Young Thug has delivered since his first mixtape I Came From Nothing in 2011. He’s captivated the rap industry’s biggest names while polarizing fans with his unprecedented style and outlandish image. From wearing women’s designer dresses to posing naked on an album cover, one thing is clear, Young Thug is not your father’s rapper, and that’s a good thing.
The main quality that has propelled Thug to rap stardom is his completely unprecedented style. Young Thug has a stylistic spectrum that ranges from tough and gritty verses about growing up on the streets, to free-flowing melodies that include everything from him screaming “yee-haw” over acoustic guitar riffs to hypnotic harmonies alongside Elton John on an angelic revamp of “Rocket Man.”
When Young Thug is at his absolute best, he delivers a flow that frees itself from the confines of conventional rap music. He doesn’t rap in a structured 16 bars, but instead floats freely over whatever beat he’s on pulling flows out of thin air and delivering outlandish ad-libs that only further solidify what you’re hearing is absolutely impressive.
His lyrical content is pretty typical of stereotypical rap music revolving around sex, drugs and money, but he delivers his verses in a way that come across as a celebration of the finer things he indulges in. He paints himself in a larger-than-life image that revolves around his love for Rolls Royces and exclusive designer clothing.
It’s Young Thug’s music that's truly impressive, but it's hard to see him as the staple in the rap industry he is today without his completely outlandish image and notoriously controversial antics. Some of Thug’s most questionable moves include saying he doesn’t buy Jay-Z’s music because he’s too old, photoshopping himself onto Wiz Khalifa's body and making it a mixtape cover, and continuing Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter album series without permission under the title Tha Barter 6, much to Wayne’s dismay.
Despite all this, what really makes him stand out while riling up more conservative rap fans is his bending of gender norms. Young Thug can often be seen rocking painted nails and women’s clothing and this is something a mainstream rapper has never done.
His willingness to ignore the masculinity we expect rappers to have while delivering an untamed and distinctive persona are comparable to a figure like Prince in the 1980’s. Some may call this a stretch, but Elton John went so far as to directly compare him to John Lennon in a 2015 interview.
All of this is undeniably healthy for rap music as in 2018 it's still a genre where the mainstream stars remain confined by gender roles and many are scared to reach out into the unknown and experimental aspects of both their image as well as their music.
Young Thug has shattered the confines of the genre while setting the standard for what a large percentage of rap music will sound like moving forward. Rising stars such as Lil Baby and Gunna draw directly from Young Thug's style while more established talents like Travis Scott have clearly been influenced by Thug. Rap music would not be where it’s at today without him and it will never be the same because of him.
Noah Wright is an undecided sophomore studying at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Noah? Tweet him @NoahCampaign.
