Kentrell
DeSean
GauldenKnown as NBA YoungBoy

YoungBoy released his first mixtape, Life Before Fame, in 2015, soon after leaving detention. Mind of a Menace, Mind of a Menace 2 and Before I Go followed quickly. His 2016 mixtape 38 Baby and its single “38 Baby” built a big following across Louisiana and on YouTube.

In 2017 he signed with Atlantic Records through its Artist Partner Group, keeping his own Never Broke Again imprint. His mixtape AI YoungBoy, released on August 3, 2017, became his first Billboard 200 entry at No. 24. Singles “Untouchable” and “No Smoke” both reached the Billboard Hot 100 that year.

“Outside Today,” released on January 6, 2018, was his real breakthrough. It reached No. 31 on the Hot 100 and has since gone quadruple platinum. It led his debut studio album, Until Death Call My Name, which came out on April 27, 2018, and peaked at No. 7.

His run of No. 1 albums began with the mixtape AI YoungBoy 2 on October 10, 2019. The same month, “Bandit” with Juice WRLD reached No. 10, still his highest-charting single. 38 Baby 2 topped the Billboard 200 in April 2020, followed by the studio album Top in September 2020. Top included “Kacey Talk,” named after his son Kacey.

His fourth No. 1, Sincerely, Kentrell, arrived on September 24, 2021, while he was in jail awaiting trial. It opened with 137,000 units. The Last Slimeto followed on August 5, 2022, and was his last album for Atlantic. In 2023 he became the youngest artist in Billboard history to chart 100 songs on the Hot 100.

He moved to Motown for I Rest My Case in January 2023, then Don’t Try This at Home and the mixtape Richest Opp later that year. After prison, he released MASA on July 25, 2025, and Slime Cry on January 16, 2026. Both made the top 10 of the Billboard 200. The day Slime Cry came out, the RIAA named him the most certified rapper of all time, with 126 certified titles, Rolling Stone reported.

Complex named him its Best Rapper Alive for 2025, and he sat down for its cover story in Park City, Utah, in January 2026. Asked what he was focused on, he said, “Staying out of jail. Staying out of trouble.” He also said music stopped being fun “when I let money become a important thing.”

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He surprise-released ML2, a 20-track sequel to his 2025 compilation More Leaks, on June 26, 2026. A month and a half earlier, he pulled out of his Sunday headline slot at Rolling Loud in Orlando. “I just need some time away from traveling and performing right now,” he wrote on Instagram on May 7, 2026, and Ken Carson took his place, WAFB reported.

On Open Thoughts in August 2026, he said music is no longer his focus. “Music not where my heart at,” he said. He told Funny Marco he has “one or two” albums left in him, and named the next one All Dogs Go to Heaven. That album is still without a release date.

He said the same thing to i-D in an interview in Paris published in October 2026. “I want to quit right now, actually,” he said. “But all of this… It’s way bigger than me.”

Never Broke Again, or NBA, is the label and crew YoungBoy started in Baton Rouge around 2015. The name is where his stage name comes from, and the roster has included fellow Louisiana rapper Quando Rondo. Under Atlantic, his music still came out through Never Broke Again.

In September 2021, Music Business Worldwide reported a global joint venture between Motown and Never Broke Again. YoungBoy himself signed to Motown on October 24, 2022. The terms were not disclosed, but sources told Variety that the signing was “highly competitive.” I Rest My Case, released in January 2023, was his first album under the deal.

In April 2026 he also released American YoungBoy, a concert film made through his own company, 38 Films. In his January 2026 Complex interview, he confirmed he still owns 100% of his masters, and said he would think about selling them one day.

YoungBoy hadn’t performed a full show in about five years when he announced the Make America Slime Again (MASA) Tour in 2025. It was his first headlining tour. It opened in Dallas on September 2, 2025, and closed in Seattle on November 12, 2025, with guests including Sexyy Red, Kevin Gates and Boosie BadAzz.

The tour played arenas across the US. It grossed $70,012,731 and sold 552,215 tickets over 42 shows, according to Touring Data figures reported by XXL in February 2026. That made it the highest-grossing tour ever by a rapper on his first headlining run. His biggest night was at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on October 3, 2025, which took in $2.373 million. His biggest crowd was 15,343 people at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on November 9.

He later spoke about his show fee on Open Thoughts. “I used to tell myself, ‘Oh, I never get $100,000 a show,'” he said. “I got 1.5 every show. Nothing less than 1.2 a night.” He also said a doctor told him during the tour “that the left side of my heart was swollen,” but he kept it to himself. “I just kept doing every show. I finished my tour out like that.”

On September 21, 2025, during his Kansas City stop, he received a key to the city, and the city named the date NBA YoungBoy Day, TMZ reported.

YoungBoy’s legal history runs from his teens to 2025, and much of his career was recorded under court supervision. Here are the main cases, in date order.

In November 2016, he was arrested in Austin, Texas, on two counts of attempted first-degree murder over a drive-by shooting in Baton Rouge. He later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated assault with a firearm. On August 22, 2017, Judge Bonnie Jackson gave him a suspended 10-year prison sentence and three years of active probation, WAFB reported.

In February 2018, he was arrested in Tallahassee, Florida, on a Georgia warrant for assault and kidnapping tied to a video of an incident with his then-girlfriend. He was released on bail. In December 2019, he pleaded guilty to simple assault in that case and got probation instead of jail time, Revolt reported. On December 13, 2019, Judge Jackson also ended his Baton Rouge probation.

On May 12, 2019, a bystander, Mohamad Jradi, was killed and YoungBoy’s girlfriend was wounded in a shooting outside the Trump International Beach Resort near Miami, The Fader reported. YoungBoy and his group were at the scene.

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In September 2020, he was arrested in Baton Rouge with about 15 other people during a music video shoot, and federal gun charges followed. On March 22, 2021, federal agents arrested him in Los Angeles on that warrant after he ran from a traffic stop, and a gun was found in the car. He stayed in jail until October 2021, when he was released on $1.5 million bond and placed on house arrest in Utah. On July 15, 2022, a Los Angeles federal jury found him not guilty of the California gun charge, Fox LA reported. “I feel great,” he told Rolling Stone after the verdict.

He was still on house arrest when he talked to Bootleg Kev in January 2024. “I’m kind of set on going to jail right now,” he said when asked about life after rap. He also said a recent rehab stay helped him. “I really needed it,” he said. “I was accepted in a way I never was before.”

On April 17, 2024, he was arrested in Utah over a prescription fraud ring that, prosecutors said, impersonated a doctor to get promethazine with codeine from pharmacies. On November 18, 2024, he pleaded guilty in Logan District Court to two counts of identity fraud, two counts of forgery and six misdemeanor pharmacy counts, the Associated Press reported. He paid a $25,000 fine and got no prison time in the state case.

The federal gun cases ended in a plea deal. On December 10, 2024, Judge Howard Nielson in Utah sentenced him to 23 months in federal prison for possessing guns as a convicted felon, plus five years of probation and a $200,000 fine on a second set of charges, the AP reported. He was released from prison to home confinement in March 2025.

President Donald Trump pardoned him on May 28, 2025, which also freed him from his probation terms. “I want to thank President Trump for granting me a pardon and giving me the opportunity to keep building,” YoungBoy wrote on social media.

YoungBoy’s biggest awards come from sales and songwriting bodies rather than TV shows. In January 2026, the RIAA named him the most certified rapper ever, with 126 certified titles. “Bandit” with Juice WRLD won at the 2021 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards and the 2021 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards.

He earned a Grammy nomination for Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 64th Grammy Awards in 2022, for “WusYaName” with Tyler, the Creator and Ty Dolla Sign. He has three BET Hip Hop Awards nominations: Best Impact Track in 2019 for “I Am Who They Say I Am” with Kevin Gates and Quando Rondo, and two Best Duo/Group nods in 2022, with Birdman and with DaBaby. He won The People’s Champ at the 2023 XXL Awards.

YoungBoy married YouTuber Jazlyn Mychelle Hayes on January 7, 2023, in Utah, while he was on house arrest. The couple have three children together: Alice, born in 2021, Klemenza Tru, born in 2022, and a daughter born in February 2026. In August 2026, he posted that he wanted his wife to “come home.” Neither has said they have separated.

He became a father at 16. He now has 13 biological children with 10 women, and he also raises Kamron, a son a 2018 DNA test showed was not his. The mothers include Starr Dejanee, Jania Meshell, Drea Symone and Iyanna Mayweather, Floyd Mayweather’s daughter. Every child, their mother and their birth date is in our guide to NBA YoungBoy’s children and baby mamas.

Asked on Open Thoughts how he likes being a dad, he said, “I love it. I feel like me not having my dad there, you know, in and out of my life, I feel like I understand how important that is.”

His relationship with his mother, Sherhonda Gaulden, has broken down. On Open Thoughts in August 2026, he said, “I start loving my mom from a distance,” and added that they will “never talk again.” She later criticized him as a father, TMZ reported on August 12, 2026.

His health has been part of the story too. In 2023 he spoke publicly about heavy drug use to cope with depression and anxiety, and in late 2023 his lawyers asked the court to ease his house arrest because of his mental health. He then entered rehab. In August 2026, he posted that he had flushed his drugs and set himself a goal of six months sober, Baller Alert reported.

He told i-D in October 2026 that he had stepped away from Instagram because he didn’t like who he had become. “I think I became a very bad person, and it’s taken a big toll,” he said. “It feels very lonely, actually.” His account, @nba_youngboy, still has about 12 million followers, and its two remaining posts date from July 2026.

In August 2026, he said he had moved to South Korea and had no plans to return to the US. Asked if he’d ever move back, he answered, “Never in life.” He said he would still tour “one more time throughout my whole life, and that’s it.”

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1999: Born Kentrell DeSean Gaulden on October 20 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

2010: His grandmother, Alice Gaulden, who raised him, dies of heart failure.

2014: Arrested for robbery at 15 and held for about six months in Tallulah, Louisiana, where he starts writing lyrics.

2015: Releases his first mixtape, Life Before Fame, and starts Never Broke Again.

2016: Becomes a father for the first time when his son Kayden is born on July 4; arrested in Austin, Texas, in November.

2017: Gets a suspended 10-year sentence and three years of probation on August 22; signs with Atlantic; AI YoungBoy debuts at No. 24.

2018: “Outside Today” comes out on January 6; Until Death Call My Name peaks at No. 7 in May.

2019: A bystander is killed in a shooting near Miami involving his group on May 12; AI YoungBoy 2 becomes his first No. 1 in October; “Bandit” with Juice WRLD hits No. 10.

2020: 38 Baby 2 and Top both reach No. 1; arrested in Baton Rouge in September.

2021: Arrested in Los Angeles on March 22; Sincerely, Kentrell reaches No. 1 while he is in jail; released to house arrest in Utah in October.

2022: Found not guilty in the Los Angeles gun case on July 15; The Last Slimeto comes out in August; signs with Motown on October 24.

2023: Marries Jazlyn Mychelle on January 7; releases I Rest My Case, Don’t Try This at Home and Richest Opp; enters rehab.

2024: Arrested in Utah on April 17; pleads guilty in the Utah fraud case on November 18; sentenced to 23 months in federal prison on December 10.

2025: Leaves prison for home confinement in March; pardoned by President Trump on May 28; releases MASA on July 25; starts the MASA Tour on September 2.

2026: Releases Slime Cry and is named the most certified rapper in RIAA history in January; welcomes a daughter in February; pulls out of Rolling Loud in May; drops ML2 on June 26; says he has moved to South Korea in August; turns 27 on October 20.

NBA YoungBoy’s net worth is estimated at $21–28 million, and almost all of it was built in two very different ways. From 2018 to 2024, he made his money from records, not shows. He released album after album and mixtape after mixtape, and his catalog still pulls about 18.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Then, in 2025, the MASA Tour grossed about $70 million in just 42 nights, by far the biggest payday of his career.

Large costs come off the top. Lawyers have worked on his cases almost every year since 2016, and the 2024 plea deals alone carried $225,000 in fines. He also supports 14 children. On property, he bought an 8,800-square-foot Salt Lake City mansion after moving to Utah and put it up for sale at $5.5 million in February 2024, XXL reported.

His catalog is a big long-term asset. He told Complex in January 2026 that he still owns all of his masters, so his streams keep paying him even in years when he doesn’t tour. With his Motown deal, a new album on the way and one more tour promised, his earnings still have room to grow.

What is NBA YoungBoy’s real name?

His real name is Kentrell DeSean Gaulden. He also goes by YoungBoy Never Broke Again, after his label, and by YB.

How old is NBA YoungBoy?

NBA YoungBoy was born on October 20, 1999, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He turned 27 on October 20, 2026.

Why was NBA YoungBoy pardoned?

President Donald Trump pardoned him on May 28, 2025. He had been sentenced to 23 months in federal prison in December 2024 for having guns as a convicted felon. The pardon also ended his probation.

How much did the MASA Tour make?

The 2025 MASA Tour grossed $70,012,731 and sold 552,215 tickets across 42 shows, according to Touring Data. It was the highest-grossing debut headlining tour by a rapper.

How many kids does NBA YoungBoy have?

He has 13 biological children with 10 women, and he also raises Kamron as his own son. His youngest, a daughter with his wife Jazlyn, was born in February 2026.

Where does NBA YoungBoy live now?

In August 2026, he said he lives in South Korea and does not plan to move back to the US.