I know what you’re thinking: “YoungBoy? Seriously? You already lost me.”
But hear me out: YoungBoy Never Broke Again (more commonly known as NBA YoungBoy) is indeed one of the best rappers, if not the best rapper of our generation—and look no further than his most recent stop at the Prudential Center on Monday night as part of his “Make America Slime Again” (MASA) Tour for proof as to why.
In an era where most rappers cancel their tours due to poor ticket sales (Lil Baby, Ken Carson, and Lil Durk, just to name a few), there was not a single empty seat by the time YoungBoy hit the stage, and the same can be said for any one of the 18 shows on his tour so far, all of which have been sold out.
In other words, people across the country are going to see YoungBoy in person. In fact, the 25-year-old rapper is in such high demand that the tour was expanded from its initial 27 dates to 45, just a few weeks after it was first announced.
So what’s YoungBoy’s secret to success: how has he managed to headline a sold-out, 45-date tour, while other rappers are struggling to fill seats?
One might point to the statistics of YoungBoy’s career to answer that question. At the time of this article, he boasts 14 million followers and 20 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Furthermore, he has 27 songs with over 100 million streams on Spotify, the most streamed being “Bandit,” a song by the late rapper Juice Wrld featuring YoungBoy that currently sits at just under 1 billion streams. Total, he has roughly 17 billion total streams.
YoungBoy receives the majority of his streams from YouTube. His channel has 14.8 million subscribers and over 17 billion views—making him the fourth most-viewed rapper behind Nicki Minaj (with over 25 billion views), Drake (over 32 billion) and Eminem (over 40 billion). He has 31 solo songs with over 100 million views, with his 2018 hit “Genie” currently sitting at over 450 million views.
In 2023, he was YouTube’s most-streamed rapper for the fifth consecutive year. Last year, he was the second most-streamed musician on the platform, behind rapper Peso Pluma, and ahead of superstars like Drake, Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift.
In March, YoungBoy also became the most accomplished rapper of the last decade. After the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) updated its certifications, YoungBoy was acknowledged for eight platinum-selling albums—the most of any artist, let alone rapper, in the last 10 years.
But numbers only tell half of the story, and don’t carry nearly the same weight in music as they do in something like sports (how fitting of the head sports editor to point out/shameless plug). There are plenty of musicians who have impressive numbers or records, but ultimately fade into obscurity (or “fall off”) after just a short period of relevancy.
The real answer to the question: the loyalty of his fanbase. Over the years, YoungBoy has garnered a diehard, cult-like fanbase comparable only to others like Beyonce’s “Beyhive,” Nicki Minaj’s “Barbz,” or Taylor Swift’s “Swifties.” Although his fans might not have a fun nickname like these other examples, YoungBoy’s fans are as loyal as it gets—they don’t play about YB.
This loyalty was on full display at the Prudential Center on Monday night: nearly everyone in the arena waved bright-green bandanas, pledging their allegiance to YoungBoy and his entourage; sang along to a setlist that spanned the rapper’s entire career, further showing their longtime devotion to the cause; and donned merch with the rapper’s face on it like a badge of honor.
But even with a fanbase this loyal, YoungBoy remains one of the most polarizing figures in the music industry. It seems that there is no middle ground when it comes to the rapper—you either love or hate him.
Part of this polarization comes from the subject matter of his music. Like many of his peers, YoungBoy has been accused of glorifying and or promoting violence in his music. He’s had his fair share of legal trouble throughout his career, which has exacerbated this controversy.
In fact, YoungBoy’s current tour comes just six months after he served less than half of a 23-month sentence for gun charges. This marks the seventh time he has been incarcerated, with past charges including robbery, attempted murder, assault, drug charges, and, most recently, identity fraud.
And yet, YoungBoy’s most recent journey from a cell block to a sold-out arena should be an inspiration for anyone trying to overcome adversity. Indeed, YoungBoy’s story itself is exactly that.
Born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a place known for its high crime rate, YoungBoy grew up surrounded by poverty, gang violence and criminal activity. As a teenager, he dreamed of making it as a rapper—and that's exactly what he did. His rise from rags to riches should be inspiring to anyone. If he could make it out of that, you can make it out of whatever you’re going through and make your dreams a reality just like he did.
In this way, YoungBoy’s performance at the Prudential Center on Monday night was a testament to the power of resilience. This helps explain how YoungBoy has garnered such a loyal fanbase: what he offers in comparison to other rappers is a relatability that makes him feel accessible and within reach, especially for our generation.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
