Jeffrey Lamar Williams, AKA Young Thug, is one of the most eccentric and influential artists in the rap game. As the underground scene takes over online spaces, his work is still being pushed ever since Rich Gang’s “Lifestyle” broke the mold 11 years ago. Young Thug’s signature style, characterized by his unconventional vocal delivery, innovative melodies, and experimental fashion, has refined what it means to be a rapper in the modern era.
It doesn’t have to be all about profound lyrics, fast delivery, or a set structure. Young Thug’s eye for stretching into other genres seems old now, we are now at a point where rap irrelevancy almost always leads to switching to punk or country, just look at Post Malone as a prime example. But it’s refreshing to see so many artists of this new generation so eager to break boundaries and challenge norms. As a pioneer of the melodic trap sound, Young Thug continues to inspire countless musicians and fans, cementing his legacy as an innovator in the evolving landscape of hip-hop.
Young Thug’s recent release from jail was highly anticipated. The YSL trial against Thug accused him and others of operating a criminal street gang that engaged in violent crimes, including murder and drug trafficking. The case was a racketeering trial under Georgia’s RICO statute, which also used rap lyrics as evidence of criminal intent. According to producers and executives from this Scripps News segment, these rap lyric cases date back to the early 1990s, and have raised questions over whether art can be used as evidence.
Some argue that these cases are indicative of systemic issues, as researchers have found most trials are disproportionately applied to Black and Latinx artists and often rely on racial biases against the genre. Studies have shown that mock jurors are more likely to find a defendant guilty if they believe the lyrics presented are from a rap song rather than another genre like country or heavy metal. Since then, legislation such as the Decriminalizing Artistic Freedom Act in California and The Restoring Artistic Protection (RAP) Act in Congress. It’s safe to say Thug has changed music, but it looks like the YSL case has changed how people think about music too.
But with time, more artists wanted to help influence the game. Raqhid “Lil Keed” Render took what he admired and made it his. When he began to rise in the late 2010s, listeners noticed an echo. A bent vowel here and there, and a willingness to let melody and cadence bend the rules of rap. These echoes came from a nearby source. Keed grew up in the same Cleveland Avenue neighborhood in Atlanta where Young Thug has been building his own portfolio of eccentric melodies and tones. In the time Keed drew close to Thug that the elder rapper helped open doors to change Keed’s career. Thug’s Young Stoner Life (YSL) imprint gave Keed a label home and the access that comes with it: studio time, collaborators, visibility on packages and tours, and the kinds of cosigns from bigger stars that accelerate careers in Atlanta and beyond. Keed himself acknowledged Thug as a motor in his success. Repping YSL meant his singles could reach bigger audiences and the work paid off, eventually breaking him through to the mainstream.
Keed was also able to take a different approach to Thug’s methodology. Keed compressed the slower cadences of Thug into rapid-fire hooks that still had a little melodic sense to them. It was a younger, refreshing, new sound that sounded comfortably part of Young Thug’s lineage while adding new components.
When Lil Keed died in May 2022 it hit Atlanta hard. Friends, fans, and members of YSL all grieved, and for Young Thug the loss felt deeply personal, with public posts that read like a mentor’s regret. This September, thug tweeted “I should have cherished him more”. Keed’s death came at a tense time for the YSL circle, making the loss feel heavier amid legal and reputational pressures, and it seemed to bring out a more melancholic sound from Thug’s music. Still, Keed’s music lives on, and the fatherly role Thug took on, encouraging melodic risks, lifting local voices, and building a creative orbit around younger artists, continues to shape a new generation who borrow his sound without fear of being accused of stealing his sound. Thug’s embracing nature to new artists is something other major rappers could take notes on, as it has only cemented his relevancy and enabled him to help keep the Atlanta scene as vibrant as it has always been.
Gunna is another artist who rose through Atlanta’s “drip”-style scene after signing to Young Thug’s YSL imprint in 2016. His “Drip Season” series and the “Drip Harder” collaboration with Lil Baby were only heightened by the YSL Platform, studio access, and cosigns. His style, an artful blend of high end fashion and streetwear, helped pave the way for a more polished silhouette and the idea that a music persona includes a consistent visual signature. Where Thug would treat clothes as performance and push gender-bending, experimental looks, Gunna translated that risk into a smooth and luxurious language. Unfortunately, a legal resolution in the RICO case soured his relationship with Thug, and it seems like he’s trying to be more individualistic in his recent ventures. He’s not the only one that was affected by the case, Slimelife Shawty & Lil Duke both accepted pleas and have since distanced themselves from Thug, and Yak Gotti tried to keep a neutral stance but this looked less clear to fans.
Many are wondering what’s next, as the promising role of YSL has faltered since legalities and the death of Keed. But the underground has never really stopped in Atlanta. It just keeps growing. Nine Vicious is one of the clearest examples of that new wave: Young, bold, and torn from the same cloth that Thug once passed down to Keed and Gunna. Hailing from the south side, Nine grew up watching Thug and his circle turn into staples of rap, but he’s taking that foundation in a darker, more digital direction. His sound blends that melodic weirdness with sharper production and a menacing tone–it’s very rebellious. Even the number in his name connects to the punk sphere. In UK punk circles, 999 (a flipped 666) became a kind of anti-authoritarian badge, suggesting rebellion without the satanic imagery. The number is also associated with “the end” or “the last before renewal”.
Unlike some of his predecessors, Nine doesn’t directly take from Thug, he builds off of the looseness and emotional range that Thug made possible. You can hear it in his delivery, the sing-song voice easily slipping into a near growl. It’s also clear in his fashion sense, a palpable mix of designer with a punk slant. He’s also been known to wear more gender defying outfits. He’s representative of a generation that learned from Thug’s fearlessness, not his formula.
What makes Nine stand out is his ability to channel his chaotic sound into the mainstream. His lyrics still carry a very local perspective about fame, violence, and vulnerability, but the production and visuals seem global, feeding off TikTok snippets and internet clout more than radio hits. His affiliation with YSL is unclear whether it was a contract or a co-sign, but his connection to the group is evident through in-studio photos and his own statements. In a way, Nine is proof that Thug’s impact didn’t end in court.
The experiment continues, it’s just submerged to the underground again, sharper, different, and more self-aware. We are entering a time in music where the lines between mainstream and underground are blurring, and if Thug was indicative of what Atlanta’s legendary rap scene could sound like, Nine is showing us what it could become.
