About NBA Youngboy
Artist Biography
In the U.S., his videos are streamed more than those of Drake, Kanye, Kendrick, Billie Eilish, and DaBaby. In the Deep South, his music blares out of cars and speaker systems everywhere. At the dawn of the 2020s, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, aka NBA YoungBoy, might have been the biggest rapper in the U.S., and one of the most popular artists, period. His brand of poignant, bluesy rap has struck a chord with hip-hop at large, inspiring a whole wave of melodic MCs making “pain music” and turning their trauma into powerful art. Born in Baton Rouge in 1999, Kentrell DeSean Gaulden had to fend for himself early. After moving to his grandma’s house at the age of 8, he began writing songs, ultimately quitting school after 8th grade to pursue rap full-time. That paid off in a big way in 2016, when YoungBoy put out his breakout hit, “38 Baby,” a twangy heater full of Boosie-inflected rapping. YoungBoy’s career is defined by these sorts of spare, spindly songs, which regularly amass tens of millions of plays. There’s 2017’s “No Smoke,” off his excellent AI YoungBoy tape, where YoungBoy jabs at his foes in minor key. There’s his 2020 “Story of O.J.” freestyle, where he skips and skates across JAY-Z’s “4:44” beat, never sacrificing any of his style. That’s the thing—even after flooding the market with over a dozen projects over several years, YoungBoy has stayed fresh by committing to his unique, unteachable talent: pouring himself into the mic, track after track.
Genre
Hip-Hop/Rap
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