Key Insights
- Joe Budden’s Perspective: Budden believes Young Thug’s brand value has significantly decreased since his release from jail.
- Limited Output: Young Thug has released very little music and faced controversies, including accusations of snitching.
- Brand Mismanagement: Budden criticizes Thug for poor decisions that have negatively impacted his public image.
- Recent Music References: Young Thug’s new song hints at his complicated relationship with Gunna.
Joe Budden has made it clear that he believes Young Thug‘s stock has “plummeted” since his release from jail last year.
Since his release on a highly restrictive plea deal, Thug has dropped a minimal amount of music, been beefing with Gunna and attacked with snitching accusations of his own.
Speaking on his self-titled podcast, Budden claimed that Thug had made a number of wrong moves since his freedom.
He said: “I want to talk about another s word as it relates to Young Thug. Stock. And it is plummeting. Outside of Atlanta, he is putting on a masterclass in how to take a good brand and totally fuck it up. He made a bunch of phone calls to tell people how he felt about Gunna.
Joe Budden said that Young Thug’s stock has dropped, and he’s giving a masterclass on how to ruin his own brand. After getting out of prison, he went after Gunna, hasn’t dropped new music, is acting like a “chatty patty,” and no longer has Kevin Liles’ support. pic.twitter.com/gLgyl0FYVc
— joebuddenclips/fanpage (@ab191793) August 30, 2025
“No music that did nothing. The branding and marketing genius that he’s shown himself to be, it ain’t even been flashes of that. Every time you see him, there’s been an embarrassing look that come with it. He looks a fucking mess.”
Budden added: “He could have come out, got to work, not been chatty patty.”
Young Thug recently called out Gunna in a song snippet.
He raps on an unreleased song: “Only reason I fucked with you, Gunna, it was ’cause of Troup,” referring to the late Keith B. Troup, who was a friend and mentor to both men who was murdered in 2015.
Thugger previously addressed his relationship with Gunna during a sit down with GQ.
The journalist brought up the rumors of a rift between the YSL rappers and asked what the status is. However, Thug didn’t provide a clear answer.
“I know everybody wonders [what our relationship is like now],” he noted, before saying: “I don’t know.”
The same day the interview was released (though it had been conducted weeks earlier), Young Thug dropped the lead single from his upcoming album Uy Scuti titled “Money On Money” featuring Future.
While the track is a bombastic return to the Atlanta star’s best, it’s most notable for some lines that appear to be aimed at his former friend and his decision to take an Alford plea during YSL’s long-running and controversial RICO trial.
On the song’s hook, Thug raps: “These fuck n-ggas tellin’ for nothin’, and I gotta be the one callin’ ’em friends.”
He later spits: “Brother, you a rat (My brother).”
Thugger also reiterated the accusation in a subsequent verse: “Twin, you a rat, you smoked, uh.”
