NBA YoungBoy has revealed he plans to become a Mormon, crediting the Christian theology with helping pull him out of a dark place.
In a sprawling interview with Billboard, the Baton Rouge rapper said his support of Mormonism began after being visited by missionaries while on house arrest in Utah.
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YoungBoy said he instinctively turned them away the first time they appeared on his doorstep, before having second thoughts and welcoming them into his home.
“I wanted help very badly. I needed a friend. And it hit me,” he admitted. “It was just cool to see someone with a different mindset that had nothing to do with business or money — just these wonderful souls.”
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The missionaries then began visiting the rapper’s home every day, where they would engage in talks with him about The Book of Mormon and sought to “make sure” YoungBoy’s “heart was in the right space” for his official baptism into the church. He said he plans to become baptized into The Church of Latter-Day Saints after his house arrest is over.
“Even when my negative thoughts come back, when I do want to tell them, ‘Not today,’ I just don’t let nothing stop it,” he said.
Elsewhere in the interview, NBA YoungBoy said his newfound interest in Mormonism has partially inspired him to rap less violent lyrics on some of his new music.
“What if they don’t like me now?” he said, wondering about his fans’ thoughts on his newfound approach. “I’m not changing. I will not be provoked, I will not be broken, and I’m not going back to who I used to be. Accept it or not — I ain’t going back.”
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The interview comes after YoungBoy dropped off his first album of 2023, I Rest My Case, which toyed with less violent lyrics. The project debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 after moving 29,000 copies in its first week.
I Rest My Case marked YoungBoy’s ninth project in just over a year, as he’s remained on a tear with new tunes since being found not guilty in his federal gun case back in July.
The 23-yeaar-old previously dropped Lost Files on December 23, his eighth full-length release of 2022 and the follow-up to October’s Ma’ I Got a Family.
YoungBoy had at one point sought to drop 10 mixtapes in a single year, before admitting he had “ran out of rhymes.”
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Aside from converting to Mormonism, YoungBoy is also planning a big move for his wife and children once his ankle monitor is removed. He recently said he plans to move his family to Europe, with plans to “stack” some serious cash in the meantime to make it happen.
