It appears Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams is close to dropping another body of work. The Atlanta-raised rhymer was the latest recording artist to take part in NPR’s Tiny Desk (Home) concert series, and the performance included a glimpse into what is coming next from the YSL leader.
Young Thug debuted four new songs – “Die Slow,’ “Droppin Jewels,” “Hate The Game,” and “Tick Tock” – while performing in the intimate setting. He also ran through a Rock version of “Ski” from the chart-topping Slime Language 2 compilation. Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker joined Thug for “Ski.”
During the 13-minute Tiny Desk set, Young Thug also subtly teased the release date for his next studio album which is tentatively titled Punk. The back of his t-shirt features the date October 15, 2021.
Young Thug’s Tiny Desk (Home) is already a Top 10 trending video on YouTube. The Tom Kirk-directed NPR Music production has pulled in more than 270,000 views and 24,000 likes on the platform in its first 16 hours.
Besides performing at The Houdini Estate in Los Angeles for Tiny Desk, Young Thug was also on the bill for last weekend’s Rolling Loud Miami festival. Thugger used his performance in Florida to preview tracks from Punk.
“I’m about to put this album out, right? It’s called Punk. If I can perform something off of the album, say hell yeah!” Young Thug told the Rolling Loud Miami crowd on July 24. He also introduced a new pink aesthetic for his latest album era.
Young Thug just announced his new album “PUNK” is on the way 🐍🔥 pic.twitter.com/DhbsY3stOJ
— STRAPPED! | Hip-Hop/Rap News (@STRAPPEDUS) July 25, 2021
Punk will follow 2019’s So Much Fun which opened at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 131,000 first-week units. Young Thug’s debut studio LP is currently certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Over the last decade, Young Thug has released numerous mixtapes including I Came from Nothing, Barter 6, Slime Season, Jeffery, and Beautiful Thugger Girls. He also collaborated with Future for Super Slimey and Chris Brown for Slime & B. The latter project hosts the Hot 100 Top 5 hit “Go Crazy.”
Photo credit: Rolling Loud/James Baxter