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- in Music
Banned From Atlanta: The Challenges of Young Thug’s Unique Probation
The rapper was released from jail last week after a surprise guilty plea. For 15 years, a set of strict requirements will govern his life and music.One of the defining Atlanta rappers of his generation is no longer welcome in Atlanta.Following a surprise guilty plea last Thursday in a gang conspiracy and racketeering case that had already lasted nearly three years, the musician Young Thug, born Jeffery Williams, was given 48 hours to vacate the Atlanta metro area, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, for the next decade.Once the chart-topping face of Atlanta’s ever-evolving music scene, Mr. Williams, 33, may now return only briefly, under strict circumstances: for the anti-gun and anti-gang presentations he is required to make to local youth four times annually, or for the weddings, funerals, graduations or medical emergencies of his immediate family members.Mr. Williams’s banishment from his hometown was just one of 12 special conditions that he agreed to as part of a plea deal that allowed him to be released from jail that very evening. But can an international hip-hop star pick up where he left off under a new set of strict provisions that could reshape his lyrics, persona and pool of collaborators?According to experts, the length and intensity of Mr. Williams’s probation could present complications down the line, given the requirements of his profession and the vagueness or subjectivity of some of the rules that now govern his life.The judge in the case — who was given full discretion to decide on a punishment because Mr. Williams’s lawyers and prosecutors could not agree on a sentence even if he pleaded guilty — decided on time served and 15 years of probation, with an additional 20 years of prison time hanging over Mr. Williams’s head if he violates the agreement.Along the way, Mr. Williams must agree to be searched at any time; take random drug tests; refrain from promoting gangs in any way; and avoid associating with known gang members, excluding his brother, the musician Quantavious Grier, who is known as Unfoonk; and Sergio Kitchens, or Gunna, a rapper signed to Mr. Williams’s label. (Both Mr. Grier and Mr. Kitchens took plea deals in the same case ahead of trial.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
- in Music
Young Thug Released After Guilty Plea in Lengthy YSL Case
The star Atlanta rapper admitted to six counts, including participating in criminal street gang activity, ending his role in the longest trial in Georgia history.The star Atlanta rapper Young Thug pleaded guilty to participating in criminal street gang activity in a dramatic courtroom scene on Thursday, bringing his starring role in the longest trial in Georgia history to an unexpected conclusion after bumpy witness testimony complicated the state’s prosecution.After hearing sentencing recommendations from both sides, the judge in the case, Paige Reese Whitaker, sentenced Young Thug, born Jeffery Williams, to time served, plus 15 years of probation. He was released Thursday night, according to Fulton County jail records.Mr. Williams, 33, was matter-of-fact as he admitted to six counts, including possession of drugs and firearms, before turning contrite as he addressed the courtroom. Prosecutors had described him in opening statements 11 months ago as “King Slime,” the fearsome leader of a pack that terrorized the streets of Atlanta via gang warfare, robbery and drug dealing for nearly a decade as his music career took off.His guilty plea on Thursday followed a tense courtroom moment in which the judge asked Mr. Williams if he was ready to accept a non-negotiated plea, instead of a negotiated deal with prosecutors, because of an impasse over sentencing. Mr. Williams, looking stricken, conferred with his lawyers briefly before the judge called a recess to allow him to decide.In a non-negotiated plea, the judge is responsible for deciding the sentence based on recommendations from both sides.Upon returning, Mr. Williams said he would accept the blind plea; he also pleaded no contest to two additional counts, leading a criminal street gang and conspiracy to violate the RICO act, the state’s racketeering law.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
- in Music
One Defendant Accepts a Plea Deal Amid Young Thug’s RICO Trial
Prosecutors have accused the star Atlanta rapper of leading a gang in the longest trial in Georgia history. The case has been further delayed by plea negotiations.A defendant in the racketeering and gang conspiracy case against the Atlanta rapper Young Thug and members of his YSL crew agreed to a plea deal in court on Tuesday.Five defendants including Young Thug — born Jeffery Williams — remain, as the case sits in limbo following a motion for a mistrial and a multiday pause stemming from an evidence mishap during witness testimony last week.Mr. Williams, 33, stands charged with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, and participation in criminal street gang activity, along with six counts related to the possession of weapons and controlled substances. He has pleaded not guilty. The sprawling trial, in which 28 men were initially charged, had already become the longest in Georgia’s history after extended logistical complications, recurring courtroom dramas, the removal of one judge, the appointment of another, and a jail stabbing. Jury selection for the case, which was first charged in May 2022, began in January 2023 and lasted some 10 months, with opening arguments having taken place last November.On Tuesday, after more than three days of trial delays as potential mid-trial deals were considered, the YSL defendant Quamarvious Nichols agreed to a negotiated guilty plea to one count, conspiracy to violate RICO. As a result, prosecutors said they would recommend a 20-year prison sentence, with seven served in person and the balance on probation.The judge overseeing the case, Paige Reese Whitaker, accepted the plea without the jury present, adjourning court for the remainder of the day. A lawyer for Mr. Williams did not respond to a request for comment regarding any ongoing plea negotiations.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
- in Music
Lil Durk Is Accused of Conspiring to Kill a Rival. What We Know About the Case.
The rapper Lil Durk was arrested at the airport in Miami this week after he had been booked on flights to three international destinations, federal prosecutors said.The Grammy-winning rapper Lil Durk was arrested on a federal charge near Miami International Airport on Thursday over accusations that he conspired to kill a rap rival, resulting in the fatal shooting of another person.Lil Durk put out a bounty on the life of another rapper, identified only as T.B. by prosecutors, as retaliation for the 2020 killing of the rapper King Von, a member of the hip-hop collective Only the Family, which Lil Durk founded, according to the federal criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.An F.B.I. affidavit also says that Lil Durk had been booked on at least three international flights that were leaving on Thursday — to Italy, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates — in an attempt to flee the United States.Lil Durk, 32, whose legal name is Durk Banks, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Friday. He remained in federal custody and was expected to be arraigned in Los Angeles in the coming weeks, according to prosecutors. He was charged with conspiracy to use interstate facilities to commit murder for hire resulting in death.The news of his arrest comes weeks before the scheduled release of his new album, “Deep Thoughts,” on Nov. 22. Earlier this year, he won a Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance for his song “All My Life,” featuring J. Cole.Representatives for Lil Durk had not responded to a request for comment.Here’s what we know about the case so far:Lil Durk is alleged to have co-conspirators.Lil Durk’s arrest comes on the heels of a recently unveiled federal indictment in Los Angeles charging five other men affiliated with Only the Family, or O.T.F., with the murder-for-hire plot, alleging that they conspired to “track, stalk, and attempt to kill” a rapper identified as T.B. We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
- in Movies
Investigation of Georgia Movie Set Crash Finds No Violations
Eight people were injured, three of them seriously, in a crash on the set of “The Pickup” in April. A federal investigation found no health or safety violations.An investigation into a crash that injured several crew members on the set of the movie “The Pickup” this year found no safety violations, federal officials said.A spokeswoman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in a statement this week that the agency’s “thorough” investigation of the production company, Armored Film LLC, “did not result in violations of workplace safety and health regulations.”The investigation into the crash, which occurred at a small airport outside Atlanta on April 20, was closed last week, she said.A spokeswoman for Amazon MGM Studios declined to comment.Eight crew members were taken to hospitals after the crash, including two who were treated for life-threatening injuries after they were ejected from a vehicle, the authorities said at the time. A third person was treated for serious injuries.People with direct knowledge of the episode said at the time that none of the actors in the film, including Pete Davidson, Eddie Murphy and Keke Palmer, were involved in the crash.Amazon MGM Studios has not disclosed the plot of the film, which Deadline has described as a heist comedy. No release date has been announced.Video of the crash obtained by The New York Times shows a red armored truck, a GMC C6, pulling up alongside a BMW X5 S.U.V. before swerving into it.The vehicles then veer off the road and onto the grass, where the armored truck flips on top of the BMW. Both land upright, with the back door of the armored truck swinging open, causing one person to tumble out of it and spreading debris onto the field.Several crew members were injured when two vehicles collided during filming.The police said that the BMW had one occupant, the driver, while the armored truck was carrying seven people: a driver, a front-seat passenger and five crew members who were secured in the back with belt restraints attached to the walls.While the collision was planned, the armored truck’s brush guard became entangled in the smaller vehicle’s wheel well, the authorities said.In the days after the crash, there was no consensus on whether emergency workers or an ambulance had been on the set during filming, although an ambulance was called to the scene. It is fairly standard practice to have an ambulance on set for dangerous stunts, experts said.Sean Miller, a spokesman for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, said in a statement on Thursday that the organization appreciated the work by OSHA’s Atlanta office.“IATSE members are the best in the industry and work hard to ensure their safety and the safety of those around them,” he said. “This incident is a reminder that all workers deserve to earn a living in a safe environment.” More
- in Music
Atlanta Opera Is Growing, and Bucking Trends
Under the leadership of Tomer Zvulun, Atlanta Opera powered through the pandemic, has tripled its budget and is producing ambitious work.Walking through a repurposed industrial space in Atlanta one recent afternoon, Tomer Zvulun gestured toward a cafe table in the middle of a wraparound stage covered in graffiti.Zvulun, the general and artistic director of Atlanta Opera, described how the action in his contemporary-dress production of Puccini’s “La Bohème,” which was a few hours from opening, would swirl around the audience, providing an immersive experience for some of the 500 ticket buyers.“If people need neck braces at the end,” he said, “we’re doing our job.”Not only was Atlanta Opera presenting an unusually intimate, head-swiveling “Bohème,” it was also doing the show on alternating nights with — and on the same set as — “Rent,” the 1996 musical based on the Puccini classic. When the combination occurred to Zvulun and his team, they assumed that another company had already had the idea.“But we Googled it,” he said, “and no one’s ever done it.”The company’s production of “Rent,” in repertory with “La Bohème.”RaftermenAtlanta Opera’s production of “La Bohème.”RaftermenJuxtaposing the pieces was a coup that embodied an organization trying to make opera vibrant and accessible — and succeeding in the bottom line. Over the past decade, Atlanta Opera has been on a very different trajectory from many American companies: It has been growing rather than shrinking.Under Zvulun — an Israeli-born stage director who started at Atlanta Opera in 2013 when he was in his mid-30s, having never held an administrative position anywhere — its budget has tripled to roughly $15 million. (Only about 10 companies in the country are larger.) It braved the pandemic with a burst of programming.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
- in Music
A Concert Celebrates Jimmy Carter’s 100th Birthday, With Music and Thanks
The night included gospel hymns and “America the Beautiful” and the B-52s lighting up the Fox Theater, one of the oldest auditoriums in Atlanta, with a performance of “Love Shack.” In one moment, the crowd was on its feet as Angélique Kidjo, the acclaimed Beninese musician, sang and danced. In another, they shimmied and sang along to a cover of “Ramblin’ Man.”The collection of artists and performances transcended generations, genres and geography. But one thread bound them together on Tuesday night: affection for former President Jimmy Carter, which they were eager to express in celebration of his coming 100th birthday.“You can see he had a relationship to music — look at how we gathered here together tonight,” said the country singer Carlene Carter, who is not related to the former president but said he still feels like kin. “He used it as a powerful tool to bring people together.”The civil rights leader Andrew Young, seated, and his wife, Carolyn, standing, share a laugh with, from left, Thomas and Henry Carter, great-grandchildren of Jimmy Carter and Jason Carter, his grandson.Dustin Chambers for The New York TimesCarter’s actual birthday was still almost a couple of weeks away, and Carter himself was 160 miles away, at home in Plains, Ga., where he has been in hospice care for the past 19 months. But the concert was intended as a gift, one that will be broadcast as a special on Georgia Public Television on Oct. 1. The family said he plans to watch as part of his birthday festivities.The concert in many ways mirrored the scope and ambitions of the man it was celebrating: Global and idealistic in its reach, but firmly planted in Georgia, molded by religious and cultural traditions as well as the rich but complicated history of the rural South.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
- in Music
Rich Homie Quan, Melodic Atlanta Rapper, Dies at 34
The rapper, who was at one time affiliated with Young Thug, had a 2015 hit with “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh),” which spawned a dance craze.Rich Homie Quan, an Atlanta rapper who played a role in the city’s thriving hip-hop scene in the 2010s, died on Thursday at a hospital in Atlanta. He was 34.His death was confirmed by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office, which did not provide a cause.A melodic rapper who broke out in one of the country’s most fertile rap scenes over a decade ago, Rich Homie Quan has more recently become a character in the sprawling gang conspiracy trial in Georgia centered around Young Thug, the Atlanta superstar.Quan’s early career was closely tied to that of Young Thug; the two were members of Rich Gang, a group assembled by Bryan Williams (a.k.a. Birdman), one of the founders of the label Cash Money.Their slow-rolling debut single from 2014, “Lifestyle,” was a Hot 100 hit and has been certified platinum. The pair later fell out over what Quan said were issues around ego and money, and parts of their feud have spilled over into testimony at the trial.In 2013, Quan broke out solo with “Type of Way,” a song about ambition and romance that the Michigan State football team adopted as an anthem. In The New York Times, the critic Jon Caramanica wrote about the track, proclaiming Quan part of a new generation of rappers “who deliver lines with melody and heart, like singers on the verge of a breakdown.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
