Harley Geffner sees straight through you like linen.
If I have one mission on this Earth, it’s to spread the Gospel of Thug. One of the first times I ever considered writing about music was after an argument I had with a friend in 2014 who said Young Thug makes the worst music he’d ever heard. If you don’t already think he’s one of the defining voices of this generation of rap, then please close this tab. You don’t deserve to hear these songs.
Outside of the lone project he released this year, there were maybe 50 older songs leaked. This is by no means an extensive list of all the songs that leaked this year, just some of my favorites. Maybe 30 percent of the tracks listed here actually leaked in mid-late 2018, but felt too integral to my year in Thug to exclude. There’s 26 songs and that’s after some painstaking cuts. The majority of these, I’m leaving without a category designation because Thug is impossible to pin down, but the most pop-leaning tracks, lovey songs, and collabs get their own sections. Source links keep getting deleted, so I’ve uploaded them all to Google Drive and you can download/listen with the hyperlinks. I’m not here to discuss the morality of spreading leaks. They’re out already and they should be heard. Enjoy. And download them (individually or all together via this zip file) before we get a C&D for this.
Pop Thug
“Gotta Do That” – Goose with another. This one, from the Rich Gang era. Thug plays around with an ad-lib pattern at the end of his second verse that’s super hard (starting around 2:55) that includes “meow, meow, meow,” followed by “yum, yummy, yum.”
“Diamonds hit you in your face, you know // Like a n**** sprayed mace, you know”
“Hoe Tendencies” – Very dramatic beat with angelic choirs. Thug always rips it over those. I love it when he switches up his ad-libs the second or third time through a hook.
“Ever since I known her she been screaming ‘sheesh!’
Ten thousand dollar rug so she can’t scratch her knees”
“I am a stoner, but I still don’t go no wax habit
And I be drinkin’ that lean, I am a nap addict”
“New Bae” – From 2016, this is one of the most anticipated Thug leaks of all time among the stan community because of a very important snippet from TM88’s snapchat of Thug and company on a yacht in paradise. Thug hits a legendary vrooming dance move with his arms at the beginning, and when TM88 says “this is when it gets STUPID,” he wasn’t lying. Every time I hear this song, I imagine myself on that yacht in paradise.
“You played the guitar at a night show, I might come and listen
Shawty the highlight, she got a good vibe, make life worth livin”
“OMG” – This one is so widespread, it feels weird to even include it here. Similarly to New Bae, this track was also highly anticipated, and for a long time I was listening to stitched together versions from it playing in the background on Jerrika Karlae and Thug’s various social accounts and now I can’t unhear Jerrika talking in the background. In the second bar below, he pays homage to the opening on Wayne’s “Prostitute 2.” Most referred to the track as “New Species,” because of the first bar below. Quite possibly my favorite song by anyone in the past two years.
“Ever since I got my mouth fixed, I’ve been a whole new species”
“I don’t care if you a prostitute, that way before you met me
I don’t care if you know everybody in a motherfucking street”
“Photogenic” – Comment from a redditor on a thread about this song: “HOLY SHIT. I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS TO DROP FOR YEARS. LITERALLY YEARS. IT’S DROPPED. THIS IS THE DAY ALL OF US SLIMEGOONS ARE EATING AND SMOKING PENISES”
“I hit the club just to fuckin’ see her cause she photogenic
You goddamn right she photogenic”
Lovey Thug
“Sick of You” – The harmonizing over the youuu’s in the chorus here is heavenly.
“Take you on a trip to Japan (Japan, ay, ay)
Diamonds on you, wedding bands (Uh, woah woah)
I’m telling you the plan (Ah)
I’m high off your of love, can’t land (Ay)
Move you to Texas like a ranger
Buy you a whole lotta land (For real)
I just wanna see you walkin’ on the sand, yes I do (Ay)
Wanna get on one knee in the stand, yes I do (Ay)”
“You Don’t Care” – Thug conveys the mixed emotions of arguing with someone you love so well in this song.
“How could you care about you, when you don’t care about me? How could you say you in love, when you a low key freak? How could you know about that, and you don’t know about this? How could you do that to a G, when I got your ass off E?”
“I see it on your face, baby, you don’t care, don’t care // I know what to do, get high ’til I don’t care, don’t care // Yeah, I think I’m high to the point I don’t care, don’t care”
“Far Away” – This song feels like the flirting butterflies.
“February birthday, boy you scary (ha)
Draped up in all white like the tooth fairy, yeah (got wings too)”
“Be You” – Nice song where Thug’s telling his girl he just wants her to be herself. According to the outro, this whole thing was freestyled. I believe him. In fact, here’s the whole outro because it’s mad funny.
“Aye, I don’t wanna worry about fixing this motherfucker
You know what I’m sayin’?
That’s a real freestyle right off the top, you know what I’m sayin’?
I swear to God
One take, you understand what I’m sayin’?
Bake the cake, bae, bitch, eat that up
Thugger! I meant Jeffery! Yeah, udigg?
See, I had to go back to being myself, you know what I’m sayin’?
First I was someone else, I was Young Thug
That’s exactly who I wanted to be like
You know what I’m sayin’?
Now I’m back to myself, I’m Jeffery
Fuckin’ hoes, Hugh Heffley, Hugh Heffley, yeah
Jeffery, Hugh Heffley, udigg? Hahaha
Eat that up, you know what I’m sayin’?
Timeless music! ENT!
Hah!”
“Who Do You Love” – There was a week where I couldn’t get Thug crooning “I bought you 50 Chanel purses in Peruuuu” out of my head.\
“I bought you fifty Chanel purses in Peru (Peru) // Some were old, but majority of ’em was new // You ain’t tied yet, I’ma take you to the moon”
“Take you to the mall today and take you out to date you (Date you) // Take you ’round the world with me and take you on vacation (Hey) // Let you see what you want to see and put you in the latest (Latest)”
“You’re the One” – This is really as lovey as Thug gets. He has said in the past that he records songs just for his fiance that he never intends to release to the public. It’s possible this was one of those tracks, and listening almost feels invasive to their relationship. Beautiful song though.
“You a hidden treasure, you don’t even know it
And I’m ready to dig, baby, give me my shovel
And don’t you never never cry about a kid, baby
And I’m all the way with you, you can count me in, baby”
Collab Thug
“Lady” – Thug and Davido have great chemistry singing together here. I wish he would get on more beats like this. According to an unverified Genius commenter, the song comes from their studio sessions recording the song “Pere” with Rae Sremmurd.
“I’ma eat your lil’ cookie, Famous Amos
I just wanna put it in your anus
We were taught to do it, you can’t blame nothin’ on us
We was geeked up off that angel dust”
Rockstar Life – Thug x Youngboy. ‘Nuff said.
“Life of Sin” – Featuring Usher, this one leaked in 2018, but the complete version with Usher’s verse came this year. Thug has a classic “Lean, leanleanleanlean” adlib in here that makes my heart valves flutter.
“In 2000, I lost my motherfuckin’ bro named Bennie (RIP Bennie)
And ever since then, I’ve been drinking color purple, No motherfuckin’ Celie (lean, leanleanleanlean)”
“Shooters” – Thug x Jeremih is a time-tested combo.
“Okay and we paying all our shooters
Bread passed to the team, yeah yeah
Bread passed to the team, yeah
Go ahead clear the scene, yeah yeah
Draco with the beam, yeah
Everything about me clean but I go and hit it right on a bean bag
Hundred racks to the whole squad and I know they ain’t even need that, yeah”
Uncategorizable Thug
“Blue Jean Bandit” – Jeffery at his technical best. One of the most fun songs in the whole batch. I still can’t believe Jeff let me write about a Thug leak as the #7 song of the year on POW’s rap songs of the year list.
“I Got Mine” – At 1:47, he starts warbling “I’m literally rapping the booth with motherfuckin money in my hand man, I love the feeling, it gives me chills ya dig,” which is the start of the interlude from another pretty well-known snip with Future. On the version I have saved in my iTunes, I cut off everything before that interlude, as that’s when it really heats up.
“Mixing that purple and green like a turtle”
“I heard love don’t last forever, but imma change that like aquafina change weather
And imma bang that, I’m banging with that damn beretta”
“Roxy (critic)” – Classic sounding Thug. Hard to date this one.
“I ran it up and moved my momma out the trap house, hey
Now she got a white house, n****, and she got a black house (She got both)
And it feels good every time I cash out for her (Cash)
And I love her smile, n****, it’s so adorable”
“Can’t You Tell” – This song was highly anticipated because of a high quality snippet Thug dropped where he was rapping in a car with thick-rim clear glasses. Because of that snip, I can’t hear this song without seeing Thug sleeping on hand pillows and pulling a finger gun from under while he says “I had em sleeping good while I hit licks,” (time-stamped in the snip here).
“Baby momma hate who I date
Baby momma hate who I can’t hate
They mad cuz my pockets ain’t on pancake
If they had the ups they’d off my toupee
Even though I spent racks on their due dates”
“Still in the Streets” – Thug’s entrance in to the song is chilling. Great subtle beat switch near the end for the extended outro too.
“N****s dripping got two Cuban links with a Jeffery on the v-neck”
“How Many” – Thug invents the world “lavilish” in this song.
“Friend” – This one is very old Thug, I’d guess from around 2013/14 just from his voice.
“Cry Like This” – Very reflective Thug rapping his ass off about the contradictions inherent in wanting to stop the cycle of gang violence so he doesn’t die (which will make his mom “slice her wrists”), but also making sure he has the strap on him so he’s protected.
“What the fuck you mean put my gun down motherfucka’ (Huh)
You must’ve heard about Treyvon Martin you motherfucka’ (Go)”
“So Good” – Electronic Thugger, calling his dick the devil. London’s on da track.
“When I first realized that time don’t stop (When?)
Is when I had no service for my clock then”
“Baby, prepare me, please prepare me for these streets (Hey)
If you believe it, take this devil out my jeans, yah”
“Why” – We finally have a Why song to replace for “Why did Bush knock down the towers?” I’ll leave you with Thug’s opening verse here, which is surrounded by a cascading chorus of background “why, why, why, why”s throughout:
“I’ll never never never never lie to my n**** about bitches (yeah, swear to God) // I’ll never never never never play wit my n**** bout hoes (nah) // I’ll never never never never do my n**** wrong, bout a bitch I don’t know // why these fuck n***s lyin to they bros? // why the fuck these n****s lying to each other, they ‘posed to be brothers, why? // Why did my brother get gunned down? A couple streets from my mama’s spot // Why the fuck did someone leave him on the ground, leave blood in the parking lot // Why the fuck did the ambulance take a hundred years to pick him up (n****, why?) // And why these bitches falling for these n***s even though they just some suckers then they die?”
“Stick Up (Robbery)” – This one just leaked in December. I could see a place for it on So Much Fun.
“I want to buy your artist rights / I fucked a psychic in Dubai
