About
Jeffery Lamar Williams (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is considered to be one of the most influential rappers of his generation, with his music having heavily shaped contemporary trap music and inspired numerous artists.
Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he first received attention for his collaborations with rappers Birdman and Gucci Mane. Thug initially released a series of independent mixtapes beginning in 2011 with I Came from Nothing. In early 2013, he signed with Gucci Mane's 1017 Records, and later that year he released his label debut mixtape 1017 Thug to critical praise.
Young Thug received mainstream recognition in 2014 with the singles "Stoner" and "Danny Glover" in addition to appearances on several singles, including T.I.'s "About the Money", Tyga's "Hookah", and Rich Gang's "Lifestyle." That year, he also signed to Lyor Cohen's 300 Entertainment and collaborated on the mixtape Rich Gang: Tha Tour Pt. 1. In 2015, he released a number of mixtapes, including Barter 6 and two installments of his Slime Season series. These were followed in 2016 by the commercial mixtapes I'm Up, Slime Season 3, and Jeffery. In 2018, he released a compilation album Slime Language showcasing the artists he has signed to his own label YSL Records. Young Thug also became known for his feature on the 2017 hit song "Havana" by pop singer Camila Cabello, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2018, becoming Young Thug's first number one single.
Williams was awarded the Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards for his songwriting contributions to "This Is America" along with Donald Glover and Ludwig Göransson. In May 2019, he released the single, "The London" (featuring J. Cole and Travis Scott), becoming his second highest charting song on the Hot 100 as a lead artist, debuting and peaking at number 12. The song was featured on his debut album, So Much Fun (2019), which peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 and included his highest charting song on the Hot 100 as a lead artist up to that point, "Hot" (featuring Gunna), which peaked at number 11 and was boosted by the remix with Travis Scott. In 2020, Young Thug collaborated with Chris Brown on the mixtape Slime & B. "Go Crazy", the sole single from their collaborative project, peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Thug's highest charting single as a lead artist. Young Thug's sophomore album Punk is expected in 2020.