Young Nudy

Atlanta rapper Young Nudy came into the public eye with his 2016 mixtape Slimeball. The young artist employed a variety of styles in his somewhat surreal approach to rap, from a druggy, deadpan delivery to more enthused triplet flows. Following his breakthrough with Slimeball, he had a series of increasingly musically rich releases like 2019′s collaboration with Pi'erre Bourne, Sli'merre, the tense, creepy atmospheres of 2021′s Dr. EV4L, and a marriage of nostalgic radio hip-hop production and slithering, sinister flows on 2023′s food-themed Gumbo.
Young Nudy was born Quantavious Thomas and came up as part of an immensely talented crop of rappers who included his cousins 21 Savage and Offset. Early on, he impressed producer Pi'erre Bourne, who would sneak Nudy into the studio off the clock to work on tracks for mixtapes. While his first video appeared online as early as 2014 for a song titled “Off the Head,” it was his 2016 mixtape Slimeball that ignited his fame worldwide. He quickly followed up the next year with Slimeball 2, which featured appearances from Juicy J and Peso. Before 2017 was through, Young Nudy returned with his Nudyland mixtape, featuring production from Richie Souf and Pi'erre Bourne as well as guest spots from Offset and Lil Yachty. A 2018 collaboration with cousin 21 Savage, called “Since When,” emerged as a major hit, notching millions of streams. Nudy followed up later that year with Slimeball 3. Sli'merre, a full-length collaboration with Bourne, was released to critical acclaim in 2019, as was the more low-key mixtape Faded in the Booth.
In early 2020, Nudy returned with the mixtape Anyways. The project was marked by experimental production and more unconventional instrumentals backdropping some of the rapper’s more frenzied performances and darker lyrics. Nudy continued experimenting with his sound in 2021 with second studio album Dr. EV4L. The sinister, horrorcore-influenced record included appearances from Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, and G Herbo and dealt in ominous instrumentals and tense lyrical themes. Just months after the release of Dr. EV4L, Nudy returned with his third studio LP, Rich Shooter, in August 2021. The album took a turn from horrorcore to more experimental approaches, while still retaining a commercial appeal. Guest appearances from Future, 21 Lil Harold, Peewee Longway, and several others made the final track listing, but the majority of the record found Young Nudy on his own, trying on various styles. The set debuted in the Top 200 of the Billboard charts.
2022 saw Nudy team up with Babydrill on the single “Duntsane,” the first single released in advance of his next mixtape, EA Monster. Arriving in August 2022, the tape was a tightly produced project with an emphasis on futuristic synth sounds and Nudy’s increasingly fluid rapping abilities. The set cracked the Billboard Top 200 charts, debuting in the number 151 position. Nudy’s next album, Gumbo, was released in February of 2023 and took a much different stylistic turn, opting for minimal beats and production flourishes that evoked late-2000s radio-geared hip-hop. All the album’s songs had food-related titles, and Key Glock and 21 Savage made guest appearances. Gumbo debuted at number 135 in its first week on the Billboard charts. ~ Fred Thomas