Rapper Young Thug Set To Face Trial

Jeffrey Lamar known professionally as Young Thug is considered to be an influential figure of his generation with his music impacting the modern sound of hip-hop and trap music is facing a trial over allegations that his record label is a cover for crime.

Accusations that Young Thug's record label is a cover for a crime ring will be the subject of his trial that is set to begin.

The indictment rocked Atlanta's hip-hop community, where Young Thug is regarded as one of the most influential artists and helped create the sound of modern rap.

A Georgia grand jury filed charges against more than two dozen people last spring, alleging that they were members of the Young Slime Life, or YSL, branch of the Bloods street gang. The influential hip-hop singer born Jeffery Williams was one of those implicated.

All of the defendants were charged by Georgia's prosecutors with conspiring to break the state's felony racketeering law, which is based on the federal RICO Act.

Young Thug, who established the hip-hop and trap label YSL Records in 2016, is accused of taking part in illegal street gang activity on one count as well. Defence attorneys assert that YSL, also known as Young Stoner Life Records, is just a company and a nebulous grouping of musicians.

Prosecutors are controversially displaying rap lyrics from artists including Young Thug and Gunna, who was also accused but accepted a plea deal, as well as a line from a song by the late Juice WRLD.