists although Gucci at the time was fighting his own demons with drug addiction and mental health issues eventually Landing himself in trouble with the law but from here after that Gucci coign going into the summer of 2012 Quan would continue having breakthrough success at National and even International level in September he would be featured on the iconic hook of the hit single my nword by the California rapper YG alongside Atlanta trap Legend Young Jeezy with the song peaking at number 19 on the Hot 100 and the music video now having over 350 million views on YouTube the song truly opened doors for Quan to become a global star charting in seven countries around the world even going Platinum all the way in Sweden in November Thug would post a tweet telling the world that they weren't even ready for the collab that he was about to release with Quan and later that month Quan would release another mixtape titled I promise I will never stop going in which would include the song get the F out my face featuring none other than Young Thug himself the song wasn't quite the mega hit that Thug was making it out to be although he would make it part of his life performances clearly seeing the potential in the Duos collaboration Thug would also post a vlog on his YouTube channel in November showing him and Quan working on a song together that would eventually be released release with the title time by the end of 2013 Thug's career too had begun taking off in a major way as well and Thug's rise would lead to endless speculation about the multi-million doll record deals he was courting and together with Quan They had truly become the most valuable rookie rappers in all of Atlanta meanwhile Quan's think it's a game label AKA TI where big nut was involved was doing all round great business as an indie record label meanwhile nut would post several pictures of himself and Birdman together on Instagram along with captions saying that he was with his fellow Blood Gang homie and that people should stay tuned together with hashtags repping his TIG label perhaps inferring that he was indeed doing some business in the music industry with the number one stunner Birdman around the same time not would also post a picture of him and Young Thug performing a signature blood handshake at Birdman's condo showing that these two were also very close then at the end of June the bomb would drop as Thug and Quan together under Birdman's Rich Gang Collective would drop one of the most iconic trap songs of the 2010s I'm of course talking about the song Lifestyle originally Birdman's Rich Gang Collective was mainly comprised of rappers who were already signed to his Cash Money Records and their projects would do relatively poorly despite the very big names being involved in them but with the Lifestyle song becoming an undeniable hit peing at 16 on the Billboard 100 and going certified platinum before the end of the year even being named as complex's second best song of the year today the music video for lifestyle sits at mindboggling almost 700 million views this was an enormous hit instantly making Rich Gang synonymous with both young thug and Rich Homie Quan Quan would later reveal that he had actually first met Birdman when he came to his show in Miami with Birdman then inviting Quan to a studio to play him lifestyle Quan actually initially thought that it was Little Wayne rapid on the track instead of young Thug while Birdman would let Quan know that he'd actually been saving the track for him to lay another verse on first day I met baby came to one on my shows in Miami he was like nephew pull up on me at the studio I got one I want you to hear rightfully so I pull up to the studio he hit space ball the rest is history bro that song he played last when I first heard I was like man who that Wayne when I first heard last I thought it Wayne on he like no that thought I like I didn't die I've been had it I've been saving it for you nephew I swear to God I swear to God the first song We the first song first time I met B man went straight to the studio we did lifestyle I promise to God and we'll be shooting the video two days later nut and fly the founder of think it's a game records would also be both present at the video shoot for lifestyle with big nut himself even making a very short cameo in that video and he would also promote the song on his own Instagram repping both Rich Gang and his actual gang set the bird gang as well as of course the bloods in the caption but interestingly around the same time the bird gang would also begin rocking custom clothing with a logo for their set that was basic a modified version of the Rich Gang logo but the same day the lifestyle music video was released not would post a picture on his Instagram hanging out of Birdman's condo showing that the two were seemingly very much locked in on the rich gang project despite nut's crew kind of copying their Source but it seemed like things were good between nut and Birdman with not even seemingly traveling around in Birdman's private jet during this time in July not would post a photo with Quan saying how much love he had for him while shouting out his Inglewood Family gang accompanied by both nut and Quan throwing up hand signs associated with that gang but Quan wasn't the only artist getting love from think it's a game record because while Rich Gang was becoming one of the biggest things in rap nut was already eyeing the label's next Talent this of course being none other than YN Luchi whom nut would shout out on his Instagram calling him the next big artist coming out of Atlanta as well as posting a video of a think it's a game photo shoot attended by himself Rich homi Quan Luchi and the label founder fly while Luchi would use Twitter to reveal that he and Rich Homie Quan had been recording music together and in the months that followed it seemed that things were still cool between big nut and Birdman in August nut would promote Birdman's flashy lifestyle Vlog episode tagging both Thug and Birdman in the post as well as promoting Thug's Birthday Bash that was to be held at an Atlanta nightclub and the business meetings with Birdman also seemingly continued as nut May well have been acting as both the representative of rich homie Kwan and think it's a game's interests within the rich gang collaboration in September on the other hand nut would proudly promote the think it's a game artist during the BET award weekend with both Luchi and Quan including the roster later that month Birdman would officially release the new Rich Gang mixtape titled Rich Gang the tour part one with the cover art showing a face that was half Young Thug and half Rich Homie Quan at this point things appear to be business as usual at least on the surface as nut was seemingly still cool with Birdman posting a photo of the two together with both holding Rich Gang themed Double Cups but on the streets of Atlanta things were getting hectic and the very same day that the rich gang tape was released Rich homi Quan's father Cory Lamar would be at a barber shop where he worked when a group of men would enter the shop with an apparent mission of robbing the place things would quickly escalate into a shootout during which Quan's father would get shot ending up in the hospital in critical condition but fortunately surviving the incident think it's a game label founder fly would send a statement to double XL the day after the shooting saying that as far as he knew the shooting was not Gang Related but other sources were providing a different narrative with one local reporter indicating that the shooting may have been related to a feud between Quan and another rapper and although the article itself would hardly expand on this Theory the writer may have been referring to lyrics from Quan that some are taken as a disc towards future as local TV news would also seemingly indicate the same story even using a clip from an interview where Quan had addressed this beef news since 4 We're hearing from a man who says he chased the gunman who shot a popular Atlanta rapper's father Channel 2's Tom Jones now live in Northwest Atlanta where police say Tom that the gunman Got Away in a black Honda Accord Justin that's right that's also the description of the car that witness told me he chased down this road after he heard gunshots coming from Lamar's Barber Shop the victim survived the shooting a shooting many in this community think is connected to the victim's son Atlanta rapper Rich Homie Quan rich homie Kwan is here L Atlanta rapper Rich Homie Quan whose real name is D quanis Lamar is one of the hottest artists around I'm a smoth operat he also known for his close relationship with his father Cory Lamar where your pops at where at yeah the crib here in Atlanta man cool man some here at Lamar's Barber Shop are wondering if an alleged feud between Quan and other rappers led to Cory Lamar being shot four times inside his barber shop Atlanta police say the gunman came in the shop and opened fire so I heard about three gunshots and so I saw saw the guy come out van white says he heard the gunshots saw the gunman and chased him but he got away he got in a black car and that's all I know from there one Barber told me he went to the back and another barber said he left the shop they say that's when the gunman came in workers here told me someone shot up the shop about a month ago I talked to several people who believe the shooting is a result of quan feuding or disrespecting other rappers and songs police wouldn't comment on that and say their investigation continues but in at least one interview Rich Homie Quan repeatedly said he is INF feuding with one rapper in question I never dissed him I never disrespected him as a man however during the YSL trial in a shock turn of events it would actually turn out to be none other than close affiliate of Young Thug YSL Woody who would admit to doing this shooting along with other culprits saying that he had done it due to his friend called threat real name travante Turner having problems with Rich homi Quan happen in nut got nothing to do with why here this scream me language this this got everything to do with threat know I mean I was trying to protect threat from the get-go I mean threat threat and they had some more stuff going on like what's threat at the gambling house when it got shot up by K Y you say nothing I said can be used against me that's right me threat shout out Rich coin dad barber shop on Bankhead I don't know what happened with threat and richy coin but I'm a ride with my brother and they was beefing and yeah we pulled up and did that okay and as a result of why did you and threat shoot a rich homie Kwan Daddy's barber shop because I'm a ride with threat okay did threat tell you why he was Sho I don't ask no question I just say let go fret would end up being killed in June 2024 taking his version of the events that day to the Grave with him but regardless of what was going on in the streets on the music side everything continued as if nothing was happening and in October Rich Gang would drop another hit the song tum together with a music video showing Quan Thug and Birdman living the lavish t Life accompanied by fancy cars tons of liquor and scantily clad women with the music video now standing at over 55 million views also in October nut was riding on a high of his own announcing the birth of his daughter kin on Instagram and his relationship with Birdman and the whole Rich crew at least seemed better than ever with a new Vlog from the group dropping in November where we would see that already mentioned clip of Thug introducing nut to the camera as one of the biggest bloods in America I got one of the biggest bloods in America with me did lond Georgia this was followed later in November by another Rich Gang song and music video titled freestyle where nut can even be seen making a cameo greeting Quan with a gang handshake at the beginning of the video before he begins his verse the following month in December n would make a cryptic post seemingly announcing the start of a new business venture called big business entertainment which he would accompany with a caption saying how he was done with the small talk from now on everything was going to be big together with hashtags repping both the think it's a game label and Rich Gang on a separate note Luchi career was also thriving at this time as he would release his first mixtape under the think it's a game label in mid December titled wish me well a project which would also include a feature from his label mate Rich Homie Quan on the song exactly how it was which would eventually also get a music video about a year later but unfortunately within a month of this collaboration they would end up losing the very person who had played a pivotal role in launching both of their careers as in early January nut would post another picture of him and Birdman chilling at Birdman's condo although based on the caption it seemed that this was an old picture taken in the summertime not January interestingly according to the YSL indictment the very next day Thug and D would post a photo together with the caption we ain't going back and forth which the prosecution would consider to be an over act in furtherance of the gang conspiracy when it came to the trial this seemingly indicated that the authorities thought that this post was addressing nut in particular and a few days later Thug would allegedly rent an Infinity Q50 sedan from Herz handing it over to his YSL goons and only 3 days after that on January the 10th 2015 whatever had been taking place behind the scenes was about to come to a tragic conclusion it was approximately 8:45 p.m. when nut was in front of the Hair Unlimited barber shop on McDaniel Street in the Castleberry neighborhood he was conversing with a group of people when the Infiniti Q50 that Thug had rented would allegedly drive past them which according to prosecutors had five men inside Javaris Bradford AKA Tuda Justin Cobb AKA dwop deamon Kendrick AKA Yak Gotti demise McMullen AKA nard and Ganon Stillwell AKA SB with someone inside the car opening fire and hitting three people one Juvenile and two adults one of these being big nut himself with security cameras even capturing the events from both outside and inside the barber shop showing adults and kids ducking and running for cover as the chaos [Music] unfolded nut would receive several shots to his upper body and would be rushed to the Grady Memorial Hospital where he would sadly pass away but just 26 years old triple shooting and one of the victims is a teenager the shooting happened outside a barber shop and tonight one victim is clinging to life Channel 2's Jessica jaglo is live at the scene where there's still a very heavy police presence Jessica as you can see behind me there is still quite the active scene here in southwest Atlanta McDaniel street is still closed and it has been for more than 3 hours that's because there are shell casings up and down the street now I'm told one of the men who was shot a man in his mid 20s is in critical condition but that his status could change for the worse over night it appears that they were the intended target but again not sure the reason of the uh the shooting Atlanta police are investigating why two men in their mid 20s and a 14-year-old boy were shot outside of a barber shop in southwest Atlanta Saturday night uh right now it does appear that they had anything connection to the to to the business they were just kind of hanging out is what we up here investigators say it appears to have been a driveby shooting and according to several witnesses we spoke with an automatic weapon was used the search is on for the person who shot three people including a 14-year-old one man died Channel 2 Steve gelbach is live at Grady Memorial Hospital Steve investigators say they don't have a motive but they don't believe this shooting was random I did hear back from Atlanta police in the last half hour by email said there's really not an update on this case yet but they do confirm it is a homicide investigation all three victims including a 14-year-old were brought here to Grady Memorial Hospital and 26-year-old Donovan Thomas was in the most serious condition and the medical examiner's office confirmed he did not survive later during the YSL trial the prosecutors would show numerous crime scene photos showing the aftermath with nuts Chevy Tahoe riddled with bullets and numerous shell casing markers scattered across the crime scene I'll also show you what's been and minut 12 y 27 y 26 y 218 y 174 y 193 Y and 221 y following nut's death the whole city of Atlanta would seemingly pay tribute to him with Billboards in his memory appearing everywhere including at Club crucial where YSL Woody had apparently gotten into an altercation with nut's brother only days before his death meanwhile nut's family would take over his Instagram using it to honor his memory and artists close to nut would also pay their respects like why Luchi who would post a video to Facebook mourning the loss of his good friend yeah man work man yeah H out of this big right here though got my man working working man Big B wife BC Long Live nut forever Luchi would later even memorialize nut by naming his 2017 mixtape Long Live nut as well as speaking in interviews about how n had been the one who put him on in the rap game well yeah yeah I see a lot of stuff different from back then because you know I L one of my homies who really got me on you know Lely a night fell n got me Birdman 2 would pay homage to nut after his passing posting a picture of the two on Instagram with a caption calling nut a solid guy who would never be forgotten according to the DA Fanny Willis the murder of nut would begin a yearl long bloody back and forth between YSL and yfn which may have led to as many as 50 shootings and according to the former Fulton County DA Paul Howard already in 2017 had led to four retaliatory murders but in the immediate aftermath of the murder it wouldn't ultimately take long for the authorities to get an idea of just who might have been behind the hit as already the following day none other than YSL Woody would find himself in police custody as the police had allegedly been hearing rumors that he was actually behind the murder so they wanted to interview him straight away as he would later recall in the YSL trial now Mr Copeland I want to direct your attention to Saturday January 10th 2015 the night that D Thomas was K I want you to go back to that day before Thomas got killed I want you tell the you remember I remember getting a call saying that I Ked you the word was the word was he I got a call and people were saying that am I okay they saying I kill nothing he asked me what I got going on or if I heard what happened or what did what I I don't know what he said I just know he said that I mean he he was saying that I kill nut and he would call now let me ask you this did you kill nut no did you see the police about yeah the police car during the interview Woody discussed an ongoing conflict that he and Thug had with a man named shell Kell or Kell real named Kelvin Watts who was the brother of big nut sort of as the father of shell Kell's brother from his mother's side called greedy is also the father of nut and they all seemingly grew up together what made people pull you into this situation happen okay you know what I'm saying now we had a problem in the club that help no this nothing okay the I thought just ch but they k okay who you identifi from a picture which is Thomas yes okay me and got into what they was just like every every a lot okay so two months 3 months a year about I'm say no longer than four months four months tell y be a Cru y see each other get into we don't even Fight n the only time playing last time what was that in an attempt to end the beef Woody would approach Kell at Club crucial in Atlanta with the two exchanging words before Kell would then approach Thug and also speak to him we fight you know say everybody we leave every time got but last Monday we in the club but this cash Cas came it was Monday I think it was Sunday before the Monday Sunday it was the Sunday before me and outside at you so as me and K standing right there we talking we talking about everything we got get each other so as we talk we like it's they CH come we a no more so right but he want to talk and see what to do you so so him and whatever I don't know the following night Woody said that he returned to the club and began flexing money but that's when Kell and a group of his guys would approach and begin assaulting him attempting to Rob him for his cash Monday come I'm in Kush as I go to Kush I pull out my money I'm on stage flashing my money to all the all the standing around flash flashing money so I get on the stage what's up what's going onbody so he was like hey what's up like what's up bro she like um th you want pay your window like I guess so brother but he in the club go talk to him you know what I'm saying so K like he took his necklace he put his neckl out I look at I put Mone pack in pack I walk out I over here I looked so he turned around he tell somebody something yeah I walk towards the kitchen when I walk towards the kitchen all then walked behind I was by myself so I get to the kitchen I see I I try to turn around and go back to the stage punch me in back of the head so he punched me in the back of the head he pushed me to the ground he pushed me to the ground he tries to go in my pack and get my money but as I hold on to the L the other guy punch me all in the face but I didn't tell I was holding on to the m so as they punch me I get out of there I run he would then go on to explain how the opposing blood set this perhaps referring to the bird gang or the Inglewood family in general would have a meeting about him and Thug the day before nut's death where plans were apparently drawn up for Woody and Thug to be murdered Friday they have meeting the mean like it was blood me and the mean was about me and th you and th but the whole time I'm tell like what got do he had to do with this you know what I'm say so I'm talking to him he BR it ain't no beat bro I you don't pay me noen I pay but it was a guy me say guy down the road supposed to kill me so I I got phone I I phone and he like what you talking about like a see so another guy like so you know Woody would then explain how his Rivals would start shooting at the gambling house that he would regularly attend ging they go stand on top of the roof and shoot inside so they shoo they on roof shooting inside and then they leave so these back and forths then allegedly escalating to the eventual full-blown murder of big nut before he had a chance to take out Thug and Woody but Woody himself would claim that he had been at his girlfriend's house when this incident occurred an alibi that would suggest that he at least didn't pull the trigger but Woody would stay openly during the YSL trial that when he woke up the morning after nut's death people were already accusing him of the murder I [Music] got clean got k i real I really real yeah like Dam what like he don't know so as I leave like you know sh like they me got yeah m o o k during the YSL trial however Woody would pretty much categorically deny anything that he had told the police during previous interrogations being true therefore it's hard to know what to believe when it comes to his stories and YSL Woody is not a very reliable narrator in any kind of scenario but law enforcement on the other hand would lay out their theory of what had happened in a 2016 affidavit for a search warrant regarding items that they had discovered during a 2015 arrest of Young Thug in relation to the investigation into the murder of big nut according to the police they had first learned about an ongoing dispute between thugs YSL and big nuts Englewood Family gang in November 2014 they would also claim that Shannon Jackson AKA Shannon Stillwell AKA SB was the one to have pulled the trigger in the murder of big nut AKA Donovan Thomas and that it was the January 5th altercation at Club crucial between shell Kel and Lil Woody which would be the ultimate Catalyst for the murder of nut which was followed by dozens of retaliatory shootings between YSL and the Englewood fam's gangs this even included a shooting of Lil Woody's girlfriend's parents house immediately on the same night of big nut's murder for whatever it's worth Woody would also alleg to the the police that deong Garlington AKA D had told him right after the murder that Jackson AKA SB Kendrick AKA Yak Gotti McMullen AKA ND and Cobb AKA dwop had indeed killed nut and most incriminating for Young Thug himself Woody would also say that D had told him that it was Thug who personally handed them the car after they spotted nut in front of the barber shop the police also claimed that McMullan AKA ND called Thug's number only minutes after they had allegedly killed nut moreover already in 2016 the police were also aware of the possibility that the murder was linked to a beef between nut and Young Thug all over Rich Homie Quan's career and that nut had become increasingly concerned over his safety in the leadup to his murder believing that Thug and his associates could be willing to hurt him over this beef with the wildest claim in the affidavit being that nut's last word had actually been Thug had me killed which he allegedly said to his brother right before passing away however during the YSL trial the prosecution would no longer claim that such words had ever been uttered and it's here say Kenneth Copeland says that he has heard or people are saying that Donovan Thomas and His dying breath was saying Thug did this to me or something to that effect um people that were actually at the scene um for Donovan Thomas's last breast um have said that that was not said um Sammy Davis took the stand and talked about what what had happened there and that's just Street rumor being uh put out there by Kenneth copel let me put some things in context so when Mr Copeland is talking about this particular portion he's actually trying to say I don't I don't think that all this was said because he talks about what happened when DB died and how much time it took for him to get to the hospital so what he actually says is now how do you know he got shot four times in the chest you know what else they said they said um that they were holding nut and nut said I ain't going to make it bro well that came out in evidence because I believe that is what um one of the barber shop um Witnesses said that he did hear him say I ain't going to make it bro now the part that the state will redact because that has not come into evidence is that cop says they said um they said that that nut said thug ass had something to do with it we will exclude that portion because we don't believe that that has come into evidence on the other hand redditors and online detectives have come up with their own theories many of these placing the blame for nuts murder firmly on YSL Woody While others would speculate specifically on what the actual motive was for the murder with many wild theories claiming that nut had actually stolen from Birdman or that he'd even slapped Young Thug's sister conversely the rap industry OG JT the biger figure who used to work with nut and the rich gang would years later tell his story implying that nut was indeed killed due to a dispute between Rich Homie Quan's management this including nut and Birdman's Rich Gang including Thug who wanted to sign Quan for themselves before me and nut came together me and Thug came together but me and nut have was already you know networking but I'm not no [ __ ] or no blood you know what I mean and and and and and then Birdman came to town and then Birdman put up the money for that lifestyle song in the video with him and Rich Homie Quin Boom the Rich Gang new Rich Gang started nut was Quan but he was cool with Thug but he had power over Quan and then disputes came once the disputes came it wasn't good business no more the hate and the jealousy Birdman won't Thug I mean won Quan to bow down come up under the rich gang and net was like no not going to sign that 360 deal be a broke rapper up under bird man sorry about that true story so where do that leave me at I I chose siid with that but before the murder I was the that was still with Birdman and Thug that can tell nothing this was happening over here and at Peewee start hating cuz put up all the money while while while Thug was up under the bird up under the rge game he accepted my racks my 30 bands we did seven songs and did some video footage photo shoot but before I could drop it The Murder happened now the beef is on whatever may have been the motive behind nut's murder 15 days after his death Young Thug would allegedly have a conversation with Kyle ay also known as nasty new the alleged leader of the money murder Bloods who's currently serving a life sentence for unrelated Rico charges during the exchange one of the two likely aie would reportedly State how sacrifices must be made and soldiers Must Fall for the battle to be one indeed following nut's murder a big rift emerged between the bloods in Atlanta with the ABG gang affiliated with nut and Luchi seemingly dropping all association with money murder siding instead completely with the Inglewood family that nut had been repping but on the r side Rich hom 's relationship with Thug would famously decline from here on out but for the moment Quan would at least keep making major moves in the industry as a solo artist dropping the song Flex almost exactly one month after nut's death this song becoming his biggest solo hit peing at number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the months and years following nut's death people would repeatedly ask Quan in interviews about what had happened between him and the rich gang but Quan would typically deny having ever even been officially part of the group and saying how he simply wanted to focus on his solo career now uh what happened with Rich Gang uh yeah rich like I said we really just like we did the first mixtape you know I mean and that was just like a mixtape we were never in a group you know what I mean it was just like you know I mean bird you know we all feeling ourselves th you know what I mean it just like did that so me and I we can focus more on our solo careers like it's still family though yeah you know what I mean it's no bad blood though man it's just like everything calm I came in as a solo artist so the thug so the bird that was like a collaboration yes and like and now like you know man thought doing good much sucess to him birds still making plays much Suess to him and I'm doing damn good so much my goddamn self for real and everything calm and everything love everything that's all man everything love man no problems man I have been focusing more on myself I've stepped away from the risk living just to get back to Corn it's cool it's cool for the moment but yeah it's a moment don't get lost in that s now the last time we did an interview you were down Rich Gang yeah I wouldn't now seems like not so much um well for for for for one like like it was just great collaborative music like we would never I was never just Rich Gang it's just we were just all solo artist you know working on a project together you know I mean I never signed any paperwork you feel me I I came in Rich corn and that's the way I wanted to leave man despite how much good music we did all that you know what I mean I still want to just always do my own thing you know what I mean I just didn't never want nobody to feel as je like to say yo you know I I I did this for coin and uh you know coin the reason N I want to always just be like yeah man I did this cuz I wanted to do it you feel now but they even like go back to the rich game that was a fun time in my life like we made some great music you know what I mean even now like man I don't got no bad blood with thought no no bird you know what I mean think we're all in a great place in our life man and that's what it's about in April 2015 Quan would release the mixtape if you ever think I'll stop going in ask double but this project would fail to even chart and for the next couple years Quan would fall back from music and tragically with his friend nut no longer around he would seemingly also fall out with think it's a game records eventually suing them for $2 million in unpaid royalties this case ultimately getting settled out of court meanwhile Thug 2 would be asked about Quan's departure from Rich Gang to which he would simply respond by saying that Quan just had to focus on his career do you have any feelings on the rich homie thing him possibly leaving no he had to focus on his career yeah definitely that's something that he had to do he didn't have to do it but he did however some years later Thug would provide a much more cryptic response first telling big boy that the two men had no issues with each other but then implying that things had happened behind the scenes that had soured their relationship for good what what's the relationship with uh with Quan with Rich Homie no we don't have no problem like I don't think we we going to be I don't think we can be like how we used to be right he already did he already just did some bu he already know my heart so it's like once you just I'm too pure so once you just that's yeah you do that it's like no I'm I forgive I always forgive if I kill if I kill a person I pray to God go that he forgive me if I do something to a person I pray I get forgiveness so I always forgive I don't ever hold grudges on nobody I forgive everybody but on the on the uh the shallow end you know how people want more music and we people want to put y'all together you don't see that happening no right cuz it'll be just it's more personal as opposed to yeah it's nothing about music it's 100% person like this was my brother yeah it's just like bro now it's like man you probably can't never get the blessing of having me on the song and I can never get the blessing to having you on the song again damn and as you say that to us I don't know what you talking about but he Quan he know exactly what you're talking about yes he he did he did a show before and and and I think a guy had touched his leg on stage like a fan was like yo he was standing on the end of the stage and and people was touching him grabbing his shoes and he was like yo I a with that with that Thug and it's just like man you my brother like got your name tattooed on me you doing so it's just like it's like that like I forgive him cuz I know he he really get he really be drunk qu get drunk damn he get drunk to the point where I have to carry him out the club like so I know for a fact he was drunk but it's like however in July 2023 the YouTuber and snitch exposer 1090 Jake would provide evidence about what had really happened behind the scenes showing the World Police interview footage of quan talking to detectives about the murder of nut and essentially admitting that everyone in the streets knew that Thug had something to do with nuts murder but they just couldn't prove it right [Music] prove Hip Hop's top commentator DJ academics would also share his opinion about the events saying how nuts murder had essentially ended career Rich Homie Quan is with some street over this side Young Thug is calling shots and doing his thing over here when there is now Bloodshed everybody got to go to their corner you can't still be like oh nah we're just doing some music together it's over at that point it's officially over his career as an artist is essentially up because he could no longer Thug tell me if I'm right or I'm wrong we didn't see any more public appearances with them Rich Homie Quan rather than run to the net and explained to the fans yo this killed my man he didn't say Obviously Rich M didn't say that he just kind of fell back and just acted like oh Nama solo artist he kept it really straight cuz what happened after Donovan nut Thomas gets Ked mad start happening remember Rich huano was signed to think it's a game entertainment who was his label mate Ry fenucci those Englewood Mafia people or Englewood Family people that's rich M Quan's gang after Donovan nut Thomas gets K mads happen I think the police even say like dozens ofs happen and they realize to properly investigate those shootings they got to go to the origin and the origin is Donovan nut is dying for Young Thug on the other hand the years following nut's death brought nothing but success and over the next few years he would embark on a creative run of success that most rappers can only dream of dropping classic project after classic project and in the span of just 7 years building up a legendary Legacy as both a rapper and a fashion icon but every step of the way the authorities in Atlanta were watching out for Clues and building a case to and take Young Thug down right when he was about to reach the very Pinnacle of his career and for Young Thug prolific self- snitcher on the microphone there was certainly no shortage of self-incriminating lyrics to help those feds piece things together despite the murder of his rival big nut ongoing gang violence and legal troubles from 2015 onward Young Thug's music career not only continued to flourish but also propelled him on a trajectory that would ultimately see him reach the top of the game eventually being hailed as the most influential rapper of the 21st century by BBC in 2019 praised as one of the most influential Moguls in modern Rap by new musical Express in 2021 and classified as an icon by complex in the same year he would even be considered as one of the greatest rappers of all time by hot new hip hop by 2022 but behind the scenes it would seem that Young Thug's Street ties were impacting his career in the industry in unexpected ways in December 2014 Young Thug had featured with Nicki Minaj on Atlanta pop Sensations race REM album throw some M which would end up peeking at number 30 on the Billboard 100 the track set a new record for Thug who by this point was officially one of the biggest players in the rap industry interestingly however it seemed that Thug's desire to work with Lil Wayne and his Young Money Collective had become a Twisted Fantasy of either becoming or killing Lil Wayne as early in March 2014 during a DJ who kid interview fugw would announced that he would be naming his debut album The Carter 6 this of course being a reference to Lil Wayne's long running five-part album series called The Carter with Thug saying that he would be releasing The Carter 6 instead of Wayne because he's the only one who can make music at that level and that he's big enough to carry the torch from Lil Wayne who announced his retirement would be following the Carter 5 with Thug Ending by saying that he was coming for Wayne you got a title for your new album coming out your Future album yeah uh Carter 6 oh it's Carter 6 yeah no Carter also yeah y you and Lil Wayne is coming out or explain that to me no I just feel like I'm that big wow cuz he feel like after the car F he going to make no more music he feel like can't nobody make no music like that oh okay he said what's the name of yourb if you drop one yo that is czy straight yo man still Thug would give Wayne his flowers listing him as one of his biggest influences and listening to the first conversation where this was mentioned it's possible that this was just trolling or an off the cuff trying to be funny response from Thug but things would be taken very seriously and this comment made a huge Splash joke or not the timing of this was pretty Savage too because later that year Lil Wayne revealed that he was disputing his deal with Birdman and Cash Money Records and couldn't drop music with Wayne later filing a $51 million lawsuit against his former mentor and label during this time Thug had become Incredibly Close to Birdman and arguably was taking Wayne's Spot Not Just musically but taking his mentor for himself too it seemed that the industry was supporting Young Thugs super trolling too with a tweet from 300 entertainment in March 2015 confirming that young thug would indeed be releasing the car 6 soon even Lil Wayne's daughter would tweet about this calling it childish and saying that Thug would never be on her father's level but Thug wasn't letting up and he would tease a cover art for Carter 6 that depicted him naked on a spotlight with a blood band on this prompted Wayne to extensively diss Rich Gang and Young Thug on stage at two shows y ever have Rich Gang or whoever it is let know I said they stop listening to songs that that P naked on soon after this in April of 2015 Thug wood revealed that he was forced to change the title of the album from Carter 6 to bter 6 in a slick move that replaced the C with a B in reference to the blood gang this was followed by Thug announcing the change as well as a show in Wayne's hometown of New Orleans where he said that he would be there with his Shooters a kg Young Thug would also be interviewed by all hip hop TV at a release event for barter 6 denying that there was a beef and claiming that he was just playing homage to Wayne All Along The Carter 6 becoming the barter six um why were you so adamant on the Carter 6 like what a going wanted to drop it what was your true feelings behind doing that what was my true feeling about what changing the name of the ALB not changing the name I think taking on the Carter 6 initially just in general was my what what was your intention I guess with naming it the Carter six in the first place like why are we so adamant about the name like like man that's the person I look up to Okay cool so it was no B because everybody text it as like maybe a shot at him but for you it's homage no there's no eventually on April the 17th 2015 Young Thug released barter 6 officially and despite the controversy the project was a huge success it debuted at number 22 on the billboard 200 becoming the first of many entries on the albums chart for Thug and the project was met with praise as Pitchfork gave it rave reviews and a grade of 8.4 a big Improvement for Thug critically released under 300 entertainment the project featured hits like Czech which Peak at 100 on the Billboard charts as well as the song Halftime on Czech Thug RPS about how people are so fake that he has to keep a gun on him at all times while also giving a special shout out to Birdman on the the track halime there was more gangster imagery with Thug rapping how if people try and Rob him then his gun will chop them in half and how he leaves his Ops outlined in chalk Thug would also shout out YSL Woody saying that if anyone tries him he'll be sending Woody to shoot at their head perhaps a reference to what the streets were saying that Woody had actually done to big nut but interestingly in an interview with dju YSL Woody would actually say that this lyric was stupid of Thug as he felt it brought unnecessary attention to his name at the time how big was it like when Young Thug dropped your name in the song on the halftime song you know little willly like how big was that for you like like was that like crazy like you know it was stupid Thug was also speaking spicy Elsewhere on the project wrapping on the opening track constantly hating that his crew have a lot of bodies while on the hook suggesting that the feds were actively looking into him and on the second track with that Thug RPS all about putting $100,000 on his Ops heads then on the song Dream this had a feature from Yak Gotti who would himself claim to have a lot of bodies something that he would later be accused of at trial and vowing to never snitch if he ever gets arrested and calling YSL the mob in the song amazing Thug mentions Hurtz renter cars the very company that was used to rent the car that was used in nun's murder and track 10 is titled knocked off very obviously a reference to having people killed with Thug bragging about how he can pull some strings and have someone taken out going on to name all of the scenarios in which he might have someone killed saying that he'll have someone killed in exchange for a double sealed pint of cough syrup or even having someone killed while pulling off a scam or for trying to get into his gang in another suspect lyric Thug is talking about a girl saying that if she wants that nut Thug Will Blast her with a shot of his own Brown Thug's SCE but this also could have a double-coded message that if a girl messes with Thug's Ops like nut she's going to get shot just like big nut did on the track numbers Thug would boast about guys in Atlanta having guns and being willing to kill their Ops with one lyric even saying that he wants to kill people and see the tears of their mothers ultimately however barter 6 with its new title would still get under Lil Wayne's skin with Wayne taking to the stage to dis Thug after its release if there were any others that Dro recently tell them say suck my ain't no mother D is car six you let him know told you say suck then on April the 21st 2015 Thug would make an Instagram post saying that he would be performing in New Orleans Lil Wayne's home City and that he would be bringing guns with him with the video ending having the camera panning to P Rosco who's holding a firearm on April 6 2015 things would escalate to a whole new level as Thug performed a show at the Southern University in Baton Rouge Louisiana Lil Wayne's home state and coincidentally on the very same night Lil Wayne was actually performing at a nightclub called the compound in Thug's hometown of Atlanta the show in Louisiana would end poorly for Thug who received a terrible reception from the natives who were clearly loyal to Lil Wayne in a video posted by college kid you can see that the crowd was shouting for Lil Wayne and Thug was eventually booed and heckled and yelled off stage [Music] [Applause] Fu at this point Thug's Road manager and friend from the Streets of Atlanta Peewee Rosco who was still in Atlanta at the time drives to The Compound nightclub with other Blood gang members at the venue there's an altercation and PeeWee is allegedly heard shouting this is my city and that he would spray Up Lil Wayne's tour bus and as the local news would report that is exactly what happened next two buses belonging to the tourage for rapper Lil Wayne came under gunfire prosecutors say a simmering rap Feud and gang tensions led to it they believe they could pin Winfrey as the gunman he was indicted on 27 counts including a rarely if ever used charge that references domestic terrorism yes Peewee Rosco allegedly pulled up alongside the tour bus and let off shots but fortunately nobody from Lil Wayne's Entourage was hurt and while Rosco was ultimately arrested and charged for the crime Young Thug and Birdman face no charges despite being mentioned by name in the indictment including a suggestion that Rosco was actually on the phone with Thug himself when he was chasing Wayne's Tor buus now this conviction was later overturned as the trial judge had improperly encouraged Winfrey to take a guilty plea but Thug himself would never be formally implicated in the crime as Fox 5 Atlanta news would report on well all new at five the state's highest court has reversed convictions for the man who pleaded guilty to shooting at rapper Lil Wayne's tour bus back in 2015 prosecutors Say Jimmy Winfrey opened fire on two of Little Wayne's tour buses as they drove down 285 no one was hurt and as part of the plea deal a judge sentence winfy to 10 years behind bars well today the state supreme court decided the trial judge in that case improperly participated in plea negotiations by encouraging Winfrey to take the plea deal the court says that made the plea involuntary but the reality was that after the murder of N and what appeared to be an attempted murder of Lil Wayne and his Entourage getting on the wrong side of Young Thug could be deadly and nobody in the industry was safe and despite the danger around him Young Thug was getting endless opportunities and was continuing to rise above the destruction going on around him on the 7th of July 2015 Young Thug would be at the perimeter Mall in Sandy Springs Georgia where following an altercation with security security began escorting him out the premises Thug's alleged response would be a threat to shoot the director of security in the face the police would be called and they'd arrive shortly after when Thug had already left after which a warrant was issued for his arrest for the charge of issuing terroristic threats basically threats that were meant to terrorize another person Thug would be arrested for this on the next day the 8th of Ju J 2015 and this incident would eventually be listed within the indictment as furtherance of the conspiracy of YSL the criminal street gang on September the 16th 2015 Thug would drop slime season the first installment of an ongoing slime season mixtape series a name which he had taken from his former friend Ola player who had released his slime season tape the previous year Thug's slime season featured notable tracks like power and best friend the latter of which became a viral hit partly thanks to its memorable music video and ended up landing at 45 on the Billboard charts interestingly in best friend Thug actually starts the track with an aggressive shout out to his gang YSL proving that even at this point in his career in the same year as the murder of nut and attempted murder on Lil Wayne Thug wasn't shy about repping his gang affiliations in his songs slime season would further cement Thug's dominance in the mixtape circuit earning critical Acclaim and millions of streams even getting a respectable 7.6 score from pitch for and Thug would waste no time following it up as within a month and a half on October the 31st 2015 Thug would drop slime season part two the sequel to slime season which showcased Thug's versatility and work ethic with standout tracks like Fe in the night featuring trouble the project was met with more positive reviews like a 7.9 rating from Pitchfork which only boosted Thug's momentum in the industry moving into the new year on January the 26th 2016 Thug is interviewed on Sway in the morning and when asked he would proudly Proclaim how he had really came from the streets even admitting that he's been shot and people have been shot back where did you come from like what is your background like you man okay what's you got you got a you know you we came from the streets like godamn um Harlem 50 whatever you know the weirdest Parts in the world you know we came from straight you know I don't got shot shot you know everything that happened it don't been both ways I came from the struggle for real I ain't you know I don't really know nothing about the spoons the silver ones you know what I'm saying they silver and gold now though you know but I ain't come from those suck really didn't have a care in the world with regards to self- snitching and he seemed to have a deep desire to let everybody know his street credentials and moving into 2016 Thug would continue dropping iconic music when on the 5th of February 2016 he would release I'm up a surprise mixtape which temporarily disrupted the Slime season Trilogy this tape performed better than the first two entries of slime season actually peing at 22 on Billboard's 200 albums chart the song my boys featuring L Dirk trouble and R is one of two l Durk assisted features on the mixtape while the song Hercules would become the main hit of the mixtape assisted by super producer Metro boomman reviewers once again praised Thug's work as well as his actual work ethic dropping at a rate that was unusual for rappers at the time and he wasn't about to let that work ethic ease up either as at the end of the following month on March the 25th 2016 Thug continued the mixtape series that he' started the previous year and dropped slime season number three this one performed the best out of any of his projects so far going number seven on Billboard and this mixtape actually marked the conclusion of the Slime season Trilogy and it featured songs like digits and with them both of which were widely praised slime season 3 was widely considered to be the best mixtape in the underground rap scene at the time receiving many positive reviews and the project saw Thug living up to his name with the project positively packed with bold references to his blood gang and murderous lyrics track one titled with them saw Thug openly claiming that if people play with him he's going to send them to God and then ask for forgiveness but the violent lyrics were often dripping in so much autotune that many of them went straight over people's heads and these Jiggy murder anthems would storm the charts the track with them would reach 87 on the Billboard Hot 100s and digits another hit song from the project would hit number 93 however the Atlanta law enforcement were likely also paying attention attention to the tape's violent themes and lyrics from the song slim [ __ ] on the tape would later be listed in the YSL indictment but Young Thug was on fire in the rap game at this point storming the Billboard charts as well as playing bigger and bigger shows and going on respectable siiz tours around America and the World At Large even vlogging it every step of the way with young thug truly living the rockar life being seen here crowd surfing during his European run in Denmark by summer of 2016 Thug would be having one of the most iconic moments of his career on August the 26th 2016 he would drop the mixtape Jeffrey titled after his real name the project reached Brave creative new highs for Thug and really raised the bar for just how much style and artistic expression could be crammed into a project in the Trap music genre the content of the project as well as the cover art and title represented a creative departure from Thug's thugged out image the title of the tape being his given name Jeffrey represented a personal project and a mindset shift and Thug would even claim in the leadup to the Project's release that he officially didn't even want to be known as young thug anymore and was now known on stage by his real name Jeffrey in August 2016 in video posted by Revolt Thug said that the tape was going to be historic and confirmed that he was changing his name and didn't want to be called Thug anymore and um make sure you guys be ready for that jeffre is going to be real real history no doubt man so jeffre coming out man going to be no more Young Thug man n after after Jeffrey come out I hope everybody in the world start acknowledging me as um Jeffrey I don't want to be young thug anymore the head of thugs record label 300 entertainment liar Cohen confirmed in a bizarre Rap Radar interview that's since been deleted from official sources that Thug was now known by the name no my name is Jeffrey whilst adding that the purpose of the project was powerful imagery one man Young Thug's about to get paid this Jeffrey project man what should we expect from thater so first of all I'm right I'm in Brooklyn right now shooting the commercial announcing Jeffrey and the reality of the situation is Young Thug is not going to be young thug anymore his new name is going to be no my name name is Jeffrey no my name is Jeffrey that's his new name wow and and and the reality is when you see this commercial it's all going to you're all going to understand what we do here at 300 do you still feel that I'm sorry go ahead gor because it's powerful images of what makes someone Young Thug and what the evolution and how someone is Jeffrey right okay it it's it's a circular thing it's important right so I'm very excited we're shooting it in Brooklyn no my name is Jeffrey is on his way and and um please respect us to actually segue and utilize his name going forward okay because it's important during the press conference for the tape Thug would be asked by Lio and himself why he was changing his name and Thug would me mention his kids as well as saying that it was just in case he meets Bill Gates or Oprah I didn't want to be in the front of uh Bill Gates or opr winf I don't want my kids to grow up and call me Thug because Thug in in like in real life terms Thug is like th Thug you know what I'm saying on August the 23rd 2016 Thug would drop a promotional trailer on his YouTube channel for the tape titled no my name is Jeffrey days before the release Young Thug no Jeffrey it says right here Young Thug no my name is Jeffrey obviously the most eye-catching thing about the Jeffrey project was the iconic cover that depicted Thug wearing a unique billowing purple dress designed by the Italian fashion designer alesandro trinone wearing this dress was the last thing that you would expect a feared gang leader from Atlanta to do and whil this clearly wasn't Thug's first time in a dress the story behind why Thug ended up wearing this particular dress on the Jeffrey cover is particularly interesting according to a complex article breaking it down Thug saw a picture of the dress at the end of a creative meeting for a fashion show he was involved in and he was so captivated by seeing the dress he demanded it for the cover art saying that he had to have it now Thug's love of the dress was an apparent Cosmic coincidence as trink con had reportedly designed the dress using similar creative ideologies to Thug making his music suggesting that it was designed with androgyny and an identity unrestricted by gender in mind the month before Jeffrey dropped Thug had actually modeled another dress for a Calvin Klein women's wear campaign that had the caption disobey and on July the 6th 2016 in a video interview that was part of the campaign for Calvin Klein Thug wood claimed that he believed there was no such thing as gender and that you could still be a gangster wearing a dress in my world of course it don't matter you know you could be uh a gangster with a good dress or you could be a gangster with baggy pants you don't I feel like it's no such thing as jender you were caught in a dress thanks thanks somebody got a dress what the today the dress lives in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston well not today today it's on me stunning but fans have interpreted bold choice of this exotic woman's dress for the cover art as the perfect encapsulation of Thug's unapologetically creative personality one Reddit user said he's big into fashion and I think he just wanted to be himself I always love this cover but it encapsulates what in my opinion Thugger is all about he's unapologetically himself and doesn't care what others have to say about him you can hear it in all his music but the best example is this project that's my take on it anyway this was an interesting creative decision with a deep artistic meaning but it also had the secondary effect of inspiring Relentless trolling of Thug on twit tter with people likening Thug in the fit to a swift ad duster others joke that he looked like something that could be hanging off the side of a Pina colad While others thought that the dress as Ruffles resembled the brushes of a car wash some said that he looked like an incredibly powerful character from the Mortal Kombat games and many celebrities weren't impressed either in a video since deleted from YouTube in August 2016 Fat Joe would allegedly shrivel up when asked about the dress on the vma's red carpet by complex however as years went by it seemed like thug didn't even want to stand on his original creative reasoning for wearing the dress as he would actually deny years later later in an interview on TI's podcast expeditiously that he wore the dress for attention this time saying the real reason is because he thought the dress matched his Marell shoes and that's why he liked it he did for attention did you not tell the truth God on his truth God on his truth tell me the god honest truth you did that attention did hell no you did that because you knew man ain't nothing nobody can say about me cuz I'm real out here I'm thorough and get me a lot of burns I'm going to do it okay what you do it I bought the amaz more jell here go this the real truth yeah okay they match just that simple in a latest song called just how it is thug this time explained that he wore the dress to hide his machine gun something that he reiterated in a no jumper interview in July 2019 yeah it's like [ __ ] I B this I bought this long dress that I had for December I'm saying it on my album It's one it's one of the songs in my album and it just explain like the question of of the C like the question that everybody always wanted to know it's one bar in the song that just answer the question like you'll here it's like dope now to me this kind of represented a bit of backtracking by Young Thug creatively he's usually unapologetically himself but perhaps in the face of years of trolling over the dress he felt like he needed a more gangster and Macho excuse for rocking this feminine fit now I personally don't think there's anything wrong with a guy wearing a dress and to be fair there is plenty of space in here for the stick the project released on August the 26th 2016 was a commercial success hitting number eight on the Billboard charts one spot below his slime season 3 tape but this project was bigger than anything he had done creatively before the album was Thug's most critically acclaimed one yet scoring an 8.5 from Pitchfork and the project would be incredibly creative musically all of the album's tracks are named after his idols and biggest Inspirations including White Cliff John Floyd Mayweather and of course harambe the gorilla from the Cincinnati Zoo who was tragically packed after getting caught with a child in his pen in 2016 Thug used his album credits to show love to the great artists who inspired him like future Gucci Man AKA goop producer swis beats Rihanna AKA Riri Webby and Kaner West this was an interesting artistic Direction but also a smart clout move just like trying to name his controversial tape Carter 6 gained him a Monumental amount of attention and controversy naming each of these tracks after famous people tapped into their audiences and attracted attention from their fan bases but don't let the dress fall you either the lyrics of Jeffrey once again saw Thug hinting at his ability to organize violence as the leader of his gang why Cliff Jean has Thug bragging about how much money he has now and a refrain where Thug repeats if you play with his money he will let his people do you and rapping in the verse that if you play with his money you'll end up in a body bag as well as warning his Ops not to play with him because his goons have a new AK-47 in the second verse Thug continues rapping about how people were plotting on him but he spotted it first and turned the tables putting a Target on their head that song was a commercial success hitting 87 on Billboard's Hot 100 on track two Floyd Mayweather we saw an iconic track where Thug Gunner Travis Scott and Gucci Man all go round for round with short verses like boxers fighting Thug WPS about someone trying to hit a lick and missing and them trying to run but him ending up catching them and filling them with the whole clip track three swis beats saw Thug playing homage to yl Woody saying that he totes a gun like it's legal and then shouting out Woody again before making a gun sound before going on to say that he looks that up a thousand times now I could be reaching but I feel like he's saying that he looks up the news clips of nuts murder and the crimes YSL allegedly committed against their enemies Thug would later describe himself as the shot caller in his group and in track four future swag this will Thug making a comment relevant to the dress on the album cover saying don't be fooled by thinking that he looks soft he is dangerous and he will cut out your tongue and later saying that he spends money on people's legal cases and that his gang sends their Ops to meet their makers on track five Riri Thug says that he's got rank in his gang and reminds everybody outright that he's a blood member and a gangbanger and that he's not soft just because he's singing Thug would then drop a ironic series of lines saying that his crew are the realest gangbangers and that he has real killers with him who are dangerous but you won't see those people on camera or even know their names on the sixth track go Jeffrey along with young scooter and quo and offset of the Migos pay homage to The Godfather of trap Gucci M the song had thug doing a lot of incriminating gangster talk seemingly directly referencing big nut's murder at the barber shop rapping how the FN gave him a haircut and saying that even his girl knows that he's gangster along with a hook where Thug says that he's got 20 bullets in his gun and will shoot at you and your kid and your woman track seven harambe would see Thug going positively AP and the track had some of the most flagrant examples of self- snitching that Thug would ever do in his career as Thug would rap about how money will kill someone fast and then in a pretty dark run of lyrics Young Thug would then make one of his earliest mentions of having shot up his enemies mothers and children rapping how he'll shoot at your mother brother whole family father daughter and son even if they're a baby now this lyric was apparently 100% accurate and no rap cap as it would turn out that following the death of big nut and in the midst of a beef with nut's friend an artist wife en Luchi LC's mother's home was shot up numerous times in the span of just a few days in 2015 just a year before Jeffrey was released as explained by Luchi in this interview released on March the 22nd 2016 with Civil TV my how got shot up I was out of town though man I get a call my mom say the how got shot when we get back everything was good though she a get shot everything was good you feel they a shoot too many time the first time you can tell they had to pull up right here they just they a even pull up in front of the house they pull up like right here and they they just shooting it like you know sideway behind the car in the street they was in the street though soon cuz they all the shell boy like a week later we was at the studio I get the same call my boy B he had my phone he ain't even one to said you like the how that he say happened again that's how he say we I know what he was talking about though Juju was in here my baby mama and my little girl and my momma and her friend both of them got shot though my momma and her friend her room right here though so they how she got shot really they was sh boom boom they was in the bed both of them got hit in the lid this is something that LC's mother would later reveal in the trial also revealing that her grandchild Luchi daughter was also there when the shooting happened how many times back in 2015 was your home shot up twice were you injured at any one of those times that your home was shot up the second one was there anyone home with you that first time yes okay up stale me and my grandbaby just had went up stale sitting here today do you remember how many gunshots you heard a lot them do you remember if your son ran was home when the house was shut up the first time no he wasn't now the second shooting you said that was about a day or so later yes the first shooting did I hear you say you left the house I left for like two days or maybe one night I don't I can't remember and when you returned was that when the second shooting happened yes who was at home during that second time that your home was shot the same three and would that be your granddaughter I believe Juju your friend who sometimes come over it's my friend your friend and then um was your granddaughter's mother there yes was shot when you said we knew we were shot I said that's one I noticed I seen blood did you have to go to the hospital yes both the first time and the second time that your home was shot did you speak with police I can't recall this was by no means the first time Thug had wrapped about shooting at people's mothers and family either but despite the playful nature of the dress and the autotuned vocals make no mistake Jeffrey is gangster rap and Thug is letting the whole world know that just because he's wearing a dress don't think for a second he won't smoke you Jeffrey was a huge success and represented a massive leveling up for Thug and his profile creatively and from here he would just keep on winning a bonus track called pick up the phone released on June the 3rd 2016 and also appeared at the end of the Jeffrey album as well as on Travis Scott's album this collaboration that also included quo paked at 43 on Billboard in September of 2016 a little while later his collaboration track with Usher called No Limit would release in June eventually peaking at 32 on Billboard in August of the same year and after that his feature on the song offended with Meek Mill and 21 Savage would also hit 70 on Billboard on that track Thug appears to say that somebody was plotting to kill him and that he took them out first at this point Thug had seemingly conquered the solo rap game and was now looking to become a mogul and push his team forward too in November 2016 Thug wood co-found the official Young Stoner life records imprint under 300 entertainment alongside the label CEO Kevin Lyles and in these clips posted by academics we would see Thug officially getting his own office at y SL which was now officially a label as well as a gang hey thank you and he would induct the 300 label boss liar Cohen into the gang I mean label with his very own y train yes sir what what what what what now Thug would use his label to sign some of Atlanta's most buzzing artists like Gunner Lil keed and Yak gossi Thug was clearly feeling himself by the end of 2016 and perhaps his success had his ego out of control because in a display of not being very truly humble under God in December of 2016 Thug would go viral for berating an Airline employee after missing his flight in a video that was posted by play this hip hop on Facebook these two ants are so rude you need to get me off a camera and I need to step away from this these two ants are so rude they peasants they saying they manage on the way I don't want to talk to the manager y'all a manager peasant y'all a I give y'all bomb 15,000 P to quit your job will I'm getting you bomb one more chance look at get their hair sink in on the hair they they hair they look like Africans they done got deported what's oh deported do you bones want do you bones need tokens or what bigger than a law also call every offic you want to call I'm glad you turned around ugly donkey perhaps it's not too surprising that a man who claims to kill his enemies also isn't nice to Airline staff but anyway embarrassment aside moving into 2017 he would land some of the most lucrative opportunities that the rap game had to offer in March 2017 Thug featured on the song trap trap trap with Rick Ross and wlay going 97 on Billboard then in March Drake dropped his more life project which goes number one on the charts and Thug would actually land three features on the project firstly sacrifices with two chains which hit number 36 where Thug wrapped about how he has people killed neatly like the president would and he popped up again on the track ice melts which went 62 on Billboard and even at the end of of March Calvin Harris would release a song called heat stroke that featured Thug Fel Williams and Ariana Grande the song was the second of 10 songs released by the Scottish DJ and producer icon in 2017 and would later be included as track three on his Funk wave bounces volume one the album that one hit 96 on Billboard and was certified gold then in June 2017 Thug released his latest full length project beautiful Thugger girls this was a controversial project for a number of reasons he dropped it on the 16th of June 2017 the same day as Tupac's birthday and thug tweeted that he did this on purpose because he felt that he was this generation's two pack and wanted to finish what pack had started W Cliff je apparently agreed with this showing the level of stardom that Thug was really reaching at this point but that wasn't the only reason the project was controversial the tape itself was a departure from Thug's usual trap music style in this project he Incorporated elements of country music and rock and roll appearing on the cover art with a guitar a conceptual move that many people felt Thug had stolen once again from his usual Muse Little Wayne whose rebirth album in 2010 was controversial for being a rock inspired rap album too but this project peaked a number eight on Billboard and the song relationship from the project featured future and peaked at number 65 on Billboard Thug singles and features during this period cleaned up on the charts too in July a collaboration with Meek Mill was released called wee ball hitting Number 96 However unfortunately behind the scenes alongside all the self snitching that he was doing in his songs Thug was moving sloppy in the streets and ultimately ended up in trouble with the law on September the 24th 2017 Thug Gunner and a former personal assistant of Thug who has since become a full-time employee at 300 entertainment would be in a vehicle that got stopped for having illegally tinted windows police would search the vehicle reportedly finding two and a half ounces of marijuana many other drugs and $50,000 in cash along with a firearm to make matters worse images of the stop released by WSBTV many years later would show Thug getting patted down and him and Gunner miserably sitting on the floor in handcuffs while during the search the police would find an allegedly stolen firearm and a plethora of drugs in the car body cam footage released during the traffic stop recorded Thug who was pleading with the cop seemingly desperate not to go to jail while the cop would let Thug know that he has a whole Trifecta of illegal items in his possession got keys and they now you know no with get dope you got money you got guns TR Factor WSBTV would also attain the transcript of the arrest in 2022 and revealed that the third man who was with them tried to claim ownership of everything in the car but the cops weren't buying it both Thug and Gunner were charged with theft by receiving stolen property due to the firearm being stolen and with intent to distribute felony quantities of methamphetamine hydrocodone and marijuana and each of these charges would later be included in the YSL Reco trial and used as proof of YSL being a criminal stre gang that they were conspiring to be part of the authorities would continue to monitor YSL closely for the following 5 years from this point 2 days after the arrest on September the 26 2017 TMZ would break the news and report on the arrest and it would take until the following year for Thug to be hit with eight charges related to this stop but ultimately this setback didn't stop Thug's role in fact he would soon have arguably the biggest moment of his career to date in August 2017 Havana a song by pop sensation Camila Cabello will be released with a feature from Thug the track earned Thug his first Billboard Hot 100 number one single and the song would spend a lengthy 46 weeks on the charts the track was a global hit going number one in 24 countries outside of the US and charting in at least 38 other countries around the world Havana was huge and no doubt Thug's small but impactful appearance on this generational hit cemented him as a legendary figure in pop music Beyond trap and he continued to drop hits from here because a few days after its release on August the 8th 2019 Thug would make an alarming post on social media tagging his longtime enemy yfn Luchi and saying if I didn't like what you did for your family I would have killed you a while ago another quote that would later come back to haunt Thug at the YSL trial and again I'm not going to give you the ins and outs of this beef with Luchi in this video but clearly at this point Thug had zero cares about broadcasting his violent fantasies he was having about what he was going to do to his Ops on August the 16th 2019 Young Thug released his debut solo album so much fun for some reason in the music industry today there's this kind of weird distinction between mixtape commercial mixtape and Studio albums but for all intents and purposes all of Thug's music up until this point had been fulllength album quality produ projects regardless of what you want to call them the distinction between the album and mixtape is just more of an indicator as to whether the project represents fulfillment of an obligation under the record deal but in this case the importance of Thug's latest project being a full-blown debut album was actually pretty significant Thug's debut so much fun with debut at number one on the billboard charts and it charted in multiple countries all around the world selling 131,000 copies in the first week and later becoming certified platinum the album was once again reviewed positively on Pitchfork who called it Thug's best project to date track one titled just how it is would be perhaps the most self-incriminating song on the album and it would be indeed referenced in the YSL indictment as Thug states that he used to Rob and kidnap but now he's a full-time rapper he also speaks on his altercation at the Lennox Mall he would praise his lawyer Brian steel and states that he actually gave him $2 million to handle all the murders he creatively finds a way to mention the murder of big nut inferring that he killed the biggest blood out there the main theme of the song is that Thug came from nothing and doesn't care about the police anymore because he's now Rich famous last words if you ask me track four of the album hot was actually Thug and Gunner's triumphant celebration of their Lifestyles and it turned out to be the album's breakout hit the song would spend 26 weeks on the chart peing at number 11 and this track quickly became viral on social media helping it gain even more attention in the song Thug would talk about kicking IND doors at the age of five and being sick of fake gangsters the following year at the start of 2021 juiceworld would release his song bad boy that had a feature with Thug the song Hit 22 on the charts but would also be cited in the YSL indictment where Thug hinted having killers in his gang and being responsible for the shooting of WN Luchi mother then on April the 16th 201 young Stone and life records would released slime language 2 this being the second full length studio album from thugs gang I mean label the cover art featured a photograph taken of the young Stone of Life records roster including both producers and rappers affiliated with the label slime language 2 landed Thug yet another number one on the billboard album's charts and generated total sales of 113,000 albums in the first week however the album was met with relatively poor reviews compared to Thug's earlier projects critics noted that there were standout tracks and strong performances from featured artists like Travis Scott and Lil lzi vert but many felt the album album was overstuffed with 23 tracks leading to inconsistency and forgettable moments from lesser known artists within the YSL roster the album had one painfully Ironic song called take it to trial where YSL members diss the police prosecutors and judges of Atlanta promising to take it to trial if they ever get charged with crimes something that would be painfully unfunny when serious charges eventually dropped on the crew another charting song from the album was slatty featuring Young Thug Gunner and the YSL artists Yak Gotti and Lil Duke which peaked at 99 on the Billboard 100 slatty 2 would also be included in the YSL indict referring to lyrics about killing someone's friend in front of their mother the song ski featuring Gunner and Thug would end up going viral too peing at 18 on the Billboard charts but once again that song would also be included in the YSL indictment on the song solid Thug and Gunner would reunite with Drake for a track speaking about solid and genuine relationships ironically something that both Gunner and Thug would learn a heavy lesson about later on at trial solid would end up being the most popular song on the release peaking at number 12 probably due to the fact that it had a drake feature later in October Thug would release his second official studio album and His Four 14th official solo release a project titled Punk this would debut at number one on Billboard as well earning 90,000 sales in its first week becoming Thug's third Us number one album to debut on the charts this received decent reviews like a 7.1 from Pitchfork who acknowledged the experimental approach used on the album critics generally noted that punk diverged from Thug's earlier work showing a more introspective and acoustic driven sound with Outlets like Rolling Stone praising the album for its experimentation but criticizing it for lacking standout moments tracks like bubbly contagious and dice low were considered broadly to be some of the more standout songs of the album getting positive mentions for their engaging production and lyrical depth on bubbly the lead and only single from the album Thug would collaborate with the usually Heavy Hitters Drake and Travis Scott with a fan favorite song that ended up hitting 20 on the charts but with the indictment now looming on the horizon during the early days of 2022 Thug would still drop hits most notably being his features on two songs from Gunner drip season forever project one of these would be the Smash Hit push and pee that spent 20 weeks on the charts peing at number seven and with the song's release the phrase pushing P would go viral this bizarre phrase had some interesting meanings apparently it stands for acting like a pimp or player or simply applying pressure to a situation and remaining solid but others claim it's more of a reference to splashing cash and balling as a way of life spending money on things that you always wanted whilst trolls have suggested that pushing P actually refers to pushing urine out of your PP when you're in a crowded prison men's room but it could also refer to Distributing peret pills it was even something that Thug's lawyer would even try and explain away during the trial as actually meaning pushing positivity it's called pushing p and it's positivity it means any circumstance your if you think positively about something you can make it through you're pushing positivity you're pushing key Jeffrey is showing the the track mop from Gunner project would also feature Young Thug and landed at 45 on the charts but at this point in time it's likely that at least some members of YSL realized that the heat of a police investigation might not be far away whether it was just rumors on the street or just simple intuition but even with the indictment looming around the corner many within YSL were still operating as recklessly as ever on February the 7th 2022 Christian epinger better known in the streets as YSL member big bris would be stopped by police and it would be during this altercation that he would pull out a gun and fire six shots at the arresting officer who would only barely escape the incident with his life the incident would be caught on surveillance video and it would eventually become another charge within the YSL indictment in the video officer David Rogers can be seen pulling up on a street in Southwest Atlant in February while trying to serve a warrant he jumps out of the car and struggles with the man then you see the man shoot officer Rogers Who falls to the ground the man then can be seen running away YSL was not only moving recklessly outside of the prison but also within the prison walls on the 9th of February 2022 two members of YSL would allegedly attempt to kill yfn Luchi who was still locked up on his own Reco case involving his set's yfn with an incident report revealing that Luchi was involved in a fight where the other men had sharp objects while Luchi would allegedly yell how he felt like killing the man himself this would later be revealed to be an alleged planned hit by YSL members with the shocking footage of the fight being revealed during the trial Lieutenant as the fights going on can you tell the jurs um in each one of the pods where are uh the deputies in relation to the inmates um for example the on that we're watching right now where where does this Deputy come from he comes I'm I'm assuming from the other side there would also allegedly be a highly incriminating discussion held between two members of YSL on February the 22nd 2022 freshly in Fulton County Jail big bris who had just been arrested for the attempted murder on that police officer would alleged edly hold discussions with another YSL member where they were trying to figure out how to obtain permission from Thug to make a second attempt to kill YN Luchi on March the 14th 2022 yel found themselves entangled in yet another incident adding to their growing list of offenses leading up to their arrests but this time it would be an actual murder as Atlanta PD would find a man shot and killed under Interstate 20 the man turned out to be a 23-year-old named shyal drinks an alleged affiliate of yfn on the heels of another homicide in the city the medical examiner says 23-year-old Shamel drinks was killed near I20 last night a witness found a car riddled with bullet holes parked on Windsor Street underneath the overpass around 10 last night drinks was inside shot multiple times this is the second shooting near an interstate in the last week police are working to see if there was any video captured near that scene if you know anything or think you do you're asked to please contact police the murder of drinks would allegedly be get back for the murders of two YSL members that happened earlier in 2022 and four YSL members miles AKA miles Farley D AKA Deon Garlington qua AKA quarius Nichols and SB AKA Shannon Stillwell would ultimately be accused of this murder as part of the YSL indictment on April the 28th 2022 with the indictment less than 2 weeks away two members of YSL would even allegedly conspire to commit the murder of another YSL member Polo AKA cordarius dorsy who was locked up at this time would allegedly order Obama AKA Anthony sulin to kill another fellow gang member Harold Clemens because Clemens had apparently refused to put money on PO Polo's jail books with Polo then providing Obama with Clement's phone number to set up the Murder by early 2022 Young Thug had made significant strides in the music industry he had released critically acclaimed music that showcased his Unique Style that had established him as a leading figure in not just the Atlanta rap scene but the global music scene however behind the Glamour and hidden by The Illuminating lights of success and accolades Thug was still allegedly very much entangled with the street beefs of his hometown and his gang affiliations and criminal activities casted a dark cloud over his success eventually though the law would catch up with him him and the once celebrated artist would soon find himself in sned in the legal battle of a lifetime which threatened to undo all of his artistic achievements and completely redefine his legacy on May the 9th 2022 thug's life would come crashing down that afternoon his lavish mansion in the Buckhead District of Atlanta would be raided by the Atlanta PD and soon after social media news Pages would Shock the World with with numerous posts and compilations of clips from the ongoing raid the videos would show that Atlanta PD sped no expense and either as a precaution or more likely to send a message the operation included an army of Police armored vehicles and even police helicopters the video would also show Thug being walked down the street to a police vehicle with his hands tied behind his back with what looked like zip ties as young thug was arrested his phone would be seized and the police would begin a comprehensive search of his estate a search that would later lead to additional charges for drugs and guns found in the home young Thug is scheduled to appear in court today in Georgia on gang related charges the rapper whose real name is Jeffrey Lamar Williams was one of 28 people named in an indictment in that state he's charged with conspiracy to violate the state's RICO Act and participation in criminal street gang activity as a sign of the current times it would be the social media pages that would be providing the most up-to-date information about these developing events as journalists like Atlanta Bas George cheii from the guardian would confirm already that same night that Thug was being held at The Fulton County Jail on narcotics and gang charges as well as stating that this appeared to be the beginning of a state Reco case against the street gang that had already been alluded to by The Fulton da Fanny Willis the previous month soon the news about Thug's arrest would also reach the subreddit at lanty that focuses on the city's rap and gang scenes with one of the first comments on the news being how somebody on Reddit had actually predicted that this arrest would happen while the original poster would reply how it had only been a matter of time after Christian epinger aka Big bris had almost killed a police officer a few months earlier indeed the journalist George chedi would explain to DJ Vlad how he believed that it was epinger actions that actually triggered the arrests of YSL members including Thug epic jer's arrest I think was what set off the rest of this I think the the district attorney says that they were looking at things before then and they were but they weren't getting ready to act like epicer arrest set off the chain that ultimately ended up with young thug being arrested another user would comment their surprise that law enforcement would now hit in rappers and their Crews with Rico charges wondering who would be next with the first reply rather correctly predicting that it would indeed be Lil Doug's OTF crew but still on the night of the 9th local TV reporter Michael seiden would tweet the first official source of the breaking news confirming that rappers Young Thug and Gunner were among 28 defendants charged in a 56c count indictment in fton County he would also add that the indictment included charges of conspiring to violate the RICO Act murder armed robbery and participation in criminal street gang activ ity the DA's office would remain tight lipped about the indictment ignoring all media inquiries the implication perhaps being that they plan to remain silent until they had call as many of the 28 defendants charged in the indictment as possible then another update was posted from the WSBTV reporter confirming that young thug had indeed been booked on charges of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act and participation in criminal street gang activity alongside the final piece of evidence of his arrest a mug shot would appear of the King Slime himself with young thug being confirmed to be behind bars there were also questions about Gunner of 10 p.m. that night Gunner had yet to be booked into jail but he would eventually turn himself in a few days later on the early hours of May the 11th years later Thug and Gunner's closest associate Lil Baby would recall on Lil yotty's safe place podcast how he had actually visited Thug at his Buckhead mansion on the very day the arrest went down feeling that he had barely avoided getting mixed up in the case himself could have been with him yeah you know I was at his house the same day thank God I just happen to same 2 hours early that's crazy that's that don't get head up more than anything like damn I got to see bro go through it like damn that [ __ ] really could have been me the full indictment would eventually become available online for the whole world to see showing a very long list of names and nicknames of the 28 defendants these being Jeffrey Williams AKA Young Thug AKA slime Sergio kitens AKA Gunner Damonte Kendrick AKA Yak Gotti khif Adams AKA Bobby hunt Martinez Arnold AKA Lil Duke Dante BB AKA B Deon Garlington AKA D or Scarface Deone block AKA Bary Javaris Bradford AKA Tuda Justin Cobb AKA [ __ ] cordarius dorsy AKA Polo or juicy Christian epinger AKA bris miles Farley AKA slat or Lil miles Javon Fleetwood AKA for tree or psycho quantavius Greer AKA anun marquavius houie AKA qua Winnie Lee AKA slime life shorty demise McCullen AKA nard taquarius Menda AKA stunner Walter Murthy AKA DK Jaden mirck AKA setrip or jman kavus Nichols rodelius Ryan AKA Lil Rod Antonio Sledge AKA monk trunk travius Stevens AKA tick or slug Shannon Stillwell AKA Shannon Jackson or SB Antonio sulin AKA Obama and Jimmy Winfrey AKA P Rosco the indictment would also include an even longer list of charges with altogether 56 counts this indictment painted a picture of YSL as a highly dangerous criminal Enterprise whose members had been since 2013 at least been committing crimes like pointing guns towards police officers conspiring to commit murders allegations of trafficking numerous different illegal substances numerous attempted murders and worst of all several allegations of actual murder murders the most famous one of course being the murder of Donovan Thomas aka Big nut while one of the most harrowing being the murder of a 15-year-old boy by YSL Associates who themselves were as young as 15 and 17 that being Rod alus Ryan Lil rod and dmon block AKA barley YSL or young slime life had long been described by law enforcement as a criminal street gang masquerading as a record label under the name Young Stoner life these accusations placed Young Thug at the center of a complex web of criminal activities with authorities aiming to portray YSL the criminal Enterprise as being under his leadership with Thug himself facing multiple charges including fft by receiving stolen property more specifically two stolen firearms from 2013 and 2017 as well as being charged with making terroristic threats by threatening to shoot a security guard who was trying to get him to leave a shopping mall in 2015 Thug and Gunner were also charged with the possession of several illegal substances with an intent to distribute including methamphetamine hydrocodone and marijuana which stem from the 2017 arrest when their car was pulled over due to illegally tinted front windows police would initiate a search for the vehicle finding and a large amount of cash along with a prolifer of drugs including methamphetamine hydrocodone marijuana amphetamine Al praam AKA Xanax and of course good oldfashioned coding this impressive list perhaps indicating that these rappers had begun a new hobby of speedballing in their spare time but of course the indictment would allege that young thug had been committing all of these acts while participating in criminal street gang activity but the most consequential of the accusations against Thug would undoubtably be the claim that he had actually rented the car that was used in the murder of Donovan Thomas aka Big nut additionally the great majority of accusations against Thug in the indictment would include much more trivial sounding acts much of these surrounding his use of social media and the lyrics of his songs which the prosecutors saw to be in furtherance of the conspiracy of wisel's criminal gang but most of these appeared rather random given that any fan of Thug could have likely easily pointed out dozens of similar examples over the years of Thug repping wire sell or sex money murder in his music or on social media however there would be some highly interesting tidbits of information mixed in with these random lyrics and social media posts such as Thug's exchange with the alleged Le leader of the six money murder Bloods Kyle ay who had been behind bars since the gruesome 2003 murder of a young aspiring rapper named Robert Dorry according to the indictment only a few weeks after the murder of big Nut Young Thug and AI would have a conversation where one of them likely aie would tell Thug how sacrifices had to be made and people had to die in order for the battle to be won and that anyone who failed to fall in line with the five leaders of six money murder in Georgia would have to be dealt with as Thug was now sitting in the fton county jail it didn't take long for his very expensive legal team to get to work and only hours after Thug had been booked in jail a pretty tired looking Brian steel would make his first statement to a local TV station refuting the allegations and proclaiming Young Thug's innocence and promising to fight his last drop of blood to clear Thug's name I'll tell you the response to any allegation is Mr Williams committed no crime whatsoever and we will fight to my last drop of blood to clear him the next day Fulton County DA Fanny Willis along with Sheriff Patrick labber and Atlanta police chief Rodney Bryant would announce a press conference to discuss the indictment against YSL during which Willis would give a fiery speech against any gangs operating in Atlanta um today I'm joined by the Atlanta police chief chief Rodney Bryan as well as my sheriff and our sheriff sheriff Patrick labot um we are here today about a grand jury indictment that was returned um that included not just Jeffrey Williams which is of some notoriety and media attention but about 28 defendants that operated within our community between the time period of 2012 and 20 22 um it is our allegation that they operated as a criminal street gang and commence to do havoc in our community that Havoc includes um crimes of violence um crimes of thefts crimes involving drugs I've made no secret about it nor any apology that as the district attorney of Fulton County my number one focus is targeting gangs it does not matter what your notoriety is what your Fame is if you come to Fulton County Georgia and you commit crimes and certainly if those crimes are in furtherance of a street gang that you are going to become a Target and a focus focus of this District Attorney's office and we are going to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law da Fanny Willis would close the press conference with an emotional speech about the impact of the murder of Donovan n Thomas saying how his murder led to an unprecedented wave of violence in the Streets of Atlanta and how NES deserve justice just like any other member of society I was a prosecutor as you know for 16 years 4 months and 4 days in this office um the murder of Donovan Thomas in 2015 created violence like Atlanta has never seen um it was a goal of my predecessor and any person or prosecutor in this office um to make sure that that family received Justice cuz everyone is entitled to Justice um was a commitment I made from the first day I walked into this office very shortly after me becoming the da I sat down with Mr Thomas's mother and I made her a promise that her son was as valuable as any other person within our community and that I would put resources on this case and that I would do everything I could to make sure that her son had justice and yesterday was a proud day for me the press conference sent a clear picture the da had declared war on The Gangs of Atlanta a while back and now YSL was the biggest fish they had caught thus far the next day on May the 11th Thug's problems would only get worse as he would be hit with seven new charges all stemming from when the police raided his home where they found numerous guns and drugs new accusations against rapper Young Thug stemming from a raid at his Buckhead home now he's charged with additional drug offenses gang activity and possession of weapons he's facing two separate criminal cases two charges from the RICO case and seven charges in the latest legal action that same day Young Thug's father would actually make an appearance on local TV news stating that his son was being unfairly linked to the crimes and that he was promising to fight for his son adding that YSL was simply a legitimate business and record label I think my son has been unfairly linked to a lot of things but you know it's up to us to prove I'm going fight for him till the end I'm his father what is YSL it's a business it's a realate on May the 13th local news would provide more information about law enforcement's investigation into ISL confirming that arrests was still being made with da Fanny Willis expecting to have every defendant behind bars within the next 2 weeks yeah we can tell you that da Willis says at this hour arrests are still being made she says it could be up to two weeks before everybody is in custody ultimately the music had finally stopped for YSL and they were now facing one of the most serious trials in Georgia State history but over the next few years the case would unfold in weird and unexpected ways and despite the prosecution seemingly having an airtight case they did count on some of the ingenious moves and finesses that Young Thug and his attorneys had on their sleeves if you're enjoying the video and want to support the channel more head on over to trap.com and grab some of this spectacular merch that was inspired by this video once the dust settled on Young Thug's dramatic arrest authorities would begin the leg work on building the legal case and this RICO case against YSL would end up being one of the biggest and most complicated ated prosecutions in Georgia history the case was bought by Infamous Fulton County district attorney Fanny T Willis raised by a single father who was a former La black panther turned defense attorney he groomed her for a profession in law from the age of nine taking her to the courtroom and instilling the importance of Justice in her graduating from Howard University in 1992 Fanny Willis came to Georgia to attend Emory University School of Law graduating in 1996 and making Fulton County her home a career trial lawyer she's LED over 100 jury trials and prosecuted hundreds of murder cases with over 19 years of experience her first government job was as a solicitor Prosecuting misdemeanors and city ordinance violations eventually leveling up to getting hired by the District Attorney's office however it was in the early 2010s when she was working as the assistant district attorney that Fanny Willis would really make a name for herself as she would serve as the lead prosecutor on an Infamous case where the state of Georgia indicted 35 Atlanta Educators on Rico charges accusing them of giving answers to students and changing the test scores after they were turned in as well as threatening teachers who had tried to report the cheating scheme essentially painting these teachers and superintendents like mob bosses however despite the time and money spent on the case the success of the prosecution against this dangerous gang of classroom gangsters catapulted Fanny Willis to Legal stardom creating an alluring precedent of delivering complicated and long Reco style indictments to unconventional targets and gaining Monumental levels of clout off the back of the high-profile trials that followed from here on her career would seemingly go from strength to strength both within the DA's office and in a PR private practice that she would start in 2018 to truly secure the bag and she would later brag in an Atlanta voice article how she built her reputation working for the DA's office for 16 years eight of those being in the homicide departments with 100 cases under her belt she claimed that she was in the top 10% of lawyers is no surprise then that Willis was beginning to set her eyes on bigger aspirations initially running for a seat on the judge's bench in the Fulton County Superior Court in 2018 but losing then in 2019 she would successfully run to become the chief municipal judge for South filon before stepping down to run for an even greater position on January the 1st 2021 she made history becoming the first woman to be elected as the district attorney of Fon County after she campaigned on a commitment to protect Fulton's neighborhoods and reduce crime this was a Cutthroat race that actually saw Willis going head-to-head with her former boss and winning in a promotional video released at the end of 2021 Willis updated the Atlanta Public on her plans as the da vowing to clear the backlog of cases and blaming the previous administration and the pandemic for the courts not getting the job done when we took office we found a backlog of cases unprecedented in fton County's history because of the cases that were stalled by the pandemic of our courts and the prior mismanagement of this office by the former Administration we found 22,000 pending cases half of which hadn't even yet been indicted we also found in excess of 50,000 closed cases that were not properly entered into the public record I have brought in new highly experienced staff to serve our community and we have been working around the clock to clear the backlog and make sure we get dangerous defendants indicted and keep them off our streets we are pushing cases through to trial or pleas to get Justice for victims and we have made real progress but we still have more to do in 2022 we are going to be continuing those efforts and we are going to be working on programs for restorative justice and alternatives for fton County but funly enough in this role it would seem that rather than prioritizing the historic cases that affected normal people she would continue to breed a reputation for using the state's RICO Act to prosecute non- Mobsters in cases that were designed to grab headlines and her next move would make her one of the most infamous prosecutors in American history dropping an explosive Rico indictment on then former president Donald Trump for alleged election interference in Georgia The Longshot prosecution is still ongoing and has been complicated infinitely by Trump's dramatic 2024 election Victory but regardless of the outcome the case was at least initially a huge success in raising Fanny Willis's profile in the legal profession as extensive coverage of the case and her role in it would circulate in media All Over America however it seems that even the president wasn't a big enough fish for Fanny Willis and as she had firmly committed to cleaning up the Streets of Atlanta that had been plagued by the rising violent crime rates fueled by gangs the 2022 indictment of Young Thug and the YSL members would soon become the new biggest media moment of her career Fanny Willis would be a formidable opponent but on the other side Young Thug and his crew would seek the services of one Superstar lawyer who might just be able to make magic happen on the opposite side of the legal battle was Young Thug's defense lawyer Brian steel steel had grew up in Queens New York and had initially contemplated a career on Wall Street until he visited the stock exchange trading floor and experienced the soulless Cutthroat environment firsthand which convinced him to study law instead he would first aim a career as a tax attorney but one case involving a 13-year-old kid charged as an adult for murder would change his mind and afterwards steel would move to Georgia to become a public defender before eventually starting his own law firm and climbing the legal ladder to become one of the top defense lawyers in the state according to Brian steel he had been representing Young Thug for about a decade before the YSL Rico dropped and in 2018 Thug can even be heard mentioning him in the song O okay with Gunner and Lil Baby bragging about Brian steel being his lawyer which showed that in Atlanta Legal circles Brian steel has been a force to be reckoned with for some time however it was during the YSL Rico trial when Brian steel would become known Nationwide as Thug's fans would come to love his genuine connection with the rapper and his captivating and explosive performances in the courtroom if Fame was what the prosecution were looking for this is indeed what they would get as the trial of Young Thug and YSL was set to become one of the biggest and most high-profile trials in Georgia history being live streamed on numerous media platforms and racking up millions of views the trial became a media circus that fans haters and regular people interested in True Crime began following with great interest but there was one person who likely felt even worse to have gotten wrapped up in this case and that of course was Thug's label mate Gunner who had barely even known Thug when many of the more serious crimes in the indictment had actually taken place but nevertheless after being wrapped up in the indictment due to his close proximity to Thug Gunner unfortunately Ely had a tough decision to make one that would ultimately end up destroying his reputation in the rap game for good Sergio kitens better known as Gunner also faced Rico charges alongside Young Thug and the rest of the YSL gang but unlike many in the indictment who were charged with some pretty serious crimes Gunner was in fact charged with just one count that being conspiracy to violate the RICO Act Gunner was then further mentioned as being part of 10 over acts in furtherance of the overall gang conspiracy the more serious ones being connected to the September 2017 traffic stop when Gunner and Thug were found to be in possession of a stolen gun and a mixture of illegal party supplies and a May 2018 traffic stop where Gunner and Thug's car had nothing illegal in it but their alleged Entourage in a separate car were found to be carrying weapons with high-capacity magazines but besides these two traffic stop arrests the over act would also include some very random music releases and social media posts such as the music video for Lil keed and Gunner song Fox 5 where Gunner can be seen wearing the YSL pendant and wrapping the incredibly generic line we got 10 100 round Choppers the music video for the song Take it to trial by Thug Yak Gotti and Gunner where Gunner wraps some equally ambiguous bars about guns and goons and the music video for the song ski by Thug and Gunner where Gunner mentions toing an FN gun while his friends keep Glocks and that he's rolling with the rolling 60s and as a cherry on top the indictment would also include a photo of Gunner and Thug posted on social media together with the caption slat business YSL 4L in all seriousness the claims that these acts Were Somehow proof of Gunner's participation in the criminal street gang YSL seem sketchy at best and much more likely the prosecutors were simply thirsty at attaching him to the indictment due to his name and fame and in order to possibly get him to cooperate and spill the beans on bigger fish like thug unfortunately for gunner despite the state seemingly having rather poor evidence against him his legal battle would get off to a poor start as on May the 23rd the judge would deny his bond about a week after his initial arrest today in a fon couny courtroom a judge denied bond to many alleged members of the young slime life street gang this includes Sergio kitens AKA rapper Gunna we are still waiting to hear if the judge will also deny bomb for rapper Young Thug whose real name is Jeffrey Lamar Williams about a month later gunwood released a long statement on Twitter in which he would start by mentioning his hit song pushing p and noting how 2022 had been one of the best years of his life before recounting the difficult circumstances that he'd grown up in and how hard he'd work to better his life and the lives of his family he would also accuse the prosecution of painting a false picture of him and unfairly targeting black artists while in the caption he would explain how he was being kept in lockdown 22 hours a day and in a cell with no windows unfortunately that would do little to improve his circumstances and in July his bond was denied again with the judge citing fears of Gunner being a threat to the community and possibly trying to intimidate a witness this morning rapper gunana remains in jail Thursday a Fen County Judge once again denied him Bond the judge says gunana whose legal name is Sergio kitens is still a threat to the community and could try to intimidate Witnesses gunana and rapper Young Thug whose legal name is Jeffrey Williams are both still pleading for release from jail while their cases play out in court their trial isn't until January of next year clearly the chances of Ghana getting bail were practically non-existant so after around half a year of incarceration it would seem like Gunner had finally had enough and in a surprising turn of events in December 2022 Gunner would accept a plea deal resulting in his immediate release Gunner would plea guilty to just one count of racketeering conspiracy in a move known as the Alfred plea which allowed him to maintain his innocence while accepting that a jury might convict him based on the evidence while this decision allowed Gunner to avoid a l trial not to mention a possible prison sentence it also triggered an immediate backlash within the hip-hop Community because while Gunner would put out a statement following his release where he denied any kind of snitching a video would be leaked that showed Gunner repeatedly saying yes ma'am during the hearing for his plea deal in court which many people took as a sign of cooperation with the authorities as Gunner was essentially admitting to the court that YSL was indeed a criminal gang before Thug had a chance to clear his name at trial a Sergio kitchen's press statement suggests in the case of his Alfred plea he's quote maintaining my innocence toward the same charge quote it says while I've agreed to always be truthful I want to make it perfectly clear that I have not made any statements have not been interviewed have not cooperated have not agreed to testify or be a witness for or against any party in the case and have absolutely no intention of being involved in the trial process in any way in court some startling statements please state after each statement whether or not you agree or acknowledge that statements are trueth okay yes ma'am I became affiliated with yl around 2016 is that true as it pertains to you Mr kitchens yes ma'am YSL is a music label and a game and you have personal knowledge that members or Associates of YSL have committed crimes and furtherance of the game yes ma'am you were present when Law Enforcement Officers stopped a vehicle in which you were present along with Jeffrey Williams where in hydrocodone methamphetamines and a firearm were recovered these items did not belong to you yes ma'am and do you acknowledge the following statement I recognize accept and deeply regret that my talent and music indirectly furthered YSL the game to the detriment of my community YSL as a game must end is that your statement or acknowledgement yes the situation became the subject of public debate with Gunner finding himself being labeled a rat or a snitch by many people who beli that he had betrayed Thug and YSL gun's lawyer Steve sadow who likely felt guilty for the backlash that Gunner was experiencing would also comment on the matter saying that Gunner did not snitch and pointing out that the police statement cannot be used in court against any of the other defendants while also linking a rolling stone article where an unnamed source with knowledge of the case would explain that the plea agreement had been worded in such a way that wouldn't have allowed either the prosecution or the defense to call Gunner to testify a trial but Gunner on the other hand would remain relatively quiet about the matter but in Jan anuary he would announce his return to social media whilst also saying that there's only one side and that he's still representing YSL the music label as well as saying free young thug and Yak Gotti after this Gunner would stay relatively quiet again until June 2023 when he would release his first song after getting out titled bread and butter in the track he addresses the snitching rumors head-on questioning why would he pay his lawyers millions of dollars if not to avoid testifying and that he never gave a statement or agreed to take the stand so he still stands on his actions bread and butter was soon followed by a full- length album titled a gift and a curse with the concept of the album seemingly exploring both the gift of his creativity and freedom that he had back after accepting The Plea but also the curse of getting those charges and the subsequent loss of respect in the rap game after being labeled as a snitch the project was a huge success debuting at number three on the billboard 200 with 85,000 albums sold in the first week the album was also well received outside of the US charting in 15 countries the project was critically acclaimed to with Publications like Rolling Stone giving it a glowing review noting how Gunner had reminded everyone just why they loved his music with project and praising him for meticulously clapping back at those snitching allegations now I personally really enjoyed the project and it was one of my favorite releases of 20123 snitching or not and it proved that at least musically Gunner was here to stay and the allegations certainly couldn't stop him at least making great solo music however only about a week after Gunner's album released Young Thug would come out with his own album titled business is business with the release of the album just so happening to coincide with his jail call to Lil dirt getting leaked online showing that Thug was feeling anything but love for his former Protege hey dir I know I want you on I'm dropping this I'm dropping this um this this this um Surprise album on the same day same day buddy Dro his album that [ __ ] coming up soon I need a verse from you if you if you feel like replying if you feel like you want to reply to what saying or something man don't don't don't don't do it let drop it on my album I'm dropping a surprise album on the same send your verse in bro I want you and wh on the same song send your verse in love I love you music surprisingly an audio engineer who worked on the album would also reveal how some of the songs on the project had been recorded through the jail phone which meant that the project was a mixture of pre-recorded songs and some new material like it's weird you could tell it's like on the phone but in the record like I mean like now that you've heard the vocals isolated and stuff you can tell but when it came out people were like yo how did these how's he talking about how did you guys do this in the past I was like n this was like all on the phone and this also meant that some lyrics dissing snitches like this one from the track title Jonesboro could well have been aimed at gun directly the album's opening track parade on Cleveland also includes a phone call between Young Thug and Drake where Thug can be heard saying a cryptic message of how he's pushing Peter better than any Peter Pusher around which sounds a bit like another disc towards Gunner whose last hit song with Thug had been the track pushing P the title of the album business is business may also have been a lowkey dig at Gunner as this was also the name of his own classic 2018 song with L baby and the same could also be said about the cover art which depicted Thug in the courtroom along with eight other people a likely reference to the fact that there were only nine defendants left at this point due to their pleas and severances being taken this again probably being a coded disc towards Gunner who was no longer standing beside Thug against the state at this point like Gunner Thug's album was also very successful hitting number two on Billboard 200 with 89,000 units sold in the first week in fact beating out Gunner's project on both sales and charting position however quality-wise this wasn't a particularly engaging project and it honestly felt a little bit rushed the project was made up of mostly old recordings and it had the vibe of a postumus album made by someone that was actually still alive this sentiment being shared by ing Stone who would call Thug's sound diminished on this project but despite Thug seemingly harboring animosity towards his old friend Gunner would seemingly attempt to keep things cordial and still in his double XL magazine interview in April 2024 he would say that he still has love for Thug as well as diplomatically saying that none of the other rappers who have commented on him being a snitch know what actually happened legally since they're not part of the case but it would seem like thug wasn't receptive to Gunner's attempts at mending the relationship because after Thug took a plea deal and got released sometime later he would make a post and delete tweet where he made it clear that there was nothing to amend and telling Gunner publicly to stop acting like they were still friends on the internet and saying that he doesn't even know him Gunner's lawyer on the other hand would make another post defending Gunner's decision to take the Alfred plea arguing once again that Gunner's plea had done no harm to Thug's case and then pointing out that in the end Gunner and Thug had both done the same thing by pleading Guilty by accepting a RICO charge but the different was that while Thug had to spend 30 months in jail and receive a whopping 15-year probation with incredibly strict conditions Gunner had been able to record music and told the world for that entire period and he had also no prob and no conditions adding that if some people really still want to blame someone for such a great deal then they should blame the lawyer at the end of the day the downfall of Gunner's public reputation says a lot more about how rap fans are obsessed with exposing snitches these days than it does about Gunner actually being a snitch ever since prolific snitch exposer 1090 Jake took over the YouTube rap game it seems like every rap fan is now looking for any excuse to label a rapper a snitch I know a lot of people feel like Gunner betrayed Thug but realistically Gunner statement had no bearing on Thug's ultimate outcome in fact it would be one particular person who did outright snitch on Thug taking the stand on behalf of the state to save himself that ironically ended up saving Thug in the end as the biggest snitch of the whole case that the prosecution were relying on to bury Thug ended up being so erratic unreliable and untrustworthy that his involvement actually played a big part in collapsing the state's argument against Thug and in the process that super snitch ended up becoming a superstar from the stand making himself rich in the process I'm of course talking about YSL Woody ironically the state's star witness would prove to be incredibly unreliable untrustworthy and just a complete loose canon and with the whole case resting on the shoulders of this one unhinged individual the prosecution's chances would be precarious and in the end it would be the unexpected maneuvers of this Superstar witness that ended up destroying the whole case against Thug as one man would haphazardly bring down the entire case as well as two judges Maybe by accident or maybe on purpose ultimately giving Thug a passage out of this trouble because at the start it looked like one man was going to be the downfall of Thug but in the end that one person actually ended up saving Thug and of course that man was none other than YSL Woody Kenneth Copeland better known as Lil Woody or YSL Woody was born in 1991 in Atlanta as the seventh child of a huge family of 10 kids Woody would spend some of his early formative years in the infamous bow and Holmes projects in the Bankhead neighborhood on the west side of Atlanta AKA Zone 1 Woody on the other hand would move out of Bankhead long before this iconic beef due to his father unfortunately passing away in the early 2000s when Woody was just about about 10 years old causing his mother to move the family back to their original stomping grounds in the Mechanicsville neighborhood near downtown Atlanta where they would rely on government assistance and his mother's hustle to get by their home allegedly doubling as a trap house later in 2008 tragedy would strike again when Woody's mother passed away leaving Woody without any Parental Guidance are only 17 years old which would cause him to separate from his family getting kicked out of school and hitting the streets full time 2008 I lost my mom when I lost my mom I was just like well you know this the only person they care about me this is what my life was based off mama she the only one had that control over me so when she died I I removed myself from the rest of my family and just took to the streets already the following year in 2009 a 17-year-old Woody had his first serious running with the law as he was arrested and charged for carrying a concealed weapon a charge that he apparently took for his friend why were you carrying gun during this time I actually wasn't carry um it's old so somebody else had I took it from him because I seen the police going after him but somebody else was watching me and see he take it from him oh so you're trying to help your friend out basically I helped somebody out right and in turn you caught a gun charge yeah and over the next few years Woody's life would spiral further as he would keep going to jail numerous times for various charges like theft carrying a weapon battery obstruction aggravated assault participation in a criminal street gang and even making terroristic threats this likely being around the time when Woody was allegedly running with the DRC click aka the robin crew but in 2013 Woody would truly get pushed over the edge due to the death of his best friend DB who was killed and a driveby after he got killed you said I had to go terrorize what does that mean exactly what it sound like it meant driven by grief and anger from here Woody would develop a fearsome reputation in the Streets of Atlanta and it was this reputation that also seemingly caught the attention of none other than Young Thug who would end up inviting Woody to become part of his Entourage and how did you guys initially meet he just C me out of blue I I knew I knew of them you feel me um everybody from l knew of him as he was coming up and I've been around him a few times shot dice with him but he just called me out the blue one day like hey come see me you want to go on shows with me and you know we went from there interestingly in his no jumper interview Woody would even seem to insinuate that him meeting Thug had something to do with the infamous incident of Rich Homie Kwan's father's barber shop getting shot at that barers shop don't have nothing to do with uh nothing you know what I'm saying the bar shop just on some Bank heads type stuff yeah like I told you I grew up in Born home so so he didn't have a he didn't have a reason to to go out and just go on stage and say that he was just really just choosing sides so when the barber shot happened Thug Rich was cool all right um to be honest that's how me and Thug got together yeah so how did you meet though I guess she a just hear me through rich homie break it down again it's still an open case all right for sure as what he would Rec El with Brian steel during the trial his time in Thug's Entourage only lasted about a year between 2014 and 2015 during which time Woody became sort of like an enforcer for Young Thug something that even earned him a mention in the hit song Halftime where Thug RS that if anybody messes with him Woody will come and shoot them in the head going back to 2014 going into 2015 you met Jeffrey Williams for a short period of time that you were um my word would be hanging out with him but that's a bad word that you that you were in his company and he was in your company a short period of time is that fair to say right and when you met him you already said that he was he very popular yes true is it fair to say that you and he knew each other but like after your birthday in July 2014 and really stopped because you were in custody anyway um by July 2015 that's the period of time that you knew each other is that true no I didn't from 20 14 I met him like at the end of 2014 and then you were you total jury but you got locked up a lot the police kept locking you up in January February March April May and then June you were locked up in federal custody for 51 months true yes okay and that's really the only period that you knew Jeffrey the only time that you you were around him or he was around you trick but really we wasn't even together every day I was out in the neighborhood Jeffrey never um had the pleasure of having you featured in one of his songs is that true no I ain't never been in his song okay and Jeffrey never was featured in one of your songs is that true no he me and him have music together all right but he did um put you in one song of his you know the song Halftime I'm listen do you remember the line um and I'm not saying this a quote but something effective um if you mess with me Woody will come up and pop in the Noggin and if that's not a quote I'm not trying to misquote it but that's what I'm is that something like what it what it says in that song yeah and the song is halftime right yes wildly popular song yes however as Woody will claim he was anything but happy about this shout out because while the song had allegedly been made in 2014 when everything was still good between them it was only released in April 201 15 during a time when Woody was in a tricky spot in the streets he found himself at the center of a violent feud between YSL and the Atlanta branch of the Englewood family's Blood Gang as mentioned before this Feud allegedly began in late 2014 and saw Woody's personal conflict with big nut's brother shell Kell AKA Kelvin watts playing a big role in the back and forth violent encounters that would ensue not long after the Englewood fam's second in command and The Man Behind the careers of Rich Homie Quan and YF and Luchi Donovan big nut Thomas would be killed in a brutal driveby shooting and while no one knew for sure who killed nut suspicion immediately fell on YSL particularly Woody whose girlfriend's parents house would be shot up already the same night that nut was murdered these events led Woody to make perhaps the most consequential decision of his life as at this point he began cooperating with police there would initially be a murder charge against Woody himself but these would eventually be dismissed however Woody would still remain on the Atlanta ped's Radar and already the following month in February he would once again find himself in their custody eventually getting released in mid-march this helps to explain why Woody wasn't exactly thrilled when he would hear that Thug was labeling him as a shooter in his newest songs you learned that police was using that song they were asked you about that song no they told me yeah U one of them told me that I think I had got out uh I got out one of the jails and they got me the next day and they were like yeah man something now you at the top our radar it was it was something like and I he pissed me off when he said it he being the detective no they would know the det it was a police okay the police officer upset you when when they I think it was D they said it it was one of them they said it a month later in April 2015 at the height of the alleged war between YSL and the Englewood families which had allegedly led to dozens of shootings and several murders Woody would walk into Dunbar Center gymnasium with a loaded Diamondback 223 assault rifle tucked inside a H&M shopping bag which he would then leave on the bleachers while he played basketball prompting a concerned citizen to call the police who would then arrive finding the rifle in the bag and later arresting Woody who would eventually be hit with federal charges Landing him in prison for several years the police would also find out that the Rival had actually been purchased by quindarius Zachary also known as YSL member Lil D who would later end up being one of the many states Witnesses in the YSL Rico trial Woody would eventually be released in late 2019 and at the beginning of 2020 he would attempt to follow in the footsteps of Young Thug beginning to drop his own music starting with a song aptly called first day out and despite being a snitch behind the scenes the song Still included self-incriminating lyrics where he wrapped that he would have people killed and that YSL run Atlanta in March Woody would even release a full mixtape humbly titled I am the streets showing that Woody was leaning heavily on his reputation as a certified gangster one of his music videos even started with a hilarious intro where woody can be seen in a helicopter looking over Atlanta like he goddamn Tony Montana he was also still seemingly close with other YSL members as Yak gotty would actually perform at the mixtapes listening party in the few interviews that he would do as an upand cominging artist he would proudly rep the gang any chance that he got man man we back in the building we back working we back grinding I had to pull up on my boy little Woody Man sound man y yeah man y like 30 freehand entertainment man shout out to the progress report yeah they little Woody freehand entertainment just jumped out the PO with dirty glove b s life but Woody simply couldn't stay out of trouble and soon he would find himself back in jail once again this time staying locked up until 2021 and when he was released he would stay out for only a few months before he was arrested again during a traffic stop after he was supposedly swerving and while Woody Tech Al only had a loaded magazine on him it was enough to charge him with another weapons offense potentially Landing him up to 10 years in prison this arrest would lead to another interrogation one that would later leak to the public during the YSL trial in 2023 during the questioning it would immediately become clear that this wasn't Woody's first rodeo in the interrogation room by the way that the officers were treating him Woody spoke to law enforcement including investigators from the DA's office that were part of the gang unit and Agents from The Fulton County Sheriff's Office making it clear that multiple agencies were closely monitoring him and YSL the police would read Woody his unfortunately there's a gun in that car I done with her in your car we did I did a search War for the vehicle there's a gun in the car and you had a you had a magazine on you when they picked you up federally they can charge you with the ammunition statewise you're probably going to get charged with a gun I'm going get Char with a gun mhm no gun there was a going they would also make it clear that they couldn't promise him anything in exchange for his cooperation so if you want want to talk to us today I cannot promise you anything I can't make you any prom listen to me I can't make you any promises I can't offer you anything today that's not what we can do what we can do is if you do cooperate we could talk to Da and let her know you did cooperate and that's the most she can make that decision at that at that time Point what going on but despite the lack of guarantees Woody seemed willing to say whatever it took to save himself the information I had they they want to H you right now I mean we can pass it to them saying you pass it to something going happen today what's happen what's going to happen tonight who you know he offered detectives information on a murder plot that coincidentally occurred the same day as his arrest I tell y this much right here I know people going to go do it I I I can get time when do so K me in the he also painted a picture of a Relentless and bloodthirsty the Young Thug who is allegedly targeting nut's brother Kell so I've been put in bad situations trying to help you out trying to stop he not going to stop he not going to stop take care I'm tell I was just right there with him and I se like he I know him he he he don't care who at one point he even tried to play detective himself suggesting a sting oper a while emphasizing how Reckless th had become at this point what time if I can be released before 11 to 12:00 show you how serious I am to be released people see me coming out jail together just see jail for whatever y'all can be right there to see you meet up with and discuss we have y ticket y see where c r cat him in the a what do you mean he he he he just he not moving how he used to he used to move he moved different but he want so bad he he been Woody's troubles wouldn't end here because the following month in November his girlfriend a police officer was arrested for interfering with an investigation into Woody's activities is the former city of South Fulton police officer accused of abusing her B to protect her boyfriend investigators say 27-year-old Aaliyah Jackson who joined the city's police force in 2019 was booked in a jail last month on felony charges after she tried to interfere with a major police operation targeting Metro Atlanta's most notorious drug dealers and gang members following his arrest police say that Jackson tried to delete her boyfriend's Instagram page containing photos of gang activity she's also accused of trying to disable his phone which police were storing his evidence however by 2022 the state's gun charges relating to Woody's 2021 arrest were mysteriously dropped just a month before the YSL members would be arrested in the giant RICO case this move might have highlighted how heavily the prosecution were relying on the testimony of Woody who was now expected to provide critical insights into YSL structure naming names and detailing specific violent acts that were linked to Young Thug however this was soon after followed by a leaked paperwork which would paint Woody as the main snitch on the case this was Then followed by the leak of the 2021 interrogation video which would show Woody snitching in for okay perhaps due to these leaks on June the 7th 2024 when it finally came time for Woody to be called to the stand even with immunity he would refuse to testify but before the jurors were called in Copeland's attorney says his client planned to invoke his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination what he has told me is that he repeatedly told the DA's office that he did not wish to cooperate did not wish to testify the judge told Copeland there's an order granting him immunity which prevents his testimony from being used against him which means so you required to testify so if you don't Testify the state's probably going to ask me to jail you and I'm probably going to do that at this point Woody was held in contempt and he ended up being sent back to the Fulton County jail but when to they asked exactly how old he was I ple ladies and gentlemen can I get you to step outside that's when the judge ordered Copeland to be handcuffed this court holds you in willful contempt and uh we'll see you on Monday the following Monday the judge would meet with the prosecution and Woody together with his legal representation before that day's proceedings in a secret expart meeting that the defense team was apparently not made aware of this meeting would arguably walk a thin line between simply informing Woody about the consequences of his actions on the witness stand and actually threatening Woody with consequences in order to force him to testify whatever the case in the end Woody would agree to testify however once back on the witness stand he would immediately begin trolling the prosecution giving them a taste of what was about to take place do you see Shannon in the courtroom today well I got a v problem I can't see there pH all right so if you want to stand up and look around the courtroom and tell look around the entire courtroom tell me if you see Shan in the courtroom today you need to sit down n right here ain't had any drink the next day on June the 11th Woody would continue his Antics by firing his lawyer sir um Mr copelan um is it your desire to release your counsil at this point in time she fat she's fired okay what I need a lawyer for from here on Woody would go on to be a terrible witness for the state commonly delaying proceedings misinterpreting questions and instructions and frustrating prosecutors throughout the trial I guess I guess yeah I guess and when it came to Woody's many interviews with the police throughout the years he would negatively affect the prosecution's case by claiming that he had been lying to the authorities in interviews that are dated all the way back to 2015 okay I let let me make myself clear right you keep ask me about things I don't told investigators in the past from I can't say from when to when but so much was going on my name was on everything the police kept coming to grab me every time they grabbed me I had a different story for them I know 100% facts and I'm telling you now I was not truthful I was saying what El they wanted me to say I was saying whatever I could come up with I was I was trying my best to convince them that I didn't do nothing that I'm an innocent person and then people put their hands on me but Woody story wasn't just playing out in the courtroom because when Court wasn't in session Woody would be spotted on Instagram living his best life Woody testimony would eventually come to a screeching halt when the defense were able to successfully use that expart meeting to recuse the judge from the case a major development that will discuss in more detail later but with a new judge in place the trial eventually resumed in August and to everyone's Delight accept the prosecution the newly appointed judge would request that Woody ret testify with Woody this time even getting Young Thug to laugh along with his Antics yes no I don't recall did Thug have an issue with Rich Homie Quan bringing members of if gang to his apartment th did you have issue with Rich I'm asking you for what you told the police and I'm and I'm answering you I just told you sever times I tell police anything okay do you recall talking about the shooting after the state concluded their questioning of Woody more Revelations about the extent of his alleged lies would emerge during cross- examination there you're saying that you gave the card to Dante who gave it to Lil Mike and quz correct yes okay and the you would agree that detectives uh Gaither and Dennis are telling you we've never even heard of Lil Mike in quz correct yes Mr Copeland Lil Mike is not a real person is he no Brian steel Young Thug's lawyer would question Woody about a jail call where he told another party that prosecutors had begged him to testify while Woody also claimed to have never committed any crimes for Thug did Jeffrey ever give you any money ever for committing a crime for him I never committed a crime for him that was my next question okay after finally being done testifying Woody would then begin showing support for Young Thug publicly and he would even start his own YouTube channel where he would post a highly emotional interview apologizing to Thug and everyone else for the pain that he caused but if you could walk in that courtroom and say one thing to Thug right now what would that be what s what you s the pain the suffering everything I caused on him and his family um Society um the courts um I Sor for everything I wish I wish I had the strength and the mindset I have now um yeah um yeah I'm just I'm just I never forget myself and the publicity from The Trial began making Woody a celebrity on social media in August 2024 he would also resurrect his music career with an incredibly titled song I don't recall which referenced his repeated use of the phrase during the testimony he was also invited to numerous paid interviews and Hood Vlogs as well as participating in several speed dating shows that garnered millions of views on YouTube inflating his ego and his bank account he even linked up with one of Hip Hop's perhaps notorious and proud snitches Charleston white to collect a nice bag something that he would often flaunt on social media and despite his new reputation as a snitch would he would continue moving through the streets of Atlanta without care in the world seemingly trusting that his former reputation as a Fearless shooter would still protect him even though he was now a snitch how do you feel about people calling you labeling you a snitch it's all it's on it's on on the internet I haven't ran to one person that say it to my face and and I ain't saying like on no gangster store like I pray that nobody don't provoke me you feel what I'm saying cuz I ain't Miss with nobody I ain't looking for trouble so if I see if I'm out and somebody walk up and say I'm a snitch or whatever I'm SL a but in a Twist that perhaps nobody could have seen coming the trial not only pushed Woody into the spotlight as a state's witness but also made him a celebrity Woody's emotional breakdowns combative exchanges and sarcastic responses as well as frequent lapses in memory combined with his reluctance to cooperate despite being granted immunity made him both highly entertaining and garnered widespread sympathy towards him from fans but these Antics also made him one of the worst star witnesses that the prosecution could have ever imagined and his performance alone made their case infinitely weaker but as mentioned there was also another person in the trial whose missteps would arguably play an even bigger role in letting Young Thug eventually walk free that person was Judge Glenville by the end of 2023 going into 2024 the YSL trial had become a complete fast at one point someone actually hacked a courtroom Zoom feed and yelled free thug mistrial free thug MRA free fug [Music] MRA fre bug Michelle free buug Michelle the defense attorneys came under scrutiny during the trial for improper behavior on February the 16th 2024 attorney Nicole Fegan was charged with participating in criminal Street activity and evidence tampering for allegedly telling a gunman to dispose of the murder weapon with that case being separated from the trial in May 2023 and that attorney stillwaiting trial and judge Ural D Glanville who was presiding over the YSL trial became a key character Central to the courtroom drama Glanville was often clashing with Young Thug's defense attorney Brian steel and the courtroom exchanges between steel the prosecution and judge Glenville added another layer of tension to an already intense trial with things at times spiraling completely out of control to the level of personal attacks and Petty arguments in front of the judge apologize that I'm getting tempered but I've never been treated like this you talk about professionalism every week professionalism is lacking with one lawyer here it has never been I I don't like coming to court I used to love this I would die for what we do I used to say I'm dying I I would die I couldn't choose a better profession if I had litigate with Miss love I would I we stri he hey every everybody calm down calm down everybody both of you see both of you please be seated judge I'm not done please bece you have to do something however the judge to be fair was also tough on the prosecution admonishing them for making baseless objections gang signs that you saw when you were brought in here to testify this quote gang case right yes okay now just our curiosity the G sign hold on what's the basis for your objection what's the basic objection um form first time first time I'm overule the objection go ahead Mr Adams me what was the gang sign you saw being thrown up that day no idea no idea none okay the clashes between the defense and prosecution would continue to escalate as efforts were made by Thug's team to take down the opposition however these efforts failed as on April the 4th 2024 the judge denied a motion to have the lead prosecutor removed but it didn't take long for things to escalate and soon the defense would be trying to have the judge removed on July the 1st 2024 the trial was put on hold when Young Thugs lawyer learned of the secret and improper meeting between the judge prosecution and YSL Woody without the defense being present or informed the defense would file to have judge Glenville recused as a result of this meeting but that did not go to plan judge Glenville would be confronted by Brian steel about the secret meeting with the judge furiously asking how the defense learned about this secret meeting with judge steel staying more solid than Gunner and refusing to say supposedly in Chambers this honorable Court honorable court reporter at times honorable court at times district attorney or District Attorneys from the DA's office as well as investigators Sheriff deputies Mr Copeland and his councel uh met together none of the defense team to my knowledge was aware that this was going on and then somehow that email was CCD to me that never Mr Mr Ste can I interrupt you just a second I'm kind of disturbed because that's exp parte all that was an exp parte conversation how did you find out about any of that well I'm a disturbed too what I was told was that Mr copeling said and you haven't answered my question yet I'm not to answer that question you're not no I will not answer that question why will you not answer that question cuz I want to make sure that what I say is accurate I'm not trying to get anybody I'm asking you how did you get this information I'm not telling the court what I'm saying is based upon information okay well listen if you don't tell me how you got this information then you and I are going to have some problems Brian steel truly put it on the judge accusing the court of attempting to intimidate Woody into testifying and as you can imagine judge Glanville was Furious threatening Brian steel with contempt of court and storming off the stand as Brian steel claimed in a shocking Revelation that apparently would he even admitted to murdering big nut during this meeting Mr steel I still want to know how did you come upon this information who told you what I want to know is why wasn't I there why sir I'm going to hold you in contempt if you don't tell me who there tell tell me who this information I want to be held in contempt I'm not answering that question that's attorney cim privilege information I am not attorney cim privilege unless you were in my Chambers that's the only way you can figure out I tell you what I'm going to give you five minutes if you don't tell me who if you don't tell me who it is I'm going to put you I'm I'm going to put you in contempt because that is not attorney client privil attorney work product privilege I am not how did you how did you get that information supposedly from my Chambers did somebody tell you I'm not you should have told me you got five minutes well you I don't need it I want to continue got minutes this is what I was told Mr copen Mr copen made statements that he admitted to killing Donovan Thomas and was don't take my notes no no no no no when they returned things were know better and steel and the judge would go back and forth with Glenville demanding to know how Brian steel found out about the secret meeting but steel refused to budge and judge Glenville would interestingly say that he has an idea of how steel got that information who you got it from I'm not asking you someon substance of anything as of yet okay but I need you to tell me how you got the information if you don't tell me how you got the information I'm going to hold you in contempt I understand I don't want to be held in contempt I don't want to hold you in contempt but you but but but it's but this is so sacran to have a conversation in my Chambers pared to you and others it is that serious yeah and that's why I raised it it is that serious that we should have been there and it shouldn't happen I'm not saying your order but to give you information and you're saying it's not sou substance but I'm telling you I can't do that under the bar rules all right well I'm going to hold you in contempt and um you can you can think about it 5:00 today we'll see we'll see where you are at that stand on that point cuz no that's not what I that's not what I understand the to be i' I've not asked you someon substance of what was said I asked you how you got it I can't do that yes you can because I have an idea how you got it well your idea I have an idea how you got it but that's improper your idea may be wrong and you're asking me to listen I told you the first time now I'm not 100% sure what judge Glenville was inferring when he said he had an idea of how Brian steel got that information and that it was improper and this is all just my opinion but the way things fell apart from this meeting it wouldn't surprise me if would Woody and his team were actually playing both sides the whole time and that perhaps him or his lawyers had somehow let Young Thug's team and Brian steel know what was going on behind the scenes with judge Glenville later inferring that Woody's lawyer might have been the only person who could have provided this information clearly Brian steel was keeping it more solid than Woody and continued to refuse to explain how he knew about that secret meeting even boldly calling for a mistrial as a result your honor this is so serious to me we need a hearing and I'm moving for a mistrial it is my understanding based upon information belief from part of it from whom well I'd like to get the substance first and then I then we'll okay well then then you'll be in custody until then because I because because you need to tell me how you got the information I'm not asking you what was said you've already kind of giving us some Snippets of what you said that tells me that somebody pared that information to you so but you're assuming something cuz I told you already well then other than if you if you were sitting unless you were sitting in there whether recorder or Miss love or Miss Hilton uh or one of the deputies gave you that information or Miss Weaver shot you a rough copy of the transcript there's only one other person that's left and so in an unprecedented move a vengeful judge Glenville had bran steel arrested for contempt of court having him taken into custody and sentencing him to spend his upcoming weekends in jail I want to know how who gave you the information I'd like to know what information happened happen outside our pres that's really it he can go into custody at this point time Mr steel I am going to hold you under um still hold you in summary criminal contempt um pursuant to ocga 15-13 subpart 3 for your failure to comply with my earlier order to today I'm going to order that you be taken into custody uh incarcerated the Fon County de for no more than 20 days for this contempt those 20 days consisting of every weekend for the next 10 weekends this ronment was later overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court allowing steel to avoid serving the sentence and the lawyer for rapper Young Thug in the ongoing YSL Rico trial no longer facing a contempt charge the state supreme court officially reversed a decision from the former judge overseeing this trial and that decision was made by judge eural Glenville after steel Brian steel here refused to disclose how he found out about an exp parte meeting the controversial meeting included the judge the state and a key Witness but the defense was not made aware of it prior to the meeting and judge glanville's efforts to make an example of Brian steel appeared to backfire spectacularly as he was ultimately recused from the case once the dust settled on his attempts to lock up Young Thug's leading defense attorney following glanville's recusal judge Shakura L Ingram took over but she would also eventually have to recuse herself due to a conflict of interest as apparently she was connected to courthouse Deputy Akiba Stanley who had been arrested for trying to smuggle Contraband to another defendant that Deputy was arrested and even accused of having an in appropriate relationship with a former codefendant and Ingram noted that the deputy could be called as a future witness in the case potentially undermining The public's confidence in the impartiality of the proceedings finally Judge paig Reese Whitaker took over the case bringing new leadership and attempting to establish stricter rules and bring order to the proceedings ultimately she would be a breath of fresh air for the case and a blessing for Thug's team and while the new judge would deny a movement for a mistrial ultimately with everything that had happened behind the scenes the state's case was looking more and more disorganized and most importantly the secret meetings and decline reliability of the star witness YSL Woody meant that the prosecution's case was now on Shaky Ground meaning that this would now be the perfect time for Thug and his team to apply pressure and use the unfortunate state of things to cut himself a sweet deal and in the end news ultimately broke that shocked the world as off the back of all of this courtroom drama Thug would finally make the deal of a lifetime and suddenly find himself free once again [Music] after the dramatic clash between Brian steel and judge Glenville the case against Young Thug seemed to be in terminal decline soon there would be light at the end of the tunnel for Thug and his team but in the midst of these courtroom dramas out on the street there was another tragedy playing out as on September the 5th 2024 the hip-hop Community woke up to the sad news that another Atlanta rapper that was caught up in this whole drama Rich Homie Quan had suddenly passed away at his home it was later revealed that this was the result of an OD and while some had later claimed the possibility of Foul Play The sad reality is that Rich Homie Quan was just another un fortunate victim of addiction no doubt the loss of his friend big nut and the tragic decline of his career playing a significant role in his fragile mental state the death of Rich homi Quan was a tragic conclusion to the over 10year story of Atlanta Hip Hop with years of mystery surrounding exactly why his and Young Thug's relationship fell apart sadly small details from the trial and surrounding it painted a picture of quan heartbroken betrayed and scared by YSL allegedly arranging the murder of his friend and Mentor it's hard not to feel like thug and his people may well have played an indirect role in the mental decline of This Clean Heart Atlanta rap Legend but Quan's death also represented closure for one of the biggest loose ends in this Gang Related murder that YSL members were so desperate to dissociate from the following month after Rich homi Kwan's death things would be all over as one by one many of those involved in the case would begin to take advantage of the courtroom disasters and get generous pleas quavius Nichols sled guilty to one count of Rico charges with murder and weapons charges being dropped he gets a 20-year sentence with only 13 on probation and then two more pleas get given out the next day rallus Ryan AKA Lil rod and marquavius huie AKA qua both took plea deals Rod pled guilty to a single count of violating the RICO Act with a murder charge being miraculously dropped in favor of this deal getting 10 years which was commuted to time served as he was apparently incarcerated for a period of time for another murder that he committed at age 15 meanwhile qua initially indicted on 19 charges cop down to nine charges owning him a 25-year sentence of which he would only need to serve nine the judge even told qua that his deal was remarkable and he was lucky to only have to serve 9 years after facing a potential three consecutive life sentences these were incredibly generous deals likely made possible by the complete collapse of the trial amid the drum in the courtroom and after these deals it just left Young Thug and two other co-defendants still on the hook but it would seem that Thug might just wind up getting the most generous offer after Gunner the deal that Thug ultimately ended up taking would be absolutely mind-boggling as on October the 31st 2024 Young Thug finally agrees a plea deal pleading guilty to a total of five charges including participating in a criminal street gang two drug charges and Firearms possessions as well as pleading no contest to the most serious charge of violating the RICO Act and a charge of occupying a leadership position in a criminal Street gang no Lo contendre or a no contest plea is a type of plea where the defendant neither admits or disputes the charge refusing to admit guilt but accepting the punishment as if he was playing guilty not a similar to Gunner's Alfred plea once this plea was accepted Young Thug would deliver what was described as a heartfelt speech before leaving the courtroom Thug started off his speech randomly saying yes ma'am which I can't help but think was a subtle dig at Gunners play um yes ma'am as the speech started my jaw hit the floor as Thug would make a bold and arrogant speech that seemed to skirt responsibility for what happened completely despite taking a plea Thug would take full responsibility for his crimes and apologize to his own family for taking up so much of their time at trial I take full responsibility for you know my crimes or my charges uh I want to say sorry to my family my mom my mom got 11 kids I can't say all their names you know my managers my kids is not here uh really everybody that got something to do with this situation I want to say sorry for just like you know being having so much time investing into this interestingly the first thing Thug says after that is that he's a smart guy giving himself a pat on the back as one of the good guys with a good heart I am a smart guy I am a good guy and I really got a good heart you know I I find myself in a lot of stuff because because I was just nice or cool you know and I understand that you can't be that way when you reach a certain height because it could end bad and then and it don't really have to have nothing to do with you but it could end bad and it could you know F on you yes Thug was basically giving the most self- congratulating apology in history saying that it was probably because he was too nice and couldn't say no to his killer gang buddies that got him wrapped up in their drama Thug then pretty much moved straight on to saying that the sentence is up to the judge but making it clear that he wants to go home today and weirdly saying that he hopes he bumps into the judge in a bar in the future inciting Chuckles amongst the gods I know the choice is yours is up to you and I hope that you allow me to go home today and and just trust in me to just do the right thing and never see you again unless it's unless it's at a you know bar in the future or something just out of this type of situation I promise you I wanton ever be in this type of situation again I'm I'm going away I've learned from my mistakes Thug said that he came from nothing and didn't take full advantage of his opportunities come from nothing and I've made something and I didn't take full advantage of it I'm sorry Thug would then kiss some ass saying to the new judge that they were the best thing that's ever happened to him and saying that this new judge finally made everything Fair through these last two and a half years of my life you are really truly honestly the best thing that has happened to me because you made made everything fair for me and everybody involved on both sides noticing the sheriffs were entertained by some of his comments he then turned his attention to them as if he was doing a standup set apologizing for them having to spend their time on the trial but then joking it was good if they at least got paid more I'm sorry to the sherff you know everybody for just having to put extra time in I know y'all got paid more money but I'm sorry for y'all having to put this extra time in and be away from y' family you know Thug continued to beg the judge to allow him to go straight home because of how much good he brings to the world you find it in your heart to allow me to go home and be with my family and just do do better as a person I know what I bring to the table I know what I am I know the heights I've reached I know the impact I got on people period in the community you know all people Thug explained over the last 2 years because he came off drugs he realized how important he is to people these past two or three years of my life I kind of learned that late and maybe it was because I was you know probably on drugs or anything I don't know but I have came to my senses and I understand what I mean to this world Thug went on to say that he's a good guy and will do free shows if they let him out pointing out that he was doing this anyway I am a good guy you know how I I don't mind doing stuff like you know like uh free shows and I always did that you know I I did free shows and gave it to single parents millions of dollars you know I made $1.8 million on on a free show and I gave it all to single parent charity and I did like two or three shows that made like 700,000 a piece and I gave it to uh the breast cancer organization like you know I I do things like I put millions of dollars back into my community for real thug goes on to say that he put more back into his community than the other side in a subtle dick to his Ops I did more than anybody ever did from my side you know and Thug would go on to say how his rap lyrics have been twisted and that he's going to make more positive music going forward and that he would be a better influence but I understand you know rap lyrics I understand how it could be twisted I understand what it could do to the mind of people I understand all that and I'm I promise you I'm 100% changing that you know it's just I'm older I'm grown now you know and it's just like I'm smarter it's more things to rap about like I I've experienced a lot of good things I experienced more bad things but I experienced a lot of good things too the judge responded positively praising Thug for acknowledging his own influence but admonishing him for making gang life look cool in his music and saying that he needs to set a better example I appreciate that you do realize how much of an impact you have on people um I mean it's it's it's past your neighborhood it's worldwide especially young people and having come up from where you came up from and living in and around that you know that gangs are damaging to our community but whether it is fake or not it has tremendous impact on kids and young people who think this is cool this is what I want to do look at him he's a millionaire I can do that by being you know a a gangster in the streets you need to try to use your influence to let kids know that that is not the way to go in the end the judge claimed to have taken suggestions from both sides and set Thug a sentence of 40 years but only 5 years to serve which itself would be commuted to time served for Thug having spent half of it the last 2 and a half years behind bars and saying that the remaining 15 years will be served on probation which if he completed successfully would commute the remainder of his 40-year sentence I am going to impose a sentence and I and I I've taken a little bit of the suggested special conditions from the defense and a little bit of the special conditions suggested by the prosecution to count 61 also backloaded so essentially the total sentence is 40 years to serve the first 5 years in prison but commuted to the time that you have already served followed by 15 years on probation followed then by the backloaded 20 years which can be served in custody and will be served in custody if you are not successful on your probation if you are successful in completing your 15 years probation that will be commuted to time serve and this wouldn't be all there would be strict conditions on Thug's probation that banned him from Atlanta and required him to make anti-gun and anti-gang presentations to kids as well as doing 100 hours a year of community service all right special conditions of your probation um after 48 hours from your release you are to stay away from the Metro Atlanta area and that's defined by the US Census Bureau it may change um but you can look that up anytime to figure out what that is uh for the first 10 years of your probation during each year of your probation I'm going to require that you come to the Metro Atlanta area and make a live anti-gang and anti-gun violence presentation four times a year each year of your probation at a grade school a middle school a boys or girls club anything like that that type of group and if you want to that presentation can include a benefit concert and these presentations May count towards your required community service hours which I'm going to impose um that during each year of your probation you perform a 100 hours of community service Thug would also be banned from having contact with gang members rapping about gangs tweeting about gangs or even making gang signs and this is required by the fact that there's a gang conviction um you shall not knowingly have contact of any kind or character with any other member or associate of any criminal street gang include anybody who is named in this indictment uh except as absolutely necessary to conduct the lawful business of your musical career you are in no way to promote any criminal street gang or any criminal street gang activity including on any social media platform you are not to utilize any hand signs terminology or language that promotes any criminal street gang you are not to participate in any criminal street gang activity after handing down this incredibly generous sentence that effectively allow Thug to officially claim responsibility for leading the gang that killed Donovan big nut Thomas he'd walk out the court room a free man the prosecution would actually make a request to the judge for the family of Donovan Thomas to make a statement to the court a request which was duly denied by the judge who barely pretended to care in fact she even defended Thug saying how he'd already expressed his sorrow to the family something he did not actually ever do in that slick speech of his where if you listen carefully he only apologized to his own family wanted me to uh urge the court um due to the fact that uh the Thomases have been negatively affected incredibly traumatically by um what has been discussed by both parties here today uh to make a brief statement as U she believes that they fall within the exception or within the bounds of Marcy's law if the court would allow I understand the court made a a ruling ear it relates to that but she all right thank you um and I I appreciate well I cannot even begin to understand what they must um anybody must be going through when they lose a family member to violence or criminal violence um Mr Williams himself has expressed his own sorrow to the family uh I again am going to stand by my belief that the appropriate time to hear a victim infact statement from them is at the close of the the trial that contains the murder count with regard to their family member before leaving the courtroom the judge warned Thug that if he violates his probation he would be right back in front of her prompting another yes ma'am Gunner style good luck to you and I'm going to have any there better be no violations but if there are any you're coming back to see me now all right and just like that it was over Thug was discreetly driven away from the courtroom to an undisclosed location seemingly by Brian steel himself somewhere in the mix Brian steel met with reporters doing a Victory lap speech outside of the courtroom after his client was freed saying that he felt Thug would have been found not guilty but he didn't want to spend three more months in jail and calling the prosecutors Liars well this was excruciating because hopefully in our Collective opinion Jeffrey would have been found not guilty of everything so this is very painful but that's another 3 months or so in custody and he wants to go home to his family we've spent a year trying a case where the prosecutors have put on lies knowing lies hiding evidence is insane in 2024 in the United States of America Steele thanked Thug and called him a great person I especially want to thank Jeffrey for letting me represent him I think he's a wonderful person who does wonderful things and will continue to do things even greater and steel said that he didn't want Thug to take a deal but also praising the new judge and expressing gratitude for the leniency that Thug was shown I didn't want to do I didn't want to give up the jury trial um but um that was a decision made and once that decision was made um we were just thankful that there are people like the honorable Judge Whitaker who understands what a trial is like and what it should be like and I cannot thank the honorable court for being here and coming in she is not our first judge but she's the first time we received Justice interestingly Brian steel would complain more about not getting to go through with the trial saying that this plea is not the same as a not- guilty verdict and that's what they should have got he knows my feelings which I'm not going to reveal for attorney client privilege but this is not the same as a not-guilty verdict that should have been rang steel went on to complain about the inhumane treatment of Thug and basically said that they treated him so bad that he took the guilty plea just to get out of that situation even though he's innocent nobody here wakes up every day on a concrete floor that they're calling his bed gets up at 4:15 gets Shackled and his feet his waist and His Hands comes to the Fulton County Courthouse to be on concrete eating out of a bag Doritos is his meal of choice and then coming to a courtroom and sit there with a leg chain on him every single day and hear lie after lie so for Jeffrey go home today and not have another 90 days or 120 days of it he is very happy thankful to The Honorable court so to answer your question this was not what I wanted I don't believe that it is just but I believe that under these circumstances it is Justice for Jeffrey Williams and he is delighted as are we I'm thankful I think it is wrong and needs to be fixed that an innocent man is arrested on May 9th of 2022 is denied Bond and has to plead guilty and no low to get Freedom after two and a half years in custody Justice would have been served on May 8th of 2022 if the grand jury no Bild his his indictment that would have been just and it's wrong to be under invest he's been under investigation for 15 years 15 years by task force of federal government and local government think about that steel would then say what Thug failed to say in the courtroom that he feels bad for the loss of life but that it's wrong for people to try to take his music or social media postings as confessions which I think they were Jeffrey Williams is being truthful that is his heartfelt feelings he feels so bad for the loss of life and he feels bad that people are taking his music or his social postings and making it into violence that is all promotion that is not a symbol of go hurt somebody ultimately Brian steel did his best to save Thug and as a result Brian steel was deified as a legend amongst Young Thug's fan base he's clearly a world-class lawyer perhaps not the most ethical one but undeniably a bulletproof Defender meanwhile the officer Fanny Willis released a statement on The Plea off the back of this defeat a muted claim of victory that claimed to have held YSL gang members to account the statement would read the convictions in this case represent accountability for admitted members of YSL a violent street gang Mr Williams plead guilty to all of the charges against him and allow the judge to determine his sentence every criminal defendant in every case has the right to make that decision at any time this indictment includes 28 defendants with 14 having charges remaining to be resolved including murder criminal Street activity racketeering and other crimes we are still in the middle of the process of reaching verdicts on those charges and we continue to work to bring Justice in those cases and Fanny Willis was right there were still other defendants facing their cases in connection to ysl's activity and considering how Brian steel said that he wished he completed the jury trial and got a not- guilty verdict others would test their luck and strike gold yak gotty and Shannon Stillwell are denied pleas for charges of murdering big nut and are forced to press on with their trials in front of a jury But ultimately in another shock outcome in the end both of them were found not guilty for that murder in another dramatic courtroom moment brought Thug fans would be overjoyed at the release of their favorite gangster rapper but we mustn't forget the real victims here Donovan big nut Thomas and his family in a heartbreaking video big nut's tearful mother would visit her son's grave after the verdict expressing frustration with the legal system and telling followers that they know what really happened and do this with my baby and come see you let him know it's okay we going to be all right as a CU they might not found guilty in the eyes of the law and those fake je they had up there but guess what we got this cuz we know we know the truth we know what happened and I just had to come see my baby to let him know that we got this been just as I was in the end and it's always got me lonely forever I'm just mad as hell and I ain't going to say I'm mad at the state because them people did what they can do and just those B got there lied and played and I was paid off even to the jurors the deputies they were all full of down there but right now I'm just mad I'm upset I still got my faith my grace and mercy and the high power that we do serve and I just had to come let my baby know that Mama was there your daddy was there and we got there of course it was the unthinkable was her you know not guilty but though they know they guilty I just had to come see him and let him know it's going to be okay and I'm going to keep smiling I'm going keep crying I'm going keep laughing and I just want y'all to keep screaming his name Long Live enough forever let them know they they haven't done anything it's heartbreaking to see nut's mother going through this but even more devastating is to see just how much Thug had benefited from everything that happened not just 7 years of Career Success seemingly at the expense of big nut's life but if any thing Thug had also profited massively from the Press surrounding the trial he used it as a sort of Fashion Show to Showcase his spider merchandise as well as interesting fits and hoodies that you wouldn't normally see someone wearing toor after Thug's release Brian steel even became a official model for Thug spider brand in a morally dubious but undeniably slick marketing promo so as well as profiting handsomely from using the trial as a catwalk for his merch brand when Thug returned to music he would continue to spit in the face of his victims on January the 2nd 2025 Young Thug's first public music release since his release from prison dropped in the form of an All-Star feature alongside future on Lil baby's Wham album something that he had teased in an earlier tweet from jail and it made sense that Thug's first appearance was on Lil baby's album as after all Lil Baby was allegedly at his house right before the raid and Thug was even seen listening to Lil baby's music on headphones in the courtroom Thug's first public verse came as a feature on that little baby album and the song was titled dumb Dum and Dumber with Thug baby and future going back to back and while Thug's verse itself was rather Bland likely as a result of his probation meaning that he can't do any of that gang talk Thug's opening comments before he started featured a defiant statement saying at the opening of his verse that he didn't even feel like he was locked up for real because he was having his way the whole time in prison and just like that Thug was back at it as if he never left completely downplaying what he had gone through like it was absolutely nothing I mean if you were having your way the whole time in prison why'd you take that plea at the end of the day this all just seems like a huge miscarriage of Justice in so many ways it seems like there was never any True Justice or accountability for the murder of big nut person after person seemingly was allowed to Slither out of any accountability for this crime partly due to the prosecution and judges Poe form as well as seemingly genius plays by Thug's lawyer Brian steel and I just can't help think that YSL Woody was seemingly the chess piece that led to the entire case falling apart the generous interpretation is that Woody was ultimately just a useful lyia trying to protect himself from consequences with the prosecution not realizing what a slippery and erratic character they were really dealing with but the more nefarious angle which is simply my opinion alone is that it's not Unthinkable that there was perhaps some kind of behind the scenes collusion between parties to place a Trojan hor snitch in with the prosecution with the whole case relying on on this one Domino that when pulled caused everything to collapse now there's no evidence to support that that's just my opinion but to me this case massively Echoes King Von's murder case where Von's codefendant Big Mike in the trial for the 2014 murder of Malcolm Stucky told prosecutors that he would be snitching on Von right up until the last minute before shocking the entire courtroom refusing to implicate V and allowing him to walk fre with no consequences perhaps that's an overestimation of things but honestly considering how things were looking for Thug at the start and how everything ultimately turned around when Woody got involved things just seem incredibly Strange In The End Fanny Willis gave an enormous gift to Young Thug in an era of drill music where the killer rappers are the ones who Garner the most attention Young Thug has now essentially gotten away with murder not only did he manage to get out losing just 2 and a half years of his freedom compared to a potential life sentence but taking the guilty and no contest please on these serious charges and getting out of jail immediately after means that he's totally in the clear and even more interestingly meaning that all of those violent lyrics that he wrapped over the years about being a shock caller for his murderous YSL gang can't really be doubted even in his first video after getting out with ti a boastful Young Thug would say with pride that there's no cap in his WS you feel me you did hey man ain't no mother No Cap in it no cap in my R you feel what I'm saying the right way it's time the right way bro you feel what I'm saying right way yeah that way and go tell that from this clip it seems that young thug really wants the world to know that he really did the things he wrapped about and essentially got away with it and honestly who am I to deny that so congratulations to Young Thug welcome home and now begins a 40-year challenge to see if he can stay out of trouble while on probation I certainly wish him the best of luck but after him and Brian steel mop the floor with the case in the courtroom there's no doubt that an army of cops lawyers and judges in Atlanta will all be crawling looking for any excuse to send big slime back to prison this time for good