YoungBoy Never Broke Again
Kentrell DeSean Gaulden (born October 20, 1999), known professionally as YoungBoy Never Broke Again,[1][2] also known as NBA YoungBoy, or simply YoungBoy, is an American rapper. From 2015 to 2017, he released eight independent mixtapes and garnered a regional following for his work. He signed with Atlantic Records in the latter year to release the singles "Untouchable" and "No Smoke", both of which marked his first entries on the Billboard Hot 100. Released in January of the following year, his single "Outside Today" became his first to reach the top 40 of the chart, and received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[3][4] It served as both his mainstream breakthrough and the lead single for his debut studio album Until Death Call My Name (2018), which peaked at number seven on the US Billboard 200 despite mixed critical reception.
Not to be confused with Never Broke Again, the record label imprint founded by YoungBoy Never Broke Again.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again
Kentrell DeSean Gaulden
- NBA YoungBoy
- Top
- Lil Top
- YoungBoy
- YB
- AI YoungBoy
- AI
October 20, 1999
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.
- Rapper
- singer
- songwriter
2015–present
- Never Broke Again
- Motown (current)
- Atlantic (former)
11
His 2019 single, "Bandit" (with Juice Wrld) became his first song to reach the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100.[4] In the following week, he released the commercial mixtape AI YoungBoy 2 (2019), which debuted atop the Billboard 200.[5] The release of its follow up, 38 Baby 2 (2020) and his second album, Top (2020) made Gaulden the second hip hop act to peak the chart thrice within a single year.[a][6] Released during an incarceration, his third album, Sincerely, Kentrell (2021) likewise peaked the chart and became the third project—behind Tupac Shakur's Me Against the World (1995) and Lil Wayne's I Am Not a Human Being (2010)—by an imprisoned artist to do so.[7][8] His fourth album, The Last Slimeto (2022) peaked at number two on the chart and served as his final release with Atlantic.[9][10] Gaulden then signed with Motown to release his fifth and sixth albums, I Rest My Case (2023)[11] and Don't Try This at Home (2023), which were both met with trailing critical and commercial reception.[12]
Despite his success, Gaulden's career has been marked by a long history of legal issues that began in 2016. He has maintained a largely prolific output notwithstanding his incarcerations.[13]
Feuds
King Von and Lil Durk
From 2018 to 2020, YoungBoy and Chicago rapper King Von – a signee of Lil Durk's imprint Only The Family – began to diss each other through social media and their music, in what was initially taken as a joke. In particular, Von who made several videos mocking viral clips of YoungBoy as Von noted that YoungBoy fakes in his music: "the f**k YoungBoy talking about on this song, bruh? He's talking crazy, he ain't even like that. I'm on his a** now. You got caps in yo raps."[202] On November 6, 2020, King Von was shot and killed following an altercation with the YoungBoy Never Broke Again affiliate Quando Rondo.[203][204]
In 2022, following Von's death, and YoungBoy's release from jail, YoungBoy released "Bring the Hook", the lead single from his mixtape Colors. In the track, YoungBoy sent an obvious diss toward King Von and rappers from O'Block in Chicago as he rapped: "Nigga, this that Squid Game, O-Block pack get rolled up / Murder what they told us, Atlanta boy get fold up".[205][206] The song's release sparked a feud between YoungBoy and Von's close friend Lil Durk which lead to the release of "Ahhh Ha", the lead single from Durk's 7220. The song featured several subliminal disses from Durk to YoungBoy.[207][208] In the track, Durk took several shots against YoungBoy's ex-girlfriend Jania Meshell, suggesting she had relations with the late King Von.[209] On the same day, YoungBoy released "I Hate YoungBoy" which appeared on his fourth studio album The Last Slimeto. In the song, YoungBoy had taken shots at Durk's fiancé India Royale, Gucci Mane, Lil Baby, Boosie Badazz, Durk's late cousin OTF Nunu, and Durk himself.[210][211][212] He also dissed Apple Music for promoting the Chicago native Lil Durk.[213]
On May 4, 2023, media personality Akademiks stated that YoungBoy and Durk had reconciled,[214] but on May 8, YoungBoy dissed both Durk and Akademiks on Twitter. On the same day, he announced a new mixtape titled Richest Opp and its release date of May 12, 2023, the same release date as Lil Durk's album Almost Healed.[215]
NLE Choppa
In the midst of YoungBoy's feud with Lil Durk, YoungBoy released the track "Know Like I Know" which contained several disses towards NLE Choppa after he allegedly picked Durk's side in their beef after NLE responded negatively to a Tweet from a King Von affiliate, Lil Reese which stated: "That ain't no demon time he just rapping like the rest of these rappers all rap" under which NLE responded, "I stamp that".[216] In the track, YoungBoy had taken several subliminal disses towards NLE where he rapped: "I bet your momma would be destroyed, n-gga, when we send your stupid ass to God for makin' statements/Choosin' sides about my beef with them lil boys. I can say I saw it, you can say I was your favorite, n-gga/Better stay up in your place bitch, fuck around get your face split" and "I don't give a fuck how you treat your body, give a fuck bout your cleaning".[217] YoungBoy also referenced The Real Blasian who is both the ex-girlfriends of YoungBoy and NLE as he rapped: "Nigga better ask Blasian about me/How we catch 'em bad and take his shit/Leave 'em stripped, the police think we raped the bitch/Nigga better not play with this".[217]
Gucci Mane
Following YoungBoy's infamous "I Hate YoungBoy" in which he rapped: "Used to fuck with Gucci 'til I seen he like them pussy niggas" after Gucci's collaboration with Lil Durk, "Rumors", Gucci responded with "Publicity Stunt" in which he dissed YoungBoy several times. In the track, Gucci responded to YoungBoy as he rapped: "Why you diss me for publicity nigga?/Is you in the streets or a industry nigga?" after YoungBoy had made it clear he doesn't appreciate the music industry.[218][219] In the song's outro, Gucci interpolated YoungBoy's viral hit "Make No Sense" in which YoungBoy rapped: "I feel like I'm Gucci Mane in 2006", where Gucci switched it up, rapping: "I thought you felt like Gucci Mane in 2006".[220]
Joe Budden
In December 2023, on Joe Budden's podcast, he brought up YoungBoy in his list of topics stating that his music is bad:[221]
Personal life
Family and relationships
At 24 years old, Gaulden is the father of eleven children with nine different women.[243][244][245][246][247] Two of his sons, Kayden and Kacey, appeared in the video for his single, "Kacey Talk".[42]
In a 2017 profile for The Fader, Gaulden named Kamron as one of his sons. Kamron was born in July 2016 to Starr Thigpen just weeks after Kayden.[248] However, a DNA test later confirmed that he was not the biological father.[249]
On January 7, 2023, Gaulden married his long-time girlfriend and the mother of two of his children, Jazlyn Mychelle Hayes.[250][251][252]
Health problems
While on house arrest in 2023, YoungBoy had publicly spoken about his heavy drug use to cope with depression and anxiety, stating that he takes approximately 20 Xanax pills a day.[253] In November 2023, YoungBoy's lawyers filled a motion to make amendments to his house arrest conditions due to a decline in his mental health.[193] In a December 2023 interview, YoungBoy revealed that he's begun to go to rehab.[254] However, in February 2024, YoungBoy shared a post on Instagram which pictures him unconscious on the floor with spilled Xanax pills and a cup of lean, creating concerns on the rapper's health.[255]
Faith and beliefs
Since his move to Utah, Gaulden has been visited by missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he has stated his intention to be baptized into the church once his ankle monitor is removed.[15]