Young Thug dropped his third studio album last week while he is still in jail, which has given way to a campaign that combines advocacy for his freedom with the new record’s promotion.
On Friday (June 23), Business is Business was released less than a day after it was announced. That same night, the words “FREE YOUNG THUG” were projected onto the New York Supreme Court building beneath the cover art of the new album.
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The black and white image features the YSL boss in the courtroom looking toward the exit while everyone else he’s flanked by in suits stares ahead toward the judge’s chair.
Thugger has already found a great deal of success from his latest project, with the album reaching No. 1 on US Apple Music upon its release. The Atlanta rapper’s fans are now trying to prolong his luck to extinguish the legal ordeal that has consumed his life over the past year.
"FREE YOUNG THUG" was projected on the Supreme Court building last night in New Yorkhttps://t.co/52WCdDsvQrpic.twitter.com/qKDyMaNHJS
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) June 24, 2023
The case, which accuses Thug’s YSL collective of being a “criminal street gang,” has seen many peculiar and unfortunate twists since arrests were first made in May 2022. Yet, his supporters remain hopeful for his release.
To that point, Young Thug and Gunna were recently pulled back into the spotlight as the proceedings took another dramatic turn.
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A verified Twitter account that goes by “YSL RICO updates” revealed that the two rappers — who are just a few of the many charged in the wide-ranging case — were added to the prosecution’s witness list in a separate RICO case involving the YFN (Young Fly N-gga) collective, who are associates of Thugga’s.
In RICO cases, all evidence is admissible against everyone else, according to NoLo, which means that any evidence uncovered in the YFN RICO case can and will be used in the YSL RICO case, and vice versa, especially since both groups are being charged under one sweeping indictment and are both allegedly tied to the Bloods gang.
The witness list, however, has not been independently verified by prosecutors.
The alleged addition of Young Thug to the prosecution’s witness list is an intriguing one, especially since YFN Lucci refused to testify against Thugger back in December 2022.
“Any party can announce for example that Abraham Lincoln is on their witness list, but those words alone are meaningless,” his attorney, Drew Fielding, said at the time. “So, to be 100 percent clear, Rayshawn Bennett (YFN Lucci) will not be a witness in the YSL case.”
This refusal to testify came after one of Young Thug’s associates allegedly tried to stab YFN Lucci in jail.
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For his part, YFN Lucci has also reportedly been offered a sweetheart plea deal. The rapper, who is currently sitting behind bars with regards to his alleged involvement in a murder that left a 28-year-old man dead, was hit with the RICO charges while he was out on bond for the alleged murder.
According to VladTV, the sweetheart plea deal will reportedly give the rapper (real name Rayshawn Bennett) 20 years behind bars for all crimes — including the RICO charges — for which he must serve at least 17 “inside.” But, as with the witness list, the sweetheart plea deal has yet to be confirmed as true.
