Highlights

  • NBA YoungBoy has defied traditional hip-hop rules and become one of the most popular rappers in the world, despite minimal presence in mainstream media.
  • He has faced numerous challenges in his personal life, including tough times in jail, being a father to eleven children, and the loss of his grandmother.
  • Despite legal issues and time spent on house arrest, NBA YoungBoy has achieved remarkable success in his music career, with billions of streams and millions of digital sales, making him one of the best-selling rappers.

At the age of just 24, Kentrell DeSean Gaulden – famously known as YoungBoy Never Broke Again – has experienced almost everything: tough times in jail, being a father to eleven children, and the highs and lows of his rap career.

NBA YoungBoy's unique street-influenced persona, aggressive flow, and rebellious attitude have made him prominent in the rap arena today.

Despite zero presence in the mainstream media, NBA YoungBoy broke all the "traditional hip-hop" rules, and became one of the most popular rappers in the world.

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Let’s look at how NBA YoungBoy's net worth, how he achieved massive success at a young age, his life, and how he defied all the norms to his advantage.

In spite of being barred from many large, mainstream projects, NBA YoungBoy amassed huge wealth.

NBA YoungBoy’s Challenging Early Life

YoungBoy "Never Broke Again" first opened his eyes on October 20th 1999, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana – at the right time, in a place that was about to become a massive hip-hop incubator (and eventual rival to New Orleans):

Since the mid 2000s, Baton Rouge rappers have been making a major impact in hip hop and the music industry.

Eventually, rap artists from Louisiana'[s capital] city became leaders in the rap game.

For years, the city of New Orleans had overshadowed Baton Rouge, whether it was mainstream artists of No Limit and Cash Money or New Orleans’ top underground artists that had made a name for themselves regionally.

Gaulden was raised by his maternal grandmother, Alice Gaulden, owing to his father's lengthy incarceration.

Due to financial challenges, NBA YoungBoy's mother also lived with them; she later divorced YoungBoy’s father and married a second time.

The talented Baton Rouge-based artist endured trouble from the beginning; he dropped out of high school in ninth grade.

He was arrested on a robbery charge and faced juvenile detention at a young age – where he wrote the lyrics for his first rap project.

When he got out, he was planning to enter the rap arena.

But fate had another unpleasant surprise in store for him, as his grandmother passed away due to heart failure when he was just eleven.

YoungBoy was on his own, and was sent to a group home, where other boys treated him badly.

NBA YoungBoy himself shed light on his time in the group home, recalling his painful experiences:

"I used to get beat up inside the group home for no reason, the other boys would put their hands on me, and I would look up like, 'Why are you hitting me, bro? What'd I do?'

"It made me discover another side of me that I never glorified or liked."

In February 2023, Billboard profiled NBA YoungBoy at length, covering a range of topics, including his early life and experiences.

In the piece, the rap star relayed another memory, involving his late grandmother and his stint in juvenile detention.

Gaulden was "on lockdown," which he said was for "no disciplinary reason," and grieving for his grandmother.

Billboard relayed the story, explaining:

One night in prison while YoungBoy was on lockdown ... he prayed to see his late grandmother one last time. He had lived in her home for much of his childhood, crying on the occasions when he had to return to his mom’s house.

Her name, Alice Gaulden, frequently appears in his lyrics, and her massive painted portrait hangs by the fireplace; after our interview, I catch him smiling beneath it in silence, one hand resting on the image of her face.

"And I remember, I ain’t crazy — she hugged me. I felt her," he recalls softly, and despite his serene expression, his legs begin to tremble, at first subtly, then unignorably.

"After that, I didn’t want to go back to sleep. I didn’t even care about the situation I was in. I felt like I was secure."

The Grammy nominee eventually took a step into the world of crime when he moved in with another Baton Rouge rapper, OG3Three Never Broke Again.

They partnered up for criminal activities to finance and make their music.

NBA YoungBoy’s Early Musical Career, And Jail Time

Kentrell DeSean Gaulden’s life is like a jigsaw puzzle of arrests (or house arrest) and musical triumphs.

At the age of fourteen, YoungBoy started to produce music, with a microphone he bought at Walmart.

His first mixtape was Life Before Fame in 2015.

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After several early mixtapes – like Mind Of A Menace, Mind Of A Menace 2, and Before I Go – NBA YoungBoy reached wider audiences with his mixtape 38 Baby.

Immediately after the success of 38 Baby in October 2016, the Louisiana rapper released one more mixtape, Mind Of A Menace 3.

But his run of luck was short-lived. Days after his Mind Of A Menace 3, NBA YoungBoy was arrested in Austin, Texas, on a charge of attempted first-degree murder.

Gaulden was initially implicated in a drive-by shooting, which occurred in November 2016.

On December 10th of that year, XXL Mag reported on the charges:

According to ABC affiliate WALB News, [NBA YoungBoy] is accused of firing a gun during a drive-by shooting on Nov. 2 [2016].

The report states Gaulden was in the vehicle with three other individuals during the shooting. A passenger was shot in the neck during the incident.

Afterward, the fleeing vehicle crashed, and all four people in the car fled before authorities arrived on the scene.

Later, Gaulden pled guilty, and faced ten years in prison (and three years of active probation).

Fortunately for the young star, his sentence was suspended.

In August 2017, Baton Rouge area newspaper The Advocate reported on NBA YoungBoy's sentencing.

The outlet described a "gripping but respectful" exchange with the presiding judge:

The [then] 17-year-old Gaulden, who engaged in a gripping but respectful back-and-forth exchange with District Judge Bonnie Jackson, apologized for his conduct, saying he made a mistake and has learned from it.

[...]

"I wasn't very happy with the circumstances of your case, not at all," Jackson told Gaulden during his sentencing.

"I take full responsibility for what happened. I'm sorry," Gaulden replied. "It wasn't supposed to go that way."

After juvenile detention for a robbery and a first-degree murder charge, YoungBoy NBA was found in violation of his probation in June 2019.

Specifically, YoungBoy's continued association with Trulondrick Norman and Ben Fields (with respect to the 2016 Austin, Texas shooting) violated a "special condition" of his probation.

Back in 2017, YoungBoy described that condition as particularly painful for him; in a profile published by Fader, he was quoted and paraphrased:

... what’s weighing on him more immediately, more than [a] concert and even the looming threat of slipping up and going back to prison, is the fact that, under the terms of his probation, he is expressly banned from being around Lil Ben.

Ben is one of YoungBoy’s closest friends in the world — the two have known each other since they were babies, and he has been present at the rapper’s side in nearly every music video he’s ever released.

“He’s too important,” YoungBoy explains. “I think the judge knew she was hurting me when she said that.”

He jokes that he’s going to pay for Ben to get face-altering plastic surgery so they can continue to navigate YoungBoy’s growing fame together, without court interference.

A then 18-year-old Gaulden was again remanded to prison for 90 days, and was further banned from performing on stage for 14 months. He was on house arrest during that time.

In December 2019, Baton Rouge's WAFB reported that YoungBoy's probation had finally ended.

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Moreover, the outlet carried a remarkably candid and sincere exchange between the rapper and Judge Bonnie Jackson at the hearing.

In the excerpted comments, Judge Jackson emphasized Gaulden's potential, and Gaulden expressed gratitude for her guidance:

“Most of your problems stem from people in your life who really don’t have your best interest at heart ... That’s a hard thing to hear ... I see growth in you," said Jackson, noting Gaulden’s previous "hiccups" during his time on probation.

[Jackson added] "I hope that things go well for you."

Gaulden praised Judge Jackson for showing him leniency during his time on probation.

"[Judge Jackson] was a blessing. She saved me. She gave me opportunity after opportunity. She really helped me grow. She helped me get to this point to be honest, because it would have been all over," said Gaulden.

"But it’s all good though. I thank her."

However, YoungBoy NBA didn't fully learn his lesson, nor did he stop mingling with bad influences after his brushes with the law.

In 2020, he was arrested again in Baton Rouge, and charged with manufacturing and distributing drugs and possession of stolen firearms.

In June 2021, WAFB carried remarks by Gaulden's lawyers, describing his arrest on March 23rd of that year as an "inexplicable tactical decision by the government."

Noting that police in Baton Rouge had been ordered to return cash and possessions confiscated from Gaulden in December 2020, WAFB reported that YoungBoy's lawyers claimed "officials in Baton Rouge contacted authorities in Los Angeles to [jointly] orchestrate Gaulden’s arrest instead of arranging a voluntary surrender."

Arguing that the latter would have been "more appropriate," the outlet continued:

YoungBoy’s lawyers claim the title of the [joint] operation was “NEVER FREE AGAIN,” a play on the rapper’s Never Broke Again brand.

His attorneys argue that the operation title is a status offense.

"This massive and wildly unnecessary militaristic display of force and intimidation to arrest an individual for a status offense, who was already on bond for the same charges at the state level and represented by counsel, for a highly visible and public figure who has no prior history of fleeing law enforcement, created a dangerous situation for everyone involved when law enforcement could have simply contacted Mr. Gaulden’s counsel and arranged for a voluntary surrender" attorneys ... said in [a] pre-trial release request.

After a two-year-long trial, YoungBoy was found not guilty on the firearms related charges in 2022, but remained on house arrest due to pending charges.

In March 2023, the "draconian" terms of his house arrest were slightly relaxed, with the court allowing three visitors at a time without a curfew.

Despite being continuously enmired in legal battles, the now 24-year-old rapper appeared to have plenty of time for romance; he has eleven children.

Yes, at the age of 24, he has eleven children, by nine different women.

In January 2023, YoungBoy married girlfriend Jazlyn Mychelle Hayes, mother to two of his eleven children.

NBA YoungBoy's Rap Dominance

YoungBoy's mainstream media presence is virtually non-existent, primarily due to his series of house arrests and jail time.

When the hip-hop star is featured in the media, it's typically in relation to crime or trial-related news, not for his music.

Irrespective of his media absence, YoungBoy is considered one of the greatest fresh talents in the rap scene today.

Musical prodigy YoungBoy is among the top 50 on the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)'s list of certified digital sales, and has sold more than 82 million records.

Iconic musicians like Michael Jackson , Mariah Carey , and Britney Spears are below him on the list.

YoungBoy, in a short span of time, released six studio albums, 26 mixtapes, 102 singles, three EPs, and three compilations.

Amid ongoing legal burdens, his commitment to music is unmatched.

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NBA YoungBoy’s Billboard Stats

Billboard CategoryNo 1 HitsTop 10 HitsTotal Songs Included
Hot R&B/ Hip-Hop Songs04144
Top Rap Albums82227
Rap Streaming Songs22042
Streaming Songs1664
Radio001
Billboard 200™41531
Billboard Hot 100™01104

The BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Award winner was nominated for the BET Hip Hop Awards twice (in 2019 and 2022) and once for a Grammy, in 2022.

Two of his songs reached the top of the Billboard Rap Streaming List, his eight albums peaked on the Billboard Top Rap Albums chart, and four of his songs conquered the Billboard 200 chart.

While he remains unfairly neglected by many mainstream sources in the media, NBA YoungBoy is the undisputed conqueror of "digital media."

NBA YoungBoy's Net Worth, Endorsements, And Astronomical Booking Rates

NBA YoungBoy is one of the best-selling rappers in the world.

With just seven years of musical effort, he has sold 82 million digital copies of his music.

The multiple BET Hip Hop Award nominee's music has been streamed billions of times on platforms like YouTube and Spotify.

These streams and digital sales add a huge amount to his bank account.

When he is not in jail or on house arrest, he constantly tours, earning a good amount from both streaming and performing.

However, his most recent performance was more than three years ago (March 28th 2020) in Columbia, with Rod Wave, Toosii, and Miss Mulatto.

Endorsement deals also add a decent sum to YoungBoy NBA's net worth, and he has worked with giant brands, like Beats By Dre and CashApp.

The 24-year-old is solely focused on making money from his music – but he is still wise enough to invest in real estate and a clothing line to ensure he will "never be broke again."

NBA YoungBoy's Net Worth And Booking Fees

Net Worth (Estimated)$10 Million
Feature Booking Rate$300,000
Full Video Rate$350,000
Event Booking Rate$100,000 - $200,000

NBA YoungBoy's manager purportedly affirmed that the rate for an NBA YoungBoy feature was $300,000:

YoungBoy reportedly made $100,000 to $200,000 on event bookings, but that data antedates his years of house arrest, and has likely increased.

The boy once resigned to rough experiences in a group home changed his fate, and now he is living in a stunning $5.2 million mansion in Salt Lake City.

At just 24, the trajectory of YoungBoy Never Broke Again is astonishing; against the strong pull of dark and criminal elements, his music acts as an impenetrable armor, changing his life for good.

Now, NBA YoungBoy is wholly focused on improving both his life circumstances and his music.

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