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NBA YoungBoy: a career timeline
Twenty-six years, nine albums, and a career that has spent almost as much time constrained by the courts as by the charts.
1999
Born Kentrell DeSean Gaulden on 20 October in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His father is incarcerated during his infancy; his grandmother raises him.
2012
His grandmother dies. Gaulden is thirteen. He has described this as the point his life changed direction.
2015 to 2016
Begins releasing mixtapes independently, building a Baton Rouge following. Becomes a father for the first time at seventeen.
2017
Signs with Atlantic Records and Artist Partner Group. "Untouchable" and "No Smoke" become his first Billboard Hot 100 entries.
2018
"Outside Today" reaches the top forty and is eventually certified quadruple platinum. Debut studio album Until Death Call My Name arrives.
2019
AI YoungBoy 2 debuts at number one on the Billboard 200 with every track certified gold. "Bandit" with Juice WRLD becomes his first top ten single.
2020 to 2021
Top and Sincerely, Kentrell arrive. Legal proceedings and custody restrictions dominate this stretch, with long periods unable to tour. He is released from custody in October 2021.
2022
The Last Slimeto is released, closing out the Atlantic era.
2023
Two studio albums in fifteen weeks: I Rest My Case in January and Don't Try This at Home in April, the latter with Nicki Minaj, Post Malone and The Kid LAROI. He also marries Jazlyn Mychelle Hayes.
2024
Arrested days before the intended release of I Just Got a Lot on My Shoulders. He spends much of the year in a Utah county jail and accepts a plea deal in a long-running federal gun case, receiving a twenty-seven month sentence. The album is released on 6 December into a total promotional vacuum and peaks at number 153, the worst chart placing of his career.
2025
Released on probation in April after years of house arrest and custody. On 28 May he receives a presidential pardon, closing the federal case that had constrained his career for half a decade. MASA follows on 25 July, and the Make America Slime Again Tour runs from September to November across forty-two shows, drawing 553,565 people and grossing just under $70 million — by far the largest touring run of his career.
2026
Slime Cry, his ninth studio album, arrives on 16 January with Burna Boy and Jelly Roll guesting. The MASA tour extends into the year, taking in Rolling Loud Orlando in May. In August he tells Open Thoughts with Funny Marco that he has one or two albums left and will tour only once more, saying music is no longer where his focus sits.
Frequently asked
When is NBA YoungBoy's birthday?
20 October 1999. He turned 26 in 2025.
Is NBA YoungBoy retiring?
In August 2026 he said he expects to release one or two more albums and tour once more before stepping back from music.