Is Kyng the World’s First Young Thug Tribute Act?

A guy who is not Young Thug, via Instagram

It’s hard to deny that Young Thug is some sort of aural maverick. Since materialising from the depths of America’s southern state several years ago, the young ATLien has yelped, screeched and swerved his way into a twisted, anthemic sound that can only be defined as something of his own. As a result, a trickle of bottom-feeding imitators have slowly started to move in over the past few years, attempting to ape Thugger’s sound.

On the one hand, imitation is the greatest form of flattery. On the other: Thugger’s voice, style, and flow is so recognizable that it feels fruitless to attempt to build a long-term career on the basis of surfing in on its wave. Still: what do we know, eh? The imitation game is strong in 2016. Desiigner seems to have built a future from, well, the sound of Future. Bryson Tiller, too, was seemingly conceived in an entirely fictional yet no less revelatory event where some particles of Drake’s dry skin combined with the post-sex sweat of the Weeknd. And now there’s Kyng—a young rapper who looks and sounds like he’s snuck some of Thugger’s hormones into his DNA. Just take a look at his video for “Bloodaz” (below).

It’s prime Thugger, right? Yet despite the fact he clearly sits in the same canon as Young Thug, people have been going wild for Kyng. On the one hand, it’s almost as if there are sentient people out there who prefer to drink sugar-free, supermarket own-brand cola rather than the full fat stuff. On the other, there is undeniably something about this track that bangs and is connecting with its listeners. Part of that comes down to the debt Kyng no doubt owes to Young Thug for ploughing through the walls to allow this sort of sound to exist in the first place. The other part comes from the production—which isn’t anything special, but has that bounce and pop when played through good headphones or speakers; the grand signifier that tries to convince the listener what they’re hearing is a turn up in excellence. It’s fast-food music: it tastes good for a minute, maybe even half an hour, but will it last?

Whatever the answer, Kyng already has his sites set on a specific long-term target. He wants to get Young Thug’s attention. How? Well, he’s going to release a mixtape called Slime Season 3 before Young Thug releases his long-awaited mixtape of the same name.

Kyng’s thinking behind the move goes back to something Young Thug has already implemented himself. Growing up, Young Thug just listened to Lil Wayne. No one else. As a result part of Wayne’s aesthetic and freedom can be heard in Thugger’s music. So when Lil Wayne announced that he would be releasing Tha Carter 5, Young Thug announced he would be putting out an album called Tha Carter 6, which he eventually changed to Barter 6. As he keeps on tweeting and retweeting, Kyng is doing the same thing. In a backward way, he’s trying to pay dues to an artist whose work has formed the foundation of his sound.

The thing is: is Kyng inspired by Young Thug? Is he paying homage to him? Is he aping him? It’s hard to tell. But I will say this. The only video on his YouTube channel is the world’s greatest Rich Gang: Tha Tour tribute act. It even comes complete with Rich Homie Quan’s angelic harmonies. Watch below.

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