One of Atlanta's biggest rappers arrested for his gang ties

Rapper Young Thug during a concert at the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago in 2021.Amy Harris (AP)

Jeffrey Lamar Williams is better known as Young Thug (young thug).

He is one of the most important rappers in Atlanta, a city that is a bastion of the genre in the United States.

Williams, 30, was arrested on Monday in that city along with 27 other rappers from the YSL label, accused of acting as an organized crime group by the Fulton County district attorney's office.

The authorities have filed 56 charges against the group, whom they hold responsible for having ordered murders, robberies and behaving as a street gang between January 2013 and May 2022. In short, the authorities of the State of Georgia accuse Young Thug of being precisely that.

Williams was arrested Monday morning at his home in the Buckhead neighborhood north of Atlanta.

The prosecution charges him with organized crime and participating in a street gang with illegal activities.

If found guilty, the rapper, winner of a Grammy award and author of a couple of hits on the Billboard chart, could go to prison for up to 20 years.

"Mr. Williams has not committed any crime and I will fight until my last drop of blood to clear his name," said the rapper's defense attorney, Brian Steel, in an interview with local television tonight.

The indictment indicates that YSL is a street gang born in late 2012 on Cleveland Avenue, southeast of Atlanta.

“The founders are Jeffrey Williams, aka

or

;

Walter Murphy aka

and Trontavious Stephens aka

or

”, indicates the text.

The prosecution links this group to the Bloods, one of the largest gangs in the country, and believes that Young Thug's work has served as a mouthpiece for the gang.

“Williams, a hip hop artist from Atlanta, has made YSL a household name by referring to him in his songs and on social media,” authorities say.

It is the second arrest of a famous rapper in less than a month following the arrest of A$AP Rocky at the Los Angeles airport for his involvement in a shooting.

The birth of the YSL label, which some call Young Stoner Life, was effectively announced on the Snapchat account of Young Thug, who came to the platform in November 2016 to show his offices in the city.

Since then he has signed artists such as Gunna (Sergio Kitchens), who was also arrested on Monday, Lil Keed (Revon Render) and Strick (Tauren O'lander).

Last year, the Warner Music label bought 300 Entertainment, which owns YSL and the rights to Young Thug.

It is said, unofficially, that the operation exceeded 400 million dollars.

“YSL members identify themselves by wearing green or red ribbons.

They also wear clothing with the letters YSL or with the word Slime written on them,” the indictment states.

Democrat Fani Willis, the district attorney, says the group maintains power in southeast Atlanta through activities such as "murder, beatings, or threats of violence."

Like the gang to which it is linked, the Bloods, YSL maintains an armed army on the streets "ready and willing to preserve, protect and enhance their reputation and power."

For this they obtain money and weapons with robberies, assaults and drug sales.

During the pandemic, Atlanta was the third city in the United States with the highest increase in homicides.

The region reached 158 murders in 2021, the worst figure since 1996.

In their account, authorities say two gang members, Christian Eppinger and Antonio Sumlin, sought Young Thug's permission to murder YFN Lucci, a rival rapper, while he was in Fulton County Jail.

Lucci survived a shooting in May 2019 while he was in his Mercedes truck.

The influential artist is also accused of having rented a vehicle that was used in the murder of Donovan Thomas, a gang member of a rival gang, in January 2015.

Young Thug must appear before a judge this Tuesday for the first time, although his defense may request to postpone the hearing to prepare the case.

His arrest takes the shine off one of Atlanta's most important rap figures.

His name gained respect among hip hop artists after winning Song of the Year at the 2019 Grammys for

, which he co-wrote with Donald Glover, better known as Childish Gambino.

That theme fueled the debate on racism in the United States and catapulted her own career.

At the end of last year, he released his second album, Punk, a mix of experimental cuts and commercial successes where he sang with other big names in modern rap such as Future, Drake, J. Cole, Kanye West, Post Malone, Doja Cat and Travis Scott. , another musician of the urban genre who was recently touched by tragedy.