Jeffery Lamar Williams aka. Young Thug went on trial on Monday, November 27, 2023, for a number of charges. However, the court’s objective is to determine whether the 32-year-old rapper has ties with Young Slime Life (YSL). Young Slime Life is a notorious criminal street gang that hails from Atlanta, Georgia.
Thug was arrested in 2022. According to the Los Angeles Times, officials charged him with participating in gang-related activity. Furthermore, he has also been charged with violating Georgia’s criminal racketeering law. A 56-count indictment stated that the rapper is one of the founders of Young Slime Life. Apparently, this gang worked closely with the national Bloods gang.
Officials accused YSL of participating in terrible gang-related activities like murders, shootings, carjackings, and thefts. If the rapper is found guilty, he could face a sentence of up to 120 years in prison.
ABC News Studios released a documentary titled Rap Trap: Hip-Hop on Trial in February 2023. This hour-long documentary explained this uncanny case in detail. The official synopsis of the documentary reads, “The Atlanta case against Young Thug (Jeffery Williams) and Gunna (Sergio Kitchens) stunned the hip-hop world and reignited a national conversation around the use of song lyrics as evidence in criminal cases. For some, the lyrics are evidence of wrongdoing. But for others, this case spotlights a disturbing trend of criminalizing Black art that goes back decades.
It further states, “Artists, music executives and those close to the accused trace hip hop’s evolution, historical mischaracterizations of the genre and other examples of when lyrics have been introduced in the courtroom, including the story of McKinley Phipps Jr. in New Orleans.”
Who is Young Thug and his attorney?
Jeffery Lamar Williams aka. Young Thug is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is often considered as one of the best modern-day rappers. Furthermore, he is credited with popularising the mumble rap microgenre.
Thug’s career started in 2011. Since then, he has released a number of mixtapes and three full-length albums. His latest album is titled Business Is Business. It was released on June 23, 2023, through YSL Records. Throughout his career, he has even partaken in philanthropic activities.
Young Thug’s attorney in this case is the highly experienced Brian Steel, from the Steel Law Firm. In the court proceedings, Steel stated that his client was innocent and wasn’t even aware of most people in the indictment.
According to CNN, Steel said, “He is not running this criminal street gang in Cleveland Avenue area of ‘Bleveland,’ to gain property, money or power. Jeffery Williams did it on will and hard work and determination without anybody’s help except for the people from that area who he will not turn his back on.”
He continued, “(Young Thug) doesn’t even know most of the people in this indictment. He’s not sitting there telling people to kill people. He doesn’t need their money. Jeffery is worth tens of millions of dollars.”
Brian Steel further added that Young Thug is a hard worker and has zero interest in money, power, or property. According to him, his client’s moniker “Thug”, stood for “Truly Humble Under God,”.
