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Young Thug Says He's Going Full R&B With a Mary J. Album
By @sharedot · · 8 pages
- Hip Hop
- Young Thug
- Drake
- Rnb
- Drake Collaboration
Young Thug told The Crew Has It podcast he'll drop a Mary J. Blige-inspired R&B album this year and has unreleased Drake collaborations ready to go.
Thugger Announces His R&B Pivot
Young Thug says he is planning a full-fledged R&B album before the year is out. Speaking on The Crew Has It podcast with Power actors Kris D. Lofton and Gianni Paolo, taped at ComplexCon in Los Angeles, he declared: "I'm going R&B, I'm going Mary J. I'm going real R&B." Billboard reports the untitled project will lean on Mary J. Blige as inspiration, a sound he says he hasn't fully explored. Thug described most of the songs as sexual, with only two or three heartbreak records and the rest devoted to fun times.
Why the Reversal Surprises Fans
What makes this a genuine pivot is that Thug has only ever blended R&B into his rap sound rather than making it the main event. His 2017 mixtape Beautiful Thugger Girls mixed R&B with country and hip-hop, peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, and spawned the multiplatinum "Relationship" with Future, which hit No. 65 on the Hot 100. XXL also points to his 2020 Slime & B mixtape with Chris Brown as prior R&B fusion. Now outlets say he wants R&B front and center, not merely folded into Atlanta trap — a reinvention The Source argues he is actively setting up.
The Interview Evidence
The reveal came Tuesday, October 6, on The Crew Has It podcast, with the R&B talk starting around the 23-minute mark of the video, according to Billboard. Ratings Game Music notes Thug made his direction unmistakable, saying he is going for "real R&B" and specifically invoking Mary J. When Gianni Paolo offered to connect him with Blige, Foxy 99 reports Thug was immediately interested — he has already met the nine-time Grammy winner but wants more of that energy in his new era.
Watch Thug Announce It Himself
The development turns on the interview itself: a taped conversation at ComplexCon in which Thug announces his R&B plans and teases Drake collaborations. Ratings Game Music notes clips circulated on X on October 6, including the quote "I'm going R&B, I'm going Mary J, Real R&B" and Thug's line "We got a few songs… We finna drop, finna do what we gotta do." The video is the primary evidence for both claims, and Billboard says the R&B discussion begins at roughly the 23-minute mark.
Drake Collabs Loaded in the Clip
Alongside the album, Thug hinted that unreleased collaborations with Drake could finally surface, including "What a Time to Be a Slime," a song that leaked back in 2020 — a title Foxy 99 connects to a possible future project, riffing on Drake and Future's What a Time to Be Alive. The duo's history runs deep: the Hot 100-topping "Way 2 Sexy," plus "Ice Melts," "D4L," "Sacrifices," "Party on Cleveland" and "Oh U Went." The Source adds that Drake appeared twice on Thug's 2023 album Business Is Business and later claimed he financially backed Thug's legal fight, though Drake did not appear on post-prison album UY SCUTI due to touring conflicts.
What Comes Next for Thugger
No title, tracklist or release date has been confirmed, and Ratings Game Music notes it is unclear whether the Drake records will land on the R&B album or arrive separately. Foxy 99 attributes Thug's lighter songwriting mood to his engagement to R&B singer Mariah the Scientist, saying he is "super in love" and can't write many heartbreak songs right now. The project would be his first solo release since UY SCUTI last September, following YSL's Slime Language 3 compilation in August, which debuted at No. 146 on the Billboard 200. First, he and YSL head to Europe later in October for the New Generation Tour.
Sources
- billboard.com › Young Thug Teases Drake Collaborations & Says He's Releasing an R&B Album Later This Year
- foxy99.com › Young Thug Teases R&B Album Inspired by Mary J. Blige
- thesource.com › Young Thug Is Going R&B in 2026 and Says More Drake Collabs Are Loaded in the Clip
- ratingsgamemusic.com › Young Thug Announces R&B Album and Teases New Drake Music