When looking back at the last ten years, you would have a tough time finding a rapper more relevant in hip hop than Young Thug(besides Drake). I would personally argue that there has not been a more influential artist on the overall sound of hip hop than Young Thug, excluding Lil Wayne and Kanye(who happen to be two of Thugger’s biggest inspirations). Young Thug has completely changed what trap is supposed to sound like; he has pushed the boundaries of what rappers are supposed to do vocally and has combined sounds and genres in a way that pushes trap music way farther than it had ever gone. In this piece, I wanted to cover my ten favorite Thugger songs. These aren’t necessarily his most influential tracks, but they are definitely songs that are masterfully put together and performed. This list is not in order; it would be too tough for me to pick a definitive number one. That being said, hope you enjoy this list!! Let me know what your favorite Thugger songs are down below! I’d love to hear yall’s opinions!

HALFTIME

The first song I wanted to hit on this list is the beautifully crafted ‘Halftime, ‘ which is on Young Thug’s album ‘Barter 6.’ This is the only song I picked off of Thugger’s 2015 record dedicates to his idol Lil Wayne, and it really shows off his incredible flows and vocal fluctuation. This is definitely a good song to introduce someone to Young Thug with because it is not too wild compared to some of his other stuff but still shows how different his music is than normal trap. This is one of many songs where the icon shows off his awesome ability to use witty wordplay:

“I got racks on racks on racks, I might pull up on my Spider. All my diamonds black, you could motherfuckin’ knight them…

https://open.spotify.com/track/4BP0An7SXctTY4kF41JxIQ?si=IdXE646TSQaSFmY2R91oCg

MEMO

One of my favorite things about this glorious cut is the beat drop at the beginning of the track. London on da track and Thugger always team up to create some of the craziest instrumentals. Young Thug’s lyricism is as witty and clever as ever. This is probably one of my favorite bars of any Young Thug song, or at least of the ones on this list:

I don’t play on Arthur, but I’m moonwalkin…

https://open.spotify.com/track/7tk5tOCj84jine8kKJkPYs?si=Hyj-rtYDSUmstS3eYYANiA

RELATIONSHIP (FEATURING FUTURE)

Relationship is definitely one of the bigger tracks Thugger had released in the last couple of years. This song really is a perfect pop-trap cut. Young Thug’s and Future’s chemistry is so great on this song; the way they switch off throughout the verses and chorus is so clean. I really think these two should make a whole record together, because they way they push themselves sonically(through strange instrumentals and vocal fluctuation) would really accentuate and sound even better if they pushed each other this way for a whole record.

No, baby, you’re collection, won’t stand for it. You know you’re in a relationship with all of us...

https://open.spotify.com/track/25oOaleife6E2MIKmFkPvg?si=gHCY8NwGRgSzlF28ngX5BQ

BEST FRIEND

‘Best Friend’ is definitely one of Thugger’s greatest and biggest hits. I would imagine most people who listen to hip hop at all have definitely heard this cut. One of my favorite videos on the internet is of a little white girl rapping this song in a car; definitely check it out if you haven’t seen it. This track has another one of those sick beat drops at the beginning of the song that gets me so hype. Young Thug shows off his incredible vocal fluctuation on this song. This line in the chorus is sung so high you could confuse it for Whitney Houston:

Bad bitch rollin’ with me she gonna smile ’cause she on fleek. Hundred thousand dollars inside. my pants, my shit on fleek. Hey YEEAAAAAH!

https://open.spotify.com/track/33JcUj9qQDayKswunZP9ar?si=GE67964KTpmkhtd8LQdNuA

WITH THEM

Another Thugger song, another great beat drop at the beginning. This instrumental is so hard, dude. Sonically, this might be my favorite song on this whole list. I love how many different flows Young Thug has on this song. Every few bars he switches it up his flow; Young Thug is great at keeping the listener engaged because they are trying to figure out what he is saying. One of my favorite bars on the song is this one right here:

I just went hunting, I found me a rabbit, I picked out the carrots. I’m just tired of smoking kush, I need some moonrock out in Cali…

https://open.spotify.com/track/0tISnxqgVmxqhVghsTi2Rr?si=DXhzqTBQT7mfnyD_2iYFow

DIGITS

‘Digits’ is definitely a favorite among the Young Thug Stans out there. This is yet another cut on this is from the iconic album Slime Season 3. If you want to hear an experimental and eccentric trap album, definitely listen to Slime Season 3. This song has one of the most sincere meanings of any Young Thug song in my opinion. Young Thug is just going to keep trying to get the money and do whatever he has to do to get to where he wants to be.

N****a hustlers don’t stop, they keep going. You can lose your life and still keep going…..

https://open.spotify.com/track/4cg1yakyRSIOjxKM2I7J1q?si=0o_IIVK9Tw6PM-Km7S6gUw

WYCLEF JEAN

If someone were to walk up to me on the street and ask me what my favorite Young Thug song is, I would probably say that it is ‘Wyclef Jean.’ One of my favorite things about this track is it is named after famed Haitian musician Wyclef Jean, and it has a very Caribbean sounding reggae trap beat. This cut has some of the best explicitly sexual Thugger lines ever. I do not want to quote one of those because my mom may read this, so here is one of my favorite non-sexual lines:

Okay, my money goes longer than a NASCAR race. I told her keep going on the gas, fuck the brakes…..

https://open.spotify.com/track/55OdqrG8WLmsYyY1jijD9b?si=Aiei17e6RZqYTKJ7XVe1Uw

IMMA RIDE

If it weren’t for The Birdman gracing us with one of his signature dumbass verses on this cut, ‘Imma Ride’ would probably be my all-time favorite Thugger song. The instrumental for this one is so dark and hard; the “Blat” ad-lib is one of the most infectious ad-libs in any of his songs in my opinion, and that is saying a lot. This song sparked one of the strangest online dance trends of all time; y’all remember all of those videos of girls doing various gang signs to the chorus of this cut? This song also has one of his most easily singable choruses:

N****a playing with my whoadie, Imma ride…..

https://open.spotify.com/track/5wj0htHicQe4jpPz1AAeoq?si=s_3GyAYSQvu5rw12uvpnCw

OLD ENGLISH

‘Old English,’ which features A$AP Ferg and Freddie Gibbs, is an awesome collaboration between some of the weirdest and crazy linguists from the rap game in recent memory. All three of these artists are known for their interesting lyricism and diverse flows, and this song does not disappoint on that front. I really wish that this trio would have made a full album together because that would be insane. This song also has one of the best and most singable choruses of any Young Thug song:

800 capsules of Molly. Just be very still, I’m not going to hurt anybody. Hell naw, I’m not twelve, but if I like it, I cop it…

https://open.spotify.com/track/2MO3mSPBH8U9qalH72vqZ1?si=LO1IP371QneobSGvpsy77w