Meet NBA YoungBoy, Baton Rouge's Rawest New Rapper

In person, YoungBoy uses words sparingly, saying only what’s needed to get his point across. “I’m quiet,” he explained. “My vibe gets killed fast.” But in his music, he puts his whole life out in the open. Like B.G. and Boosie before him, YoungBoy deals in reality rather than elaborate metaphor, treating the sinister piano melodies and pounding bass patterns that he raps over as his confessional. On “Cross Me,” a track from his Mind of a Menace 2 mixtape, he offers a line about his father, who’s been incarcerated for much of his life: On my heart, that’s on my soul, I won’t tell no lies/ Uncle told now my Daddy doin’ 55.

Loyalty is extremely important to YoungBoy, and it’s easily the most consistent theme across the four projects that he’s released. “Without loyalty, you won’t accomplish anything,” he told me. “Everything will be salty.” The Baton Rouge he raps about is dark and treacherous, a city where no one’s business stays secret and betrayal lurks around every corner. YoungBoy brings this environment to life, alternating between gruff-voiced street storytelling and melodic hooks heaved from his chest. His autobiographical style has earned him a rapidly growing fan base in the South and comparisons to his city’s most recent national star, Kevin Gates. But, despite the fact that he’s rapped over multiple instrumentals from Gates’s catalogue, the only influence that YoungBoy claims is Lil Phat, a lesser-known hero of Baton Rouge rap, who was gunned down in 2012 at the age of 20.

Within minutes of my arrival at KK’s house, YoungBoy was headed out the door to meet up with the rest of the Never Broke Again crew, a group of young men that he grew up with and refers to as his brothers. Much of the day was spent this way: decisions were made in the moment and no location or idea lasted too long. The one constant was the presence of his NBA comrades, who surround him at all times like a coat of protective armor. “I got to see Lil Ben, I got to see 33. Everyday,” he explained. “I make sure they know all of us. I ain’t gon’ overshadow nobody.”