ATLANTA, GA, (November 24, 2023 (Bee News Daily) — Opening statements are expected next week in Atlanta in the trial of rapper Young Thug, who’s accused of co-founding a violent criminal street gang and using his music to promote it.
The Atlanta-based artist, whose given name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, is charged with violating Georgia’s anti-racketeering and gang laws, among other things. He was indicted last year along with more than two dozen other people, five of whom are set to stand trial with him.
The trial is projected to last months and will likely include testimony from a number of high-profile music industry figures. Prosecutors are expected to take the controversial step of using Young Thug’s rap lyrics as evidence against him.
WHO IS YOUNG THUG?
Young Thug’s eccentric style and mumble rap — along with breakout hits such as “Stoner” and “Best Friend” — have made him popular. His squeaky high-pitched vocals can be heard in the background of Childish Gambino’s “This is America,” a social-political hit that became the first hip-hop track to win the song of the year Grammy Award.
Young Thug won a Grammy in 2019 for his co-writing efforts on the track, which included 21 Savage, Quavo, BlocBoy JB, Slim Jxmmi of the duo Rae Sremmurd. He has had several mixtapes and three studio albums including his recent “Business is Business” music project, which was released in June.
Young Thug has collaborated with some of music’s best including Drake, Chris Brown, T.I. and Travis Scott. Elton John called working with Young Thug an “amazing moment” after recording the song “Always Love You” featuring Nicki Minaj and Gunna.
Young Thug has three chart-topping songs including “Havana” with Camila Cabello, “Way 2 Sexy” with Drake and Future and “Franchise” featuring Travis Scott and M.I.A.
He signed with Gucci Mane’s 1017 Records in 2013.
In a hyper-masculine hip-hop scene, Young Thug refused to play by traditional gender rules. He wore a dress on the cover of his 2016 mixtape “Jeffery” and said there’s no such thing as gender as part of a Calvin Klein campaign.
On social media, some noticed Young Thug referencing his male friends as “bae,” “lover” and “hubby.”
Young Thug grew up in a rough suburban Atlanta housing project where crime was the norm. He became a father at the age of 17 and currently has six children.
Prosecutors have painted Young Thug as a gang leader known as King Slime, someone who calls the shots and directs others to engage in criminal activity.
WHAT ARE THE CHARGES YOUNG THUG FACES?
A Fulton County grand jury indicted Young Thug in May 2022, and more charges were added in a subsequent indictment in August of that year. The second indictment accuses Young Thug and 27 other people of conspiring to violate Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO. The rapper is also accused of participation in criminal street gang activity, as well as drug and gun charges.
Prosecutors say Young Thug and two other people co-founded a violent criminal street gang in 2012 called Young Slime Life, or YSL, which they say is associated with the national Bloods gang. The indictment says Young Thug “made YSL a well-known name by referring to it in his songs and on social media.”
In addition to specific charges, the August indictment includes a wide-ranging list of 191 acts that prosecutors say were committed between 2013 and 2022 as part of the alleged conspiracy to further the gang’s interests.
Included in that list is an allegation that Young Thug threatened in July 2015 to shoot a security guard who was trying to get him to leave an Atlanta-area mall. The indictment also says Young Thug rented a silver Infiniti sedan that was used in the killing of a rival gang member. And, on numerous occasions, he and others are alleged to have possessed various illegal drugs that they intended to distribute.
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AP News wrote the original article.