Young Thug Starring In Single Black Male [EDITORIAL]

So, this is what it has come to?

Last March, Young Thug told the world that his debut album would be titled Carter 6, in reference to Lil Wayne’s album series that had a massive influence on his rap career. But nobody really thought he would follow through with it, right? After the public fallout between Weezy F. Baby and his “daddy,” Bryan “Birdman” Williams, the mere thought of the rambunctious web of deceit and high levels of Stan-age should have caused Young Thug to pause for once in his life.

“Young Thug isn’t in the game to establish any sort of longevity.”

But, alas, a butt ass nekkid Thugger popped up with a peculiar look on his face and covering his junk on the official Carter 6 artwork.

Just go ahead and hold onto that image for a moment.

This is really happening and, more importantly, this is what drugs look and sound like when they take human form. But let’s take a step back and try to make sense out of Young Thug’s swift—and baffling—ascent, which leads me to believe that Young Thug’s relevance after the album drops will only live in obscure rap trivia.

Why, you ask?

Because Young Thug isn’t in the game to establish any sort of longevity. He’s here for the right now and if he dies tomorrow, so be it. He’s just going to enjoy the ride whether you come along or not. And it’s about as bizarre of a journey that you can possibly wrap your head around.

Never mind the little girl dresses, questionable interviews and alarming, death wish like fixation with drugs. Young Thug’s obsession with Lil Wayne is one of the most peculiar things going on in Hip-Hop and damn near mirrors Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character in Single White Female.

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Photo: Instagram/@thecamkirk

It’s frightening that an artist who has patterned his entire being around the life of Lil Wayne has managed to make it this far. And the worst thing about it is that he takes all of this for granted.

Rewind back to last summer when Young Thug covered Complex magazine. It was an interesting choice for the publication. Not necessarily because his catalog was relatively thin. It was clear that Complex was looking to catch the wave early and call dibs on breaking Young Thug and his story to the masses. That makes sense, right?

What didn’t make sense was Young Thug’s complete disregard of the opportunity and the fact that Complex allowed an unproven rapper to dictate how his presence would be handled. The story “Young & Restless” was less about learning about who Young Thug is and more about the preposterous chasing of their subject as he blatantly missed three photo shoots.

“Young Thug’s obsession with Lil Wayne may have drifted into Single Black Male territory where emulation may soon be transitioning into eradication.”

The writer, Jacob Moore, did a great job making a lot out of a little but had to rely heavily on bits and pieces from other outlets to mold his story. By the time Moore finally gets to the actual Q&A portion—after Thug’s sister/assistant screens the questions— the nonsense that takes place can be deemed disrespectful to both the writer’s time and the publication that granted the Atlanta rapper the opportunity to grace the cover of their prestigious magazine.

“When did you first hear Wayne?”

“I don’t remember.”

“What is it about him you like so much?”

“The ambition.”

“What’s your relationship with Gucci like now?”

“He’s my brother.”

“Are you trying to sign with Cash Money Records?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you really going to call your album Tha Carter VI?”

“Yeah.”

“What have you learned from Wayne?”

“A lot.”

Can you share anything specific?

“Um… no.”

That was pretty much of the gist of it. And as far as journalistic integrity is concerned, this had to be a tremendous pain in the ass. The publication already spent a bunch of money on numerous missed photo shoots but had to be miffed by Young Thug’s lack of décor. They were cornered and had to make a decision: run the story or cut their losses. They ran with the former but probably preferred to go with the latter if Thug wasn’t such a strangely hot commodity.

Nevertheless, all this has done was give Young Thug a further sense of entitlement. Not that he necessarily cares to be entitled but he has now been authorized to be a card carrying enemy of journalists everywhere. If he can’t take time out to make an interview and a cover shoot for one of the more significant publications, what makes you think he’ll give a damn about any other interview moving forward? Obviously, there are a lot of popular artists today who are notorious in the interview circuit, but they are usually several albums deep and have earned their spot. Not Young Thug. He just got here and now he owns the place.

To be able to miss out on photo shoots and give a lousy interview should be grounds to strip him of the cover. But Complex did no such thing. Instead, they salvaged a story that kept Young Thug on their cover and helped build a monster.

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This absolutely had to pique Lil Wayne’s curiosity. If not for his daddy’s new protégé’s utter lack of respect for the opportunity given to him, then for Baby’s peculiar relationship with an artist who would prefer to be Lil Wayne reincarnated than his own man.

That’s a scary thought.

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But now that Young Thug has been armed to the teeth with a license to ill, his obsession with Lil Wayne may have drifted into Single Black Male territory where emulation may soon be transitioning into eradication. What might have once been deemed to be cute to Weezy has become frightening. An artist that loves you that much from a distance is great. But once he gets into your circle, it’s kind of creepy and odd. And then he arguably becomes more relevant in the current climate of Hip-Hop than you? There’s something really wrong here.

The inner workings of the Lil Wayne/Birdman fallout are still unbeknownst to the general public. But something tells me that Young Thug’s presence certainly hasn’t helped matters. It’s obvious that Thugger has taken Birdman’s side of the rivalry and no longer cares to be Lil Wayne’s friend. Instead, he’d just like to become Lil Wayne. Well, his version of Lil Wayne. Not the older and seemingly more mature rapper.

What Young Thug is doing by keeping the title Carter 6 while Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter 5 remains in legal purgatory is completely making a mockery out of his favorite rapper’s existence. With Birdman as his daddy now, he’s taking much pleasure out of pouring salt in the wound.

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Even the staunchest Young Thug supporter has to admit that this is a dick move, to say the least. But Young Thug doesn’t give a f*ck because he never had a f*ck to give.

But Birdman? He should know better than to endorse this type of nonsense. Regardless of the rift that he has with Wayne, allowing his eccentric doppleganger to hijack the series that bears his last name is the point of no return.

Even if Young Thug is too high to care, Birdman should have vetoed these shenanigans. This is all pomp and circumstance. No matter how good Young Thug’s album may be, his unusual infatuation will forever overshadow any talent that he might have. As of right now, there is no mileage being put on Young Thug’s career; it is just a mere rental. At this rate he’ll be mopping floors with J-Kwon in no time.