Photo: Francesco Nazardo for The FADER
For his second FADER cover story in five years, Atlanta pioneer Young Thug sat down in Belgium with our own Jordan Darville to talk about his prolific past and limitless future. You can read the whole thing right here — it includes the announcement of a new album called Punk — but if you're on the subway or just need a primer, here are eight takeaways from the piece, in Thugger's own words.
On what he looks for in an artist:
“Pureness [and] work ethic...Anything in the world got style. A roach got style, the way he run, the way he hide, the way he eat. Everything has style, so I don't care to look for that. I mean, I love it, if you got a unique style, [but] it's just an add on.”
On signing artists and what it’s like to have a label:
“When I started signing people, I stepped out of being an artist. I started noticing what made me happy, what type of music I like from my artists and then that's what made me better, like, ‘Okay, now I'm a fan. Now I see.’ So now, I deliver for fans.’”
On the unreleased Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan tracks that were leaked across the internet:
“I feel good about [the leaks]...I probably never would have put [the leaked songs] out, so I'm just happy that they was out.”
On having influence over other artists:
“I feel like I started a lot of things. [But] I don't try to downplay nobody career. I ain't make they career, I just made a lot of people not be scared to be them. I just like to see people do what they want to do.”
“All the trendsetters know the same exact things, Gucci, Future, anybody you thinking of that's trendsetters, the same things they know. So they don't got to tell me how to deal with it ‘cause I know exactly how to deal with it: just keep influencing. We don't dwell on the influence we already pushed out. We trying to ambush the galaxy.”
On what else he’s been up to over the past year:
“I relaxed, worked on my label, got everything how I needed it...[I] forgot about myself, felt like a lot of people forgot about me...Well, not forgot. But I was making big moves.”
On the notion of “real rap”, which he says will be the core of Punk:
“[Real rap is] letting people in, letting people know what you go through. Let them know that you the same. I just want to open up. Let people know that I'm not just a rapper, I'm a human being. Let people know whatever they go through, I done been through or somebody done been through it. Those are the things that make people grow. People that want to commit suicide, you might give them another chance.”
On his newly announced project, Punk:
“It's most definitely touching music. It's music that the world is going to embrace. Punk means brave, not self centered, conscious. Very, very neglected, very misunderstood. Very patient, very authentic.”
On So Much Fun:
“I really didn't think too much about it. It's just fun music. You only should play this music when you're having a good time.”
