So Thug was clearly put into a difficult position here, stuck between his patron and his idol. Meanwhile, Birdman has made no secret that he believes Young Thug to be the future of his enterprise, and appears on a couple of Barter 6 tracks, sounding energized. Wayne’s critical and commercial appeal have fallen in recent years, with his label-mates Drake and Nicki Minaj vaulting past him. He’s also furious that the imprint won’t release Tha Carter V, but this delay is not entirely a surprise. Their beef was undoubtedly tied up in Wayne’s problems with Cash Money co-owner Birdman, with whom Wayne was famously close for years, but whom he’s now suing, saying he hasn’t been paid properly. The pair, label-mates at Cash Money, even collaborated together, but for reasons that aren’t entirely clear began to fall out last year. When Wayne said that Tha Carter V would be his final album, Thug announced that his album would be called Carter 6 as an hommage. But his most direct influence is clearly Lil Wayne, the man with whom he’s currently beefing. Young Thug comes from Atlanta and has obvious similarities with locals like wannabe astronaut Future.
The fact that Thugger’s super lanky, has piercings, and dyes his hair in strange ways just makes him something approaching rap’s answer to Dennis Rodman. Even with compelling guest rappers like TI, Boosie Badazz (née Lil Boosie), and Thug’s mentor Birdman (also known as Baby), he dominates every song, changing pace and playing with song structure in delightful ways. His new album Barter 6 showcases everything that’s fun about his style, seesawing from threats (made more sinister by his unsteady, high pitch) to goofs, made funnier by his unorthodox delivery.
But even when you don’t know what he’s saying, his raps are captivating his cadence is unique and he has an incredible sense of melody. Alternating sing-songy raps with squawks and impenetrable ad-libs, he is, at times, extremely difficult to understand (Blackish star Tracee Ellis Ross made a hilarious attempt to decipher his hit Lifestyle). Young Thug is the latest rapper with an oddball flow to break through. Lil Wayne had a strong, more conventional flow, but broke biggest when his voice turned toward something alien, croaking in increasingly surreal fashion toward the end of the last decade. Snoop Dogg was a gangsta who rapped behind the beat, Eminem stuck three words where one belonged, while Outkast told us to throw our hands not in the air, but in the a-yer. There’s no surefire recipe for hip-hop success, but rappers who sound simultaneously strange and familiar have the best chance.