ATLANTA — Thursday marked a crucial moment in Atlanta’s hip-hop history when rapper Young Thug was released from jail after pleading guilty in the YSL case.

The artist took a nonnegotiated guilty plea deal, which resulted in Judge Paige Whitaker sentencing him to 40 years: five years in custody commuted to time served, 15 years probation and an additional 20 years in custody if he violates that probation.

“I’ve learned from my mistakes,” Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, told Judge Whitaker ahead of his sentencing. “I come from nothing, and I made something.”

The news was largely welcomed with celebrations online. Messages from rap titans like T.I., Drake, Travis Scott and Metro Boomin — facing his own legal challenges this week— were among the hefty social media posts supporting Young Thug.

But the stipulations surrounding his release prompt questions about the next steps of his music career, including how the months of incarceration might impact his unique lyrics and sound, where he’ll draw inspiration and what he’ll rap about.

The special conditions of Young Thug’s sentence include the rapper being banned from metro Atlanta for a decade. He can only enter the area for special events of immediate family members or for hosting anti-gang presentations (which can be in the form of a concert).

“Although Young Thug is free, rap (music) got prosecuted,” said Travis “Yoh” Phillips, an Atlanta music journalist and filmmaker.

Throughout the extensive gang and racketeering trial — the longest in Georgia’s history — prosecutors have alleged that Young Thug is the leader of Young Slime Life, which they say is a criminal street gang that has engaged in violent and illegal acts in metro Atlanta. Young Thug’s lawyers have maintained that YSL is a record label.

During Thursday’s court proceedings, Young Thug pleaded guilty to six charges, including a gang and a firearm charge. But he pleaded no contest to one count of violating the state’s RICO act and participating in criminal street gang activity, meaning he refused to admit or deny guilt to those charges.

The metro Atlanta ban is a striking condition that distances Young Thug from the city that shaped his career. The 33-year-old artist was raised near Cleveland Avenue in southeast Atlanta. Much of his appeal throughout his decorated discography is rooted in his Atlanta upbringing.

“(The ban) means he can’t perform at State Farm Arena,” Phillips said. “You can’t even pop out for One Musicfest. Where are you going to perform? Where are the studios you’re going to record at? You can’t go to Stankonia. You can’t go to Patchwerk. … You’re taking one of the most innovative artists from the city and pushing him out.”

Phillips is an acclaimed music writer whose work has appeared in Rolling Stone, The New York Times and Billboard. He has followed the legal proceedings since Young Thug’s incarceration in May 2022. Thursday’s quick sentencing was surprising, he said, and the rapper’s guilty plea and repercussions leave a dark cloud over the city’s hip-hop scene.

“It’s like, who is Thug without Atlanta?” Phillips said. “Because I’ve seen Atlanta without Thug and it has not been the same.”

Young Thug’s significance in Atlanta

Since the early 2010s, Young Thug has emerged as a leading tastemaker within Atlanta’s rap scene. He successfully used the city’s trap foundation to forge a genre-bending trajectory that hadn’t been seen before.

He debuted with his “I Came from Nothing” mixtape series that he self-released in 2011. The project introduced an artist whose autobiographical tales of his upbringing were laced with melodies that sounded so bizarre yet entertaining that it became his signature style.

That aspect of his creativity led to record deals, multiple hit songs, No. 1 albums and a Grammy win. As stated by Young Thug’s attorney, Brian Steele, Elton John has compared Young Thug to John Lennon.

Young Thug’s influence reaches beyond Atlanta while staying true to his roots in the city. It’s why music and culture writer Christina Lee continues to hear his music played in her West End neighborhood despite his legal woes.

Lee was the co-host of iHeartMedia’s podcast “King Slime,” which examined the YSL trial. The podcast was not renewed for another season, but Lee still closely follows the case. She said Young Thug’s sentencing felt like a literal and figurative breakup between the rapper and Atlanta.

“Young Thug is not going to get the homecoming treatment as an influential Atlanta rap artist, something that even Gunna (another rapper who was a defendant in the trial) had shortly after taking his plea deal. Gunna was able to perform in Atlanta and be welcomed back in that way. Young Thug is not going to be allowed that same sort of treatment.

Gunna was the closing act of last weekend’s annual Atlanta Black music festival, One Musicfest.

She added: “I think the bigger takeaway is that Thug is going to have to change this persona that he’s created for himself. He going to have to fundamentally change his appeal.”

A forced style change?

Young Thug’s sentencing also included conditions like not being able to communicate with other defendants named in the case, excluding his biological brother Quantavious Grier (whose rap name is Unfoonk) and Gunna, his labelmate. He’s also not allowed to promote any criminal street gang or use any language or hand sign that directly or indirectly promotes or represents a gang.

Lee wonders if the latter rule will alter Young Thug’s future lyrical content. More notably, she said it sets a muddy precedent for how rap music is represented in legal cases.

Before Judge Whitaker handed down her sentence, she compared rap music to a “modern-day version of WWE wrestling,” where artists pretend to be enemies that yield negative outcomes. She also acknowledged Young Thug’s influential career in her closing statement.

“His success still ended up being a major asset in bringing down the sentence and allowing him to come home, essentially,” Lee said. “If we think about other cases concerning lyrics where they don’t necessarily have that same sort of track record — where your attorney is not going to be able to cite a comment from Elton John comparing you to the next John Lennon — those artists may not get that same sort of leeway.”

Trevor “TP” Patterson is a manager and handles A&R (artists and repertoire) for Def Jam. Patterson works with artists like rising East Atlanta rapper 21 Lil Harold. Although Patterson thinks the conditions surrounding Young Thug’s release are “wonky,” he said him coming home is the best possible situation. He doesn’t think his music will drastically suffer from it.

“He’s just so important to the fabric of the city and Atlanta and music as a whole, that him just being home and being able to create music is just a ‘W’ for everybody,” Patterson said.

But he does agree that the sentencing adds to the scrutiny of rap music, which makes him nervous given his work with other hip-hop artists. Patterson said it’s a common concern among his colleagues in the industry.

“I think going forward, we also should just take a note of how dangerous it can be for anyone of us — artists, executives, managers — if they use our art against us. … It makes me kind of anxious.”

During Young Thug’s nearly four-minute closing statement, he mainly apologized and acknowledged his wrongs. He also alluded to what could come from his future music.

“I’m smarter,” he said. “It’s more things to rap about. I’ve experienced a lot of good things.”

———

©2024 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.