Last week, NBA YoungBoy released Don't Try This At Home, his sixth studio album and second of 2023. The album has a decent sales forecast and will likely debut in the top five on the Billboard 200. It is seen by many as a return to form for the rapper after the somewhat underwhelming I Rest My Case.
However, there have been some obstacles in promoting the album. YoungBoy has been under house arrest in Utah since 2021. While the conditions of his sentence were recently lightened, the rapper has not been able to properly promote an album in some time. Despite this, YoungBoy dropped a reported $200k to rent LA's Elevate Lounge DTLA for the Don't Try This At Home. Additionally, YoungBoy would attend the event virtually via live stream.
YoungBoy No-Shows
Everything was ready to celebrate Don't Try This At Home. Famous faces were mingling at Elevate. DJ Carisma was providing the on-site music. But there was no sign of YoungBoy himself. The event continued but still no sign of the man of the hour. Eventually, the party closed out and everyone went home without ever having seen or spoken to YoungBoy. It was a disappointing turn of events, especially given the hype surrounding Don't Try This At Home and the party's price tag. The party was also reportedly sponsored by 50 Cent's cognac brand.
So what happened? TMZ claims a source with knowledge of the situation informed them that YoungBoy had simply gone to bed. Utah is an hour ahead of LA and the late Saturday night start would have been even later for YoungBoy. However, the rapper's team disputes this. "There was a technical difficulty and they couldn't get NBA YoungBoy on the live stream. They tried Zoom and FaceTime without any success and unfortunately, NBA YoungBoy was unable to connect with his friends and fans," they said in a statement. Technical difficulties feel like the more likely reason but if that were the case, why did the rapper simply call in and speak to a few people? No further statement has been released at this time, with YoungBoy's team only speaking to refute TMZ's claims.
[via]