Gunna is now a record label boss. Billboard reports the Atlanta rapper officially launched his SB The Label imprint in partnership with Atlantic Records on Friday, October 9, with himself at the helm as CEO. XXL Mag confirms the imprint arrives after years of Gunna releasing through Young Thug's YSL Records, and describes the move as his shift from artist to record executive. The first signees are Casper Bluff, Nechie and Dracc — artists InMusic Blog describes as reflecting the Atlanta network around Gunna, with Nechie dating back to his Drip Season era and Dracc known in the underground for "P Star." "SB THE LABEL represents the beginning of a new chapter for me," Gunna said in a statement, adding the venture is about "stepping into a new role, expanding what I can create, and building something that represents where I'm headed next."

What makes this launch surprising to hip-hop watchers is what it ends rather than what it starts. XXL Mag frames the move as Gunna parting ways with YSL Records outright, noting that last August's The Last Wun was widely reported as his final album under Young Thug's label. Billboard reports it is still unclear whether future releases will run through YSL and 300 Entertainment, and recalls that Gunna gave only a vague answer about his label situation in a September Forbes interview: "I wouldn't say apparently free. We in the works." The InMusic Blog adds context on how complicated that chapter had grown since the 2022 Georgia RICO case, after which Gunna accepted an Alford plea in December 2022 while repeatedly denying he cooperated with prosecutors or testified against Young Thug. A formal split through his own imprint is the clearest answer yet.

The label launched with music, not paperwork. Billboard reports Gunna released "Pop It" on Friday with a lavish Spike Jordan-directed video starring 22-year-old tennis phenom Coco Gauff — an unexpected co-star for a rap rollout. According to Billboard, the clip opens with Gunna somehow returning one of Gauff's blistering serves, on a surreal court where a chandelier hangs overhead and a damask carpet replaces grass. The scene shifts to a cliffside mansion overlooking the ocean, where Gunna arrives by helicopter with his love interest, raps alongside a fleet of exotic sports cars, and later smashes a volley through a butler's glass of wine. XXL Mag says the visual's imagery of luxury and opulence matches the flossy lyrics, making it an immediate introduction to the new imprint's identity.

The business architecture matters as much as the roster. Billboard and XXL Mag both report the partnership sits with Atlantic Music Group, whose Chairman/CEO Elliot Grainge said: "It's impossible to overstate Gunna's influence on this generation of hip-hop and music as a whole. We're grateful and honored that he's chosen AMG as his partner to bring this endeavor to music fans." InMusic Blog notes the deal keeps Gunna connected to the Warner Music Group infrastructure that has supported his career for years, even as the new imprint builds an identity separate from his previous one. That backing carries weight: Billboard notes The Last Wun debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in August 2025 with 80,000 album-equivalent units, his seventh top 10 project, and XXL points to past hits like the Diamond-certified "Drip Too Hard" with Lil Baby and "Pushin P" with Future and Thug.

The launch doubles as an album rollout. Billboard reports Gunna unveiled the title of his next album, Splurge, in the September Forbes interview — "I want to introduce that, which is Splurge," he said, describing "this upper-echelon artist who's gravitated to another level" — without announcing a release date. Billboard and InMusic Blog both frame "Pop It" as the apparent kickoff of the Splurge rollout and the first release under the SB imprint. That sequencing matters for the label's credibility: InMusic Blog argues Gunna's first signees now get a platform on which he can develop emerging talent while expanding his own ambitions beyond performing. With the imprint announced, a star video out, and a new album teased, SB The Label opens with momentum rather than a bare press release.

Two open questions will shape how this chapter reads in a year. First, the YSL wind-down: Billboard reports it remains unclear whether Gunna's releases will continue through YSL and 300 Entertainment, so confirmation of where Splurge lands will be the first real test of the Atlantic arrangement. For devoted fans, the surprising development is structural: the rapper who spent nearly a decade inside Young Thug's YSL system has officially become the executive building his own, with Atlantic Music Group providing the corporate spine.