NBA YoungBoy remains a very polarizing figure in rap, with possibly its most ardent fanbase but with the most amount of haters, too. Moreover, he feels like even companies like YouTube often blackball him and undercut his success and outreach, and even with those crutches, he's made an undeniable impact with listeners and the industry alike. However, the Baton Rouge MC is not exactly an underdog story in the eyes of the media, as he seems more combative against the industry than eager to step in it. Still, he has a lot of people that really connect with him in that space, including one Suge Knight. During a recent episode of his new prison podcast, he gave the young Don't Try This At Home artist his flowers- or rather, his cigars.
"But you still got people still in the game doing well," the Death Row Records boss began. "And they deserve their cigars. you know? It's just like... NBA YoungBoy. Man, I like that lil' young motherf***er. He deserves his cigar. He talk s**t, he about that life. You know, he march to his own motherf***ing beat, you know?"
Suge Knight Speaks On NBA YoungBoy: Listen
Even if you're not a fan of YB's style, output, antics, or persona, you can't deny that Suge is pretty spot-on with his assessment. YoungBoy is an incredibly prolific and self-motivated artist whose discography represents a consistent grind and a hard-working mentality. Sure, he doesn't always draw from his own style, as he hopped on the rage wave recently. In addition, the 24-year-old has one more album left for this year (his fourth), so maybe that will change this conversation of influences. Regardless of what different worlds he might occupy with different material, it's clear that everything is of his own design.
Meanwhile, the "Now Who" spitter's aversion to industry figures and longstanding beefs also speak to this. He usually doesn't translate very well to to the old heads, so props to Suge for staying tapped in. Maybe this will change one day, but it's because YB's status is reaching true star levels within the game all on his own. For more news and the latest updates on NBA YoungBoy and Suge Knight, log back into HNHH.