Through the annals of time, there have always been evidence of trouble for some very talented artists. Going back to musical prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, we’ve seen brilliance amid struggle and eventual death. In Mozart’s case he suffered illness in childhood and money problems as a young adult. This all led to his death at the age of 35. Jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong and piano great Ray Charles both experience drug possession arrests. Ray Charles suffered through a well-documented addiction problem. Jimi Hendrix died quite young after suffering with his own addiction. Natalie Cole’s 2000 autobiography revealed her lifelong struggle with drugs, specifically crack cocaine and heroin. Of course in our day there have been many artists who have struggled with addiction and legal problems. Many times landing them in jail or prison.
This week we examine another young, talented artist whose troubled life has led to bigger problems and now jail. Youngboy Never Broke Again has pushed his way toward major success independently, like a few others in our day. However, at this time he sits in a jail cell and was just denied bail.
During this post I hope to talk about Youngboy Never Broke Again’s childhood and how he came to fame. We’re also going to highlight his troubled life and time incarcerated, leading to where we are today. Ultimately, we will discuss what might be in the young rappers future as years go by.
Our story begins in North Baton Rouge in October 1999. In a 2017 interview with Fader.com Youngboy told his story of early childhood. “I come from a rare place,” he says. “It’s a different culture, different atmosphere, police crooked. Different emojis, and when I say emojis I mean personalities.” He started writing songs at the age of 7, inspired by his mom, who herself briefly rapped. When he was 8, his father was arrested and sentenced to 55 years in prison for a robbery gone wrong and his mother moved out of the neighborhood, leaving Youngboy with his maternal grandmother.
Kentrell Gaulden (Youngboy’s birth name) dropped out of ninth grade and was arrested for robbery and sent to a detention center in Tallulah, Louisiana. While there, he began writing lyrics for his debut project. After he was released from the detention center, Gaulden’s grandmother died of heart failure and Gaulden moved in with his friend and fellow Baton Rouge rapper, NBA 3Three (also known as OG 3Three). The two then used acts of criminality to begin to pay for studio time.
When I read about he and his partner funding studio time from stolen money, it made me think about some people I knew years ago. My friend was over my house for dinner and we started talking about a few guys we both knew in the music industry here in South Florida. I will not mention any names to avoid embarrassment and other problems. We talked about the music and then my friend mentioned that the funds for the project came from his family member who was incarcerated at the time. He was imprisoned on drug charges. Of course, here in South Florida I heard similar stories from several music executives. Nevertheless, this would be the start for Youngboy Never Broke Again.
Gaulden first began producing music with a microphone he bought from Walmart when he was fourteen years old. He released his first mixtape, Life Before Fame in 2015. A string of other mixtapes followed including Mind of a Menace, Mind of a Menace 2, and Before I Go. Gaulden attracted attention with his October 2016 mixtape, 38 Baby which featured fellow Baton Rouge natives, Boosie Badazz, Kevin Gates, and fellow rappers Stroke Tha Don and NBA 3Three. A week later, Gaulden released another mixtape titled Mind of a Menace 3 on November 4, 2016. Gaulden quick rise to popularity could also be attributed to his “song-for-song rap beef” with fellow Baton Rouge rapper Scotty Cain in December 2015, in which songs from both rappers included death threats. Although no real violence ever occurred between the two Baton Rouge rappers, their feuding attracted a lot of attention.
The legal problems would once again appear. In November 2016, Gaulden was arrested in Austin, Texas on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder in connection with an alleged drive-by shooting. While in jail in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, Gaulden rereleased two mixtapes Before I Go: Reloaded and Mind of a Menace 3: Reloaded including “Win or Lose”, “Don’t Matter”, and “Too Much”. Gaulden was released from prison in May 2017 after taking a plea deal and posting bail. A week after leaving prison, Gaulden released the single, “Untouchable”. The single, “Untouchable”, peaked at number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The second single from the project, “No Smoke”, peaked at number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100.
By January 2019, Gaulden was on YouTube’s Top Music Artists list in the United States for the previous 101 weeks, which made him the most-watched musician across all genres. This was mainly due in part to his consistency of releasing music regularly and exclusively on YouTube. He was also the 9th best selling artist on the 2019 Billboard Mid-Year Charts and was seventh in the top ten artists ranked by on-demand audio streams without dropping a project in the first six months of 2019.
It was around this time that really began to take notice of Youngboy Never Broke Again. YouTube was buzzing with the popular artist and music. Once again, he was an independent artist and what he was doing was an incredible accomplishment. Industry executives spoke of him as they would any prodigy. Of course, I also was considering featuring Youngboy Never Broke Again in a Weekly Music Commentary post. However, it didn’t happen at that time. On October 10, 2019, Gaulden released his mixtape AI Youngboy 2, marking his first full length project since 2018’s Realer. The mixtape is a sequel to his 2017 breakout AI Youngboy and features 18 songs, including the previously released song “Slime Mentality”. Gaulden was able to get his first number one album on the Billboard 200 because the album had accumulated 144.7 million on-demand audio streams during its first week, becoming one of the top ten biggest streaming debuts of 2019.
After several arrests and releases, serving time under house arrest, and probation for a few offenses, Youngboy Never Broke Again would again experience a brush with law enforcement. On March 22, 2021, Gaulden was arrested by federal agents executing a federal warrant. Officers attempted to stop a vehicle with Gaulden in it to serve the warrant when Gaulden took off on foot. After a search that involved using a K9, Gaulden was found and booked on federal criminal charges.
Of course, the fans of Youngboy Never Broke Again would like to see him free and performing and recording more music. At this time it won’t happen. He is considered a flight risk after the most recent arrest. Also, federal prosecutors presented the court with unflattering photos of NBA Youngboy appearing to carry firearms on the set of a music video and in a photo with a 10-year-old fan.Therefore, his plea for release on bond has been denied.
What may all of this mean? First, Youngboy Never Broke Again will eventually have his day in court, and that will provide him the opportunity to present his case. Most likely he will not serve any more extensive time. Second, you must remember he is only 21 years old. Even if he must serve more time, he will still be out with much of his young years intact. Throughout his other jail time and house arrests, he still created music. My hope is that Youngboy Never Broke Again lives a life that does not end tragically.