ARTS
6

Thursday, July 25, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

It’s undeniable: Young Thug 
is the current rap generation’s 
most prominent influence. 
Before Thug, it was Lil Wayne. 
Wayne inspired an entire gener-
ation of rappers, including Ken-
drick Lamar and Young Thug 
himself. 
Interestingly, 
Kend-
rick’s mixtape C4 showcased 
him as nothing more than a Lil 
Wayne clone. When I say “clone,” 
I mean that Kendrick and others 
were attempting to build a career 
based on what made Lil Wayne 
famous. The same goes for Thug; 
at the beginning, he, too, was a 
Wayne clone. Just listen to “Take 
Kare” featuring Lil Wayne. The 
resemblance is uncanny. 
Today, Kendrick Lamar and 
Young Thug are two rappers 
that will always turn heads with 
any of their new material. Few 
have attempted to be a Kendrick 
clone, but many, many rappers in 
the new generation are attempt-
ing to channel their inner Thug.
Thug’s career has been a tour 
de force and has given his army 
of understudies plenty of mate-
rial to expand upon. Throughout 
his career, Thug has sputtered 
out countless different flows, 

vocal inflections and non sequi-
turs. It’s too much for one indi-
vidual to even attempt to imitate. 
Because of this, each Thugger 
clone sounds distinct. It’s as if 
Young Thug reproduces asexu-
ally via fragmen-
tation, like a sea 
sponge, with each 
clone 
latching 
onto a certain part 
of Thug’s persona 
and building an 
entire career out 
of it. 
Interesting-
ly, 
Young 
Thug 
has 
embraced 
his 
clones 
and 
has even signed 
a few of them to 
his 
label, 
YSL 
Records, as if to 
raise them. Plen-
ty of rappers are 
affiliated 
with 
YSL 
Records, 
including 
super-
stars like Drake, Lil Baby and 
Lil Uzi Vert, but few are actually 
signed, demonstrating the effort 
it takes to make it as a Thugger 
clone. 
THE CLONES
Lil Duke
The first of Thug’s clones is 
none other than Lil Duke, also 
known as YSL Duke. Duke is per-

haps the most straight-laced of 
Thug’s protégés, and he is also 
the longest tenured. In fact, he’s 
been signed to YSL Records since 
2015. 
While he doesn’t share any of 
Thug’s 
sarto-
rial tendencies, 
Duke was born 
from 
Thug’s 
slick-talking, 
greasy 
street 
raps. He twists 
tales 
of 
sip-
ping lean and 
hustling with a 
spitfire, gravel-
ly flow, just like 
Thug. However, 
he varies in his 
delivery 
and 
beat 
selection, 
often 
sticking 
to a low vocal 
register and the 
typical Atlanta 
trap-type beats. 
He is essentially 
Young Thug if Young Thug were 
purely a street rapper, and it’s 
glorious.
Required 
listening: 
“Good 
Luck” featuring Young Thug and 
“Run It Up.”
Gunna
Gunna is the most famous of 
all Thug’s clones. In fact, he’s 
probably even more popular than 

his forebear. He is essentially the 
Reader’s Digest version of Young 
Thug. He doesn’t rap about much 
more than his drip, but he uses 
autotune as impeccably as Thug 
does. Gunna takes Thug at his 
most melodic and processes it to 
make it even more accessible. He 
has evolved into a more indepen-
dent artist at this point, but early 
in his career, the Thug influence 
could not be shirked. And, as an 
added bonus, he shares Young 
Thug’s 
left-of-center 
fashion 
choices.
Required 
listening: 
“Pedes-
trian” and “Mayors” featuring 
Hoodrich Pablo Juan.
Strick
Strick, 
simi-
lar to Duke, is a 
much more sub-
dued 
version 
of Young Thug. 
Take Young Thug 
at his vibiest and 
turn the anima-
tion and fanfair 
down 
to 
zero, 
and that’s Strick. 
He also takes on 
Thug’s more cal-
culated and lyri-
cal side, as he is 
a multi-platinum 
songwriter 
who 
has written for 
the likes of Tra-
vis Scott (“Coor-
dinate”) 
and 
Juicy 
J 
(“Bal-
lin”). He is the 
most up-and-coming of Thug’s 
signees, so keep an eye out for his 
new releases.
Required listening: “Wishing 
on a Star,” “Vevo” and “STS” fea-
turing Young Thug.
Lil Keed
Imagine the craziest of Young 
Thug’s flows and vocal inflec-
tion, and make a rapper out of 
it. That’s Lil Keed. In fact, Thug 
frequently refers to him as his 
son, which speaks volumes to the 
figurative passing of the torch 
from Thug to Keed. At one point, 
Thug even gifted him “Proud of 
Me,” an old, very sought after 
demo. Keed is the latest YSL 
signee to make a splash, espe-
cially with his recent tape Long 
Live Mexico. His only downfall 
is that he often leans too hard on 
his voice’s high pitch, a problem 
that Thug does not share, thanks 
to his use of modulation. 
The 
student 
is 
quickly 
approaching the skill of the mas-
ter, so it’ll be interesting to see 
how Keed’s career develops.

Required listening: “Proud of 
Me” featuring Young Thug and 
“Zoned Out.”
Lil Gotit
While Lil Gotit isn’t signed 
to YSL Records (he’s signed to 
Alamo, home of Lil Durk, anoth-
er YSL affiliate), he is more heav-
ily affiliated than it seems. He’s 
actually the younger brother of 
Lil Keed, who is no doubt a big 
influence on his sound. Gotit is 
like Thug at his most energetic. 
He’s bouncy, he’s having fun and 
he’s sure to leave his mark on 
listeners. He also has the same 
penchant for off-kilter beats as 
Thug does. 
He’s not trying 
to be convention-
al by any means, 
just like Young 
Thug.
Required 
lis-
tening: 
“Surf,” 

“Da 
Real 

HoodBabies”and 
“Drop the Top” 
featuring 
Lil 
Keed.
Dolly White and 
HiDoraah
Even 
Young 
Thug’s 
own 
sisters 
are 
his 
clones. These two 
embody the side 
of 
Thug 
that’s 
dedicated 
to 
flexing and shit 
talking. They’re 
really good at it, 
probably better than Thug is. 
HiDoraah has a full voice and on 
top of rapping, is good at singing 
too. Dolly White is little more 
gravel-voiced but is a better rap-
per. They complement each other 
well. They’ve got flows for days, 
but they can get a little stale. 
However, they just started rap-
ping seriously and don’t have 
many songs yet, so it’ll take time 
for them to develop their sound. 
That said, they are a great duo 
and are bound to be noticed in 
today’s rap climate.
Required 
listening: 
“Expen-
sive” and “Lay Down.”
Anyone can try to croon and 
chirp like Thug does, but it takes 
effort to do it and stand out from 
the clone crowd. Though the rap-
pers on the list started off purely as 
clones of Young Thug, they all show 
signs of breaking this mold, which 
speaks volumes to how influential 
Young Thug has been. Without 
Wayne, we wouldn’t have Kendrick 
or Thug; without Thug, we won’t 
have rap’s next superstar.

Young Thug and his many 
clones: A story of creation

MUSIC NOTEBOOK

WIREIMAGE

JIM WILSON 
Daily Arts Writer

Interestingly, 
Young Thug 
has embraced 
his clones, 
and has even 
signed a few 
of them to 
his label, YSL 
Records

The student 
is quickly 
approaching 
the skill of the 
master, so it’ll 
be intersting 
to see how 
Keed’s career 
develops. 

