Young Thug has to be praised for his long standing career. In today's modern era of music, 6-7 years is approximately 20 years in entertainment. You can scrunch together your facial muscles if you like, but with the output of music being at a premium constant (#create content or die), Mr. Jeffrey Williams is a seasoned vet. Once continuously mistaken for well known artist such as Future and Lil Wayne, Young Thug has stayed relevant by shape shifting his musical content as well as his fashion sense. Yet I'm curious as to how a talented artist stays afloat this long while navigating through years of negative tabloids.
I'm not afraid to call out how I see the music culture I indulge in. Hip-hop is the most recognized music genre to date but it's traditionalist stance on homosexuality has secretly survived the murky waters of subconscious bias. Young Thug represents the breaking of that mold. No, he has not come out and claimed to be bisexual or gay. In fact it would matter none. Music fanatics however are incline to become personally invested in an artists' life and Young Thug is no different. Social media has slandered him for wearing makeup, blouses and even a dress on his well marketed album "Easy Breezy Beautiful Thugger Girls". He has been quoted calling other male artist pet names that mystified audiences across the world for the misunderstanding of his slang usage. Or maybe there is no misunderstanding at all. Young Thug was representing what he has always represented. Being different.
There has been a rare amount of male artist who would publicly admit being interested in feminine attire of all forms when they were younger. Unless you've truly accepted yourself as unique parts of a whole, even many from the LGBTQ community struggle with that issue on a daily. He has also represented a new crop of music that young listeners have progressively and aggressively exploited; melodic use of auto-tune, intertwined with formulated shock value lyrics that usually describe four of life's vices. It is believed though, that Young Thug takes it all in stride. Its nearly evident. He creates a new trend, then abandons it, leaving the rest of the suckling bottom feeders and admirers alike copying his past fad.
It is not unexpected then for Young Thug to come up with a hybrid concept of a country album. This is something his core audience can learn to get behind while again reshaping his image and hip-hops' general formality. The song "Family Don't Matter" has all the remnants of his classic formulated lyrics that stays true to his core fan ideologies. By adding UK female artist Millie Go Lightly (another progressive trend into the U.S market), the melodic undertones of the hit song merges raps' roots into a country aura hardly touched by recognized hip-hop greats. The song seems to have a underlining meaning of isolating himself away from all things familiar while relentlessly pursuing a love interest.
How funny irony is. If you take a listen to "Family Don't Matter", a song that may not fit into your musical wheel house; you'll find at the basic level an artist that has masterfully capitalized on a growing markets' aesthetic need for acts that purposefully blend familiar yet divergent entertainment. From the nose ring and eyebrow tattoos that somehow telepathically speak to a younger demographic, you may not be able to appreciate the sly genius in curating millions of fans and fortune by not sticking to the "hip-hop script". Then again, I wonder if it even matters.
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