NBA Youngboy is one of the hottest rappers in the game.
But he's also faced a lot of legal problems and pressure from police
since first blowing up.
Most recently, his Texas home was raided by a SWAT team
and three NBA affiliates got arrested in connection with a shooting
that happened last November.
Let’s take a closer look at what happened.
On Tuesday, January 25th,
the Texas home of NBA Youngboy was raided by a SWAT team,
three men got arrested and multiple weapons were seized.
Youngboy is the official owner of the property and his mom Sherhonda Gaulden still lives there.
But the rapper is currently on house arrest and locked down at an estate in Utah,
while he awaits trial for his recent federal gun case.
It’s not clear if his mom was present during the raid.
Neither Youngboy or his mom were arrested,
but three NBA affiliates, Roymellow Williams, Daryl Brown, and Carleon Gallien
were arrested on charges ranging from robbery to aggravated assault.
A spokesman for the sheriff’s office
stated that the arrests were related to a shooting that happened back in November.
On November 10th, 2021,
the Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call
about an altercation that occurred on the 700 block of Barren Springs around 12:30pm.
During the fight, someone pulled out a gun and started shooting.
Two suspects fled the scene and were being pursued by police.
A 20-year-old man was shot multiple times in the body and head.
He was rushed to an urgent care facility by a private vehicle,
then transported to Ben Taub hospital for further treatment.
He was facing life-threatening injuries, but luckily, he survived
and is now out of the hospital.
The police have somehow connected these three NBA affiliates to the shooting.
During the raid, the SWAT Team also seized multiple weapons,
including AR-15’s, pistols, and other rifles.
The raid came just a few days after Youngboy dropped his 17th mixtape Colors.
The rapper has been dropping songs and videos non-stop
since being released from jail back in October, after posting a $500,000 bond.
According to Youngboy’s producer, Jason “Cheese” Goldberg,
the rapper is taking a break from releasing music while he works on his next album.
He’s been going through it over the past year,
fighting a federal gun case ever since he was arrested by the FBI back in March of last year.
He was released in October 2021 on a $500,000 bond
and has been on house arrest ever since at a property in Utah.
Youngboy was first arrested on September 28th, 2020
after police were called to the scene of a music video in his hometown of Baton Rouge.
Neighbors called the cops
and reported seeing a group of men hanging around an abandoned house with large guns.
Police arrived at the scene and ended up arresting 16 people,
including Youngboy for various charges
including distribution and manufacturing of drugs and possession of stolen firearms.
At first, the rapper was granted bond and released pending trial.
In early 2021, it was announced that the entire NBA crew was being investigated by the FBI.
According to Youngboy’s attorney’s, the FBI called the investigation
Operation Never Free Again
and they were set on taking down the rapper and anyone affiliated with him.
Then on March 10th, the rapper was indicted by a grand jury in Louisiana
and was charged with one count of possession of a firearm
by a convicted felon and one count of possession of an unregistered firearm.
A warrant was issued for his arrest
and Youngboy was taken into police custody on March 23rd, after a brief chase.
When the LAPD tried to pull him over, he tried to drive off and escape.
But after a short pursuit, he got out of the car and ran away on foot.
He tried to run for a while but was eventually caught after being tracked by a K-9 unit.
He was brought into custody and spent the next seven months behind bars.
At first, a California judge granted him a pre-trial release
after he agreed to post a bond secured by several of his million-dollar properties.
But his release also needed to be approved by a judge in Louisiana
because that’s where he first got arrested.
In early April, a Louisiana judge revoked his bond,
citing his history of parole violations and violent behavior over the past few years.
The judge called Youngboy dangerous and reckless,
pointing to images of the rapper posing with weapons, including one
showing him holding an assault rifle next to a young fan.
So, he had to stay in jail for a few more months.
But being one of the hottest artists in the world,
he hired some good lawyers and they eventually came up with a plan that satisfied the judge.
Rather than return to his home state of Baton Rouge
or another city like LA where he might get into it with other rappers,
Youngboy would await trial on house arrest near the home of his mentor in Layton, Utah.
His team also hired armed security to monitor the property
and ensure that he followed all the conditions of his release.
His mentor, Kyrie Oliver, who testified on Youngboy’s behalf,
said she met the rapper while working at a Baton Rouge School
and kept in touch with him ever since.
She told the court that if Youngboy was released, she would keep an eye on him.
Prosecutors questioned this, pointing out that Youngboy had paid Oliver $600,000
to serve as his “celebrity assistant” from January 4th to February 1st.
Plus they argued that Bedrock Security, the security firm Youngboy was planning on hiring,
would make $21,000 per week for its services, creating a similar issue.
Atlantic Records CEO Julie Greenwald also testified on the rapper’s behalf.
She told the court that the company had already invested over $2 million in Youngboy
and that they planned on helping him construct a home studio in Utah,
where he could focus on his music and stay out of trouble.
On October 22nd, judge Shelly Dick decided to reverse her prior ruling
and allowed Youngboy to be released under strict supervision.
In addition to the conditions his attorneys came up with,
he was also required to wear an ankle monitor, was given a strict curfew,
and limited to only three visitors at a time.
So after posting a $500,000 cash bail,
the rapper went straight to Utah, where he's been ever since.
Most people with an open Fed case
would probably just count their blessings and try to stay out of trouble.
But ever since he’s been released, Youngboy has continued to make headlines.
While still behind bars the rapper dropped his third studio album Sincerely, Kentrell
which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 200.
This made Youngboy the third rapper to have a number one album while locked up,
after Lil Wayne and Tupac.
In December, he also shocked fans by dropping a video for the song Black Ball,
which showed him wearing lipstick and eye makeup,
with the words Rock and Peace written on his cheeks.
While it’s nothing new for artists to paint their faces for shock appeal,
it seemed odd for a street rapper like Youngboy.
In a Clubhouse session with DJ Akademiks,
Youngboy revealed that he liked painting his face because it makes him feel more comfortable.
I like paint my face and I wanna put makeup on like
I don't know I like just look in the mirror and see everything black
He also appeared in a photo on his sister's IG
with his face fully painted in black and white makeup.
He was later seen with the same look in the video for his song Emo Rockstar.
So, it looks like he’s experimenting with a new style.
Some fans have given him heat for it
while others have praised his individuality and willingness to take risks.
But the biggest controversy Youngboy has created in the months since he’s been released
is probably dissing King Von and O’Block on the track Bring the Hook.
On the song, Youngboy raps
“N***a, this that Squid Game, O-Block pack get rolled up
Murder what they told us, Atlanta boy get fold up
N***a get your hoes up, these b***** throwin' up green flags
Throwin' that NBA up, for me, set you up to bust your ass”.
So, he wasn’t just sending subliminals, he was calling out O’Block by name
and dissing King Von, who died in Atlanta back in November 2020.
As most rap fans already know,
Von was killed following an altercation with Youngboy’s artist,
Quando Rondo outside of a hookah lounge in Atlanta.
Ever since then, O’Block and the NBA camp have had problems.
But, Youngboy has spent the last year fighting his case,
so it seemed like the beef died down while both sides were focused on their own situations.
Now out of nowhere, Youngboy is making it known that he still don’t like them.
It ain’t clear exactly what led to the diss.
But it seems like Youngboy wanted to hype up his new album
and knew exactly what would get people talking.
Plus, Youngboy might be going away for a while given his pending fed case.
So, he may have wanted to get it off his chest while he still had the chance.
The bars resulted in a quick response from some of Von’s homies.
Lil Durk posted a photo of himself under a portrait of Von with the caption
““Don’t claim it if you ain’t do it you still a b****””.
Lil Reese also chimed in,
commenting on a tweet that DJ Akademiks posted about the song.
Akademiks tweeted “NBA Youngboy on demon time rn … sheesh.
N he dropping a whole tape Friday.”
Lil Reese responded by saying
“That ain’t no demon time he just rapping like the rest of these rappers all rap”.
NLE Choopa also hopped into the discussion, replying to Reese’s comment by saying
“I stamp that”.
This led to a separate situation between Youngboy and Choppa.
A fan ran up on NLE while he was alone at the airport and got into a fight with him,
showing exactly how crazy Youngboy’s fanbase really is.
However in a recent interview NLE Choppa said that it wasn’t a NBA fan
but one of his own fans who got shook the wrong way.
So now Youngboy has half the industry mad at him.
But Youngboy has never been an artist
who cared how the rest of the industry felt about him.
He’s managed to build one of the most insane fanbases in hip hop
all on his own and don’t seem like he cares about doing features or being cool with other rappers.
Just recently
he dropped a song and video with another rapper who was canceled by the industry, DaBaby.
So, there are clearly artists who will still rock with him
no matter how many enemies he makes.
All of Youngboy’s antics have been great for his album sales but probably won’t help with his case.
He’s looking at doing up to 10 years for the gun charge
and could do more if they can tie him to other crimes.
It’s not clear if police believe he was somehow connected to the shooting
that led to the raid on his home or it just happened to involve NBA affiliates.
But it’s definitely not a good look given his current situation.
More info will probably come out once the defendants appear in court.
So, stay posted for updates.