{"id":487959,"date":"2019-07-12T14:20:23","date_gmt":"2019-07-12T20:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=858293"},"modified":"2019-07-12T14:20:23","modified_gmt":"2019-07-12T20:20:23","slug":"is-young-thugs-superstar-moment-finally-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/is-young-thugs-superstar-moment-finally-here\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Young Thug\u2019s Superstar Moment Finally Here?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cIs Young Thug Having a Moment, or Is It Passing Him By?\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Vulture<\/a>
\u201cIs Young Thug a Star?\u201d<\/em> \u2014 Everyday Struggle<\/a>
\u201cIs Young Thug\u2019s Popularity Flatlining?\u201d<\/em> \u2014 DJBooth<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2013, Young Thug<\/a> released 1017 Thug<\/em>, a crackling warning shot of a mixtape that promised the Atlanta rapper as hip-hop\u2019s latest, greatest talent. Since then, he\u2019s been a man of juxtaposition, existing in a state between adoration and ridicule, ordainment and dismissal. The above headlines \u2014 and there are many more like them \u2014 capture the defining narrative around Thug, a hyperbolic figure who arrived during the dying gasps of the mixtape boom and the slow birth of the streaming age. Universally recognized as preternaturally talented, but without the clear commercial dominance that would follow in a perfect world, it seemed like more writers, fans, and armchair A&Rs have prognosticated about Young Thug\u2019s superstardom than people who have streamed Young Thug\u2019s last three projects.<\/p>\n

The problem is simple: listeners wanted more from, and for, Thug. That means the complaints are numerous, and difficult to follow. His later mixtapes (I\u2019m Up<\/em>, Slime Season 3<\/em>) didn\u2019t sound enough like his earlier mixtapes (Barter 6<\/em>, Slime Season<\/em>); the albums were too conceptual (My Beautiful Thugger Girl<\/em>); the full-length duets were either too ahead of their time (Rich Gang:<\/em> Tha Tour Pt. 1<\/em>) or creatively devoid (Super Slimey<\/em>). His fans kept leaking his music, which seemed to eternally delay his proper debut, (whatever that means in 2019) Hy!\u00a3UN35<\/em>. Compared to peers like Future and Migos, no one felt like Thug was living up to his potential, or agree on whether it was those perpetual leaks, rumored mismanagement by his label 300 Entertainment, a fickle fanbase that never seemed to show up on the first week, or what seemed like a haphazard artistic viewpoint from the Atlanta rapper who had all the potential in the world, but rarely could string that together for a full-length project.<\/p>\n