Jeffery Lamar Williams (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is considered to be an influential figure of his generation, with his music impacting the modern sound of hip hop and trap music. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, Thug initially released a series of independent mixtapes beginning in 2011 with I Came from Nothing. In early 2013, he signed with Gucci Mane's 1017 Records, and later that year he released his label debut mixtape 1017 Thug to critical praise.
Young Thug received mainstream recognition in 2014 with the singles "Stoner" and "Danny Glover" in addition to appearances on several singles, including T.I.'s "About the Money", Tyga's "Hookah", and Rich Gang's "Lifestyle". That year, he also signed to Lyor Cohen's 300 Entertainment and collaborated on the mixtape Rich Gang: Tha Tour Pt. 1. In 2015, he amassed a number of mixtapes, including Barter 6 and two installments of his Slime Season series. Subsequently in 2016, Thug issued commercial mixtapes I'm Up, Slime Season 3, and Jeffery. In 2017, Thug featured on the worldwide hit "Havana" by Cuban pop singer Camila Cabello, which became his first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2018, he released a compilation album Slime Language with his label YSL Records. In 2019, he won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for his contributions to Childish Gambino's "This Is America".
Young Thug's debut studio album, So Much Fun (2019), debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and included the Billboard Hot 100 top-twenty singles "The London" (featuring J. Cole and Travis Scott) and "Hot" (featuring Gunna). The following year, his single "Go Crazy" with Chris Brown from the collaborative mixtape Slime & B (2020) peaked at number three on the Hot 100, becoming his first top-ten single as a lead artist. Additionally, he reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for the second time in his career with his feature alongside M.I.A. on Travis Scott's single "Franchise", In 2021, Thug released the compilation album Slime Language 2 which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Later that year, Thug would reach number one on the Hot 100 a third time for his feature on Drake's "Way 2 Sexy" (alongside Future). His second studio album, Punk, was released on October 15, 2021. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming his third number-one album, as well as his second chart topping project of 2021.
In May 2022, Young Thug was arrested alongside 27 other members of YSL on gang-related charges and was accused of violating the RICO act in a 56-count indictment. In June 2023, Young Thug's third studio album, Business is Business, was released while he was in prison.