Jail has taken its toll on Young Thug. Locked up in May 2022, the Atlanta rapper recently spent over two years behind bars (with a long stretch in solitary confinement) after his label Young Stoner Life (YSL) was indicted on RICO charges. After the longest trial in Georgia state history, he was freed in November 2024, and his first post-release album, ‘Uy Scuti’, was framed as a triumphant comeback.
Unfortunately, it fails to deliver. The 20-track project adeptly captures the sadness and social isolation sparked by Young Thug’s time away, but conveys it with such lethargy and incoherence that you’re simply left feeling sorry for him rather than inspired by his storytelling. The Georgia rapper has been a titan of 21st-century hip-hop, spearheading melodic rap with a fluid Auto-Tuned vocal style that inspired names like Lil Baby, Lil Uzi Vert and Gunna. But it’s been some time since he pushed boundaries sonically, and ‘Uy Scuti’ does little to change course.
Tracks like ‘Fucking Told U’ and ‘Pipe Down’ suggest a fiery, defiant voice that repeatedly fails to materialise. However many vibrato horns, beefy strings and trap claps are pumped in by renowned producers like Metro Boomin and London On Da Track, Thugger’s voice consistently sounds tired and deflated. The pensive tone of ‘Sad Spider’ feels more truthful, but while lyrics like “I seen my brother turn rat right in my face / I been crying all day / I seen my bitch go to her ex” highlight his mental anguish. Though, their power is reduced by recently leaked phone calls that suggest Thug himself caused many of these relationship breakdowns, from insulting GloRilla‘s looks to allegedly cheating on his partner Mariah The Scientist.
Rather than painting vivid pictures of his difficult recent experiences, Young Thug instead focuses on trying to spark online reactions and wind people up. Stunts like his whiteface cover art and nonsense lyrics like “Taurus ’bout to eat McDonald’s / Get french fries for her / I’m so wavy, tsunami, woah, cowabunga”. There’s also his lame attempt to capitalise on a viral video of himself saying the phrase ‘Whoopty Doo’ by creating a track of the same name, with bars like “I’m in a ‘Rari, you got a brand-new Benz, whoopty-doo”. Taken together, they reflect the flippant, internet-obsessed energy of a teenage boy, not a 34-year-old man.
There’s always been a healthy silliness to Young Thug’s lyricism, but it’s hard to escape the feeling that there’s a cynical, cash-grabbing motivation behind these pot-stirring moments. His obsession with chart success was underlined in those leaked prison calls, which contained an admission to buying streams, and this bloated album, packed with features from many of US rap’s biggest names (including Future, Travis Scott, 21 Savage and Lil Baby) seems primarily focused on chasing numbers and making money. For a rapper who made his name as an innovative early architect of melodic rap, this lack of substance is disappointing.
Details
- Record label: Young Stoner Life Records/300 Entertainment
- Release date: September 26, 2025