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YoungBoy Never Broke Again – Kacey talk
YoungBoy Never Broke Again – All In
Few things last forever.
Originality lasts forever. Truth lasts forever. Respect lasts forever. Representing all three unwaveringly, YoungBoy Never Broke Again might also last forever.
Within the span of a whirlwind 2017, the 20-year-old Baton Rouge rapper went from cooking up a string of underground favorite mixtapes below the poverty line to RIAA plaques and worldwide acclaim. Spinning hood stories rooted in harrowing experience through an untouchable drawl, his breakout mixtape AI YOUNGBOY spawned the platinum-certified “Untouchable” and platinum-certified “No Smoke.” It infiltrated year-end lists from The New York Times, Vulture, Pitchfork, Noisey, and more as he covered a popular issue on The Fader joined by his infant son in white Air Force Ones atop his shoulders. As real as it gets, the songs cinematically chronicled an unbelievable life in the middle of one of America’s most dangerous neighborhoods practically baptized in clouds of smoke and pops of gunfire. For all of the adoration and accolades, it only served as a preview though.
Along the way, YoungBoy assembled what would become his proper full-length debut, Until Death Call My Name [Never Broke Again, LLC / Atlantic Records]. The title spoke to the endless grind that brought him here.
“It means a lot,” he admits. “Really, that’s me though. I’m forever one heart till death call my name. I’m forever being me. I’m forever trying to be a better man. I’m forever everything. I could go on all day. I’m doing it till it’s over. I’ve put out projects in the past. I’m more serious today. As far as music goes, I’m still going to tell a story and talk about what I talk about, but I’m finding a more interesting way to do it. This is my first album. You can never have a first album again. I just want this one to be remembered, because it was really the beginning.”
He spent nearly six months recording over 100 songs at studios in his native Baton Rouge, Miami, New York, and Los Angeles. Simultaneously, he built a formidable catalog, toured alongside 21 Savage, and continued teasing music before arriving at the 13 bangers that comprise the album.
“When I was little, I wanted this lifestyle so bad and everything that came with it, but I didn’t realize it came with some shit you can’t get rid of,” he sighs. “When I got money, that shit didn’t heal my pain; it only made things worse. It didn’t stop me. I don’t give a fuck about the game. I ain’t going to quit making music ever. I do this for me.”
He first introduced Until Death Call My Name via the hypnotic and hard-hitting “Solar Eclipse.” The 2018 smash “Outside Today” followed, generating 32 million Spotify streams and going gold in less than three months. Next in line, Future blessed “Right Or Wrong” with a warbling Actavis-drenched assist. The standout single “Diamond Teeth Samurai” flaunted his knack for an unshakable hook fueled by wild rhymes like, “When they shot, they aimed for my brain but I’m still here.”
It proves he isn’t going anywhere either…
“They’re trying to paint me as this bad person,” he exclaims. “I made mistakes, yeah. You see where I come from; I’m from Baton Rouge. Whatever you think I am, I’m cool with it, because I know who I am. That’s it.”
The critically-acclaimed album was later followed with an exclusive deluxe version, featuring guest appearances from artists such as Lil Uzi Vert and Offset.
The Louisiana rapper marked his triumphant return in 2019 with a single-bundle for fans titled The Continuance, a strong follow up to his RIAA-certified gold mixtape Realer, which featured fan favorites such as “Slime Belief” and “Valuable Pain,” both now officially RIAA-certified platinum. The bundle features standout singles “Self Control” and “Slime Mentality” that showcase the New Orleans rapper’s lyricism and raw talent.
The certifications follow a number of successes for the rising star, with his debut studio album RIAA-certified platinum and featuring stand-out tracks such as “Astronaut Kid,” which is now RIAA-certified gold.
The RIAA platinum certified “UNTIL DEATH CALL MY NAME” marked the official follow up to the rapper’s previous RIAA-gold certified standout “AI YOUNGBOY,” highlighted by the platinum certified singles, “Untouchable,” and “No Smoke” – the latter marking YoungBoy’s first ever RIAA certification of many. Both projects reached their level of certifications in less than twelve months, hinting at the growing stardom of the Never Broke Again rapper.
In the end, YoungBoy is an artist through and through. He’s a voice for the underdog. Most importantly, he’s a loving father of four, building a legacy of his own.
The music will last even longer.
