Quantavious Tavario Thomas, known professionally as Young Nudy, is an American rapper and songwriter. Thomas is best known for being cousins with notable rapper 21 Savage, his mixtapes Slimeball, Slimeball 2, and Slimeball 3, and his collaborative song "Since When" with 21 Savage. He released his debut studio albumAnyways on February 24, 2020. The rapper, who signed with Paradise East Records and RCA Records prior to the release of 2018's Slimeball 3, has released several viral hits such as the unreleased song "Pissy Pamper" featuring rapper Playboi Carti and more. As of mid-2019, he has been featured on the Dreamville Records single "Down Bad" along with its co-founder J. Cole, JID, Bas and EarthGang. The song became his first BillboardHot 100 hit, reaching number 64. His collaboration albumSli'merre with American record producer Pi'erre Bourne debuted at number 167 on the US Billboard 200 and peaked at number 63 the following week. The project, consisting of 12 songs, featured fellow rappers Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, Megan Thee Stallion and DaBaby. The project is deemed as his breakout album, being released to generally positive reviews. On February 3, 2019, Thomas and 21 Savage were arrested in a targeted operation in DeKalb County, Georgia. Thomas was charged with aggravated assault, while Savage was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and alleged to be in the United States illegally from the United Kingdom.
Early life
Thomas was born in East Atlanta, DeKalb County, Georgia. He is the older brother to PDE Escobar and a cousin to fellow Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage. Nudy grew up with his mother but said he had a closer bond with his grandparents than he had with his mother. He is of Jamaican descent.
Career
2015-2018: ''Slimeball 2'', ''Nudy Land'', and ''Slimeball 3''
In 2015, Nudy was featured on American rapper 21 Savage's's song "Air It Out". Later that year, Nudy released the mixtapeParadise 2 East Atlanta with rapper Kourtney Money. In 2017, Nudy released the sequel to Slimeball, Slimeball 2, which featured artists Juicy J, Peso, 21 Savage and Kourtney Money, as well as production by Metro Boomin, Pi'erre Bourne, and Richie Souf. Its lead single, "EA" featured 21 Savage and garnered 9.2 million plays on SoundCloud as of March 2019. In late 2017, Nudy released the Nudy Land mixtape, which featured rappers Offset and Lil Yachty. It was once more produced by longtime producer Pierre Bourne. The mixtape also featured 13 tracks. As of June 2019, the mixtape has surpassed 30 million total streams on Spotify. Prior to the release of Slimeball 3, Young Nudy signed a multi-million dollar, four-album record deal with RCA Records. In August 2018, Nudy released the 14-track Slimeball 3 mixtape, as the sequel to the previous Slimeballs. The mixtape featured production by Pi'erre Bourne, Metro, Wheezy, 13teen and Maaly Raw, among others. Previous singles "Do That" and "Sherbert" were among the 14 tracks on the mixtape. The mixtape became Nudy's first charting project on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 146. The project has a total of over 18 million streams on Apple Music as of May 2019.
2019-present: ''Faded in the Booth'', ''Sli'merre'', and ''Anyways''
In April 2019, Nudy released a surprise project titled Faded in the Booth. On August 21, 2019, Young Nudy and RCA Records re-released the project on streaming platforms. Just two weeks before the release of his collaborative mixtape Sli'merre, a song entitled "Pissy Pamper" with fellow rapper Playboi Carti surfaced. The track, produced by Pi'erre Bourne, became an internet meme, with Playboi Carti performing the song at Coachella. An unofficial upload of the song—which has not yet been officially released—has over 4 million plays on SoundCloud. In June 2019, Young Nudy & Pi'erre Bourne confirmed that the song would no longer be released due to sample clearance issues. On May 11, producer ChaseTheMoney revealed what is thought to be a tracklist for his new album CTMX2. The tracklist has a number of artists such as Billie Eilish, Young Thug and most notably featured the song "God Flinch" featuring Nudy, J. Cole and Drake; the song was eventually released without Drake as "Sunset" on Dreamville's mixtape Revenge of the Dreamers III on July 5, 2019. Young Nudy appeared on the J. Cole executively produced album twice, including the aforementioned song "Sunset" and on the single "Down Bad" along with JID, Bas, EarthGang and J. Cole himself. Later on, Young Nudy, alongside Calboy were added as supporting acts on 21 Savage's "I Am Greater than I Was Tour" across the United States. On the 20th November 2019, the Grammy Awards announced the nominations for the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, in which Young Nudy is nominated for his feature on the 2019 Dreamville Records single “Down Bad”, along with JID, Bas, J. Cole and Earthgang, as well as for his contributions to the aforementioned record label's compilation album Revenge Of The Dreamers 3 and his cousin 21 Savage’s I Am Greater Than I Was. On February 27, 2020, Young Nudy released his debut studio album titled Anyways, which totaled 16 tracks. The album received positive critical reception, receiving a 7.5/10 by Pitchfork critic Israel Daramola. The album peaked at 109 on the Billboard 200. After the release of Anyways, in 2020, Young Nudy announced a North American tour which was set to run from March 20 to April 30, and travel to 25 different cities in the United States. However, COVID-19 concerns caused the tour to be postponed.
Legal issues
On February 3, 2019, while Nudy and his cousin 21 Savage were riding in a car in Atlanta, they were pulled over by police and arrested in an operation targeting Nudy and two other men. Savage was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and charged with being in the United States illegally from Britain. Nudy was charged with aggravated assault and violation of the Georgia Gang Act. Nudy's lawyer stated "We believe that Young Nudy is innocent and this is a case of mistaken identity. Young Nudy's legal team is working closely with law enforcement to ensure this case does not get blown out of proportion." Nudy's attorney stated that the charges stem from a 2017 investigation, which he states Atlanta Police investigated Nudy on and dropped the charges. On February 12, Savage was released on bail, and on February 19, Nudy was granted $100,000 bail, and was released the next day.
Musical style
Young Nudy raps, combining elements of hip hop music and contemporary R&B. Nudy's style has been compared to other mumble rappers such as 03 Greedo, Lil Baby, Offset, Yung Bans, and Lil Keed. Despite his close relationship with his cousin 21 Savage, he's been noted for having a "completely opposite" style from Savage.
