Young Thug Explains “Go White” On ‘UY SCUTI’ Cover

Key Takeaways:

• Young Thug says the UY SCUTI cover was inspired by a long-running joke about going white to become the biggest artist.
• He clarified that the visual was both playful and serious, referencing Michael Jackson’s skin condition as context.
• UY SCUTI dropped last Friday (Sept. 26) with features from Cardi B, Ken Carson, Future, and more.

Young Thug’s decision to portray himself as white on the cover of UY SCUTI was, to put it lightly, intriguing. On Sunday (Sept. 28), during the “It’s Up There Podcast w/Looney,” the rapper shared the story behind the creative decision.

“I think it was just some funny s**t, but it’s still like serious to the point where I went with it,” he said. Thugger added that growing up, people in his neighborhood “always joked and played” that if he wanted to be the biggest artist out, he’d essentially have to “go white.”

“That’s why when I put the album cover out, I said, ‘Aye, if you wanna be the biggest, go white,’” he explained. “We [were] just talking s**t ‘cause it’s so many big Black people. I’m one of them.” Young Thug then brought up Michael Jackson as an example.

“Michael Jackson went white for this,” he said, referencing the long-running skin bleaching rumors surrounding the King of Pop, before clarifying, “We know that’s not true.” For context, the late icon was diagnosed with vitiligo, a skin disorder that gradually stripped much of the pigment from his skin.

Also on Sunday, Young Thug held a surprise performance outside Fulton County Courthouse. He announced the pop-up concert just hours before starting his “Live From Atlanta” livestream at 4 p.m. ET.

The choice of location made for quite a statement. It was the very courthouse Thugger spent so much time in while fighting his RICO case, now doubling as a stage to promote his new album, UY SCUTI. He walked out to “RIP Big & Mack,” before encouraging everyone to strive to become lawyers and DAs instead of ending up “on the defendant side.”

Young Thug then launched into a few other records on UY SCUTI, namely “Whaddup Jesus,” “Blaming Jesus,” and “Catch Me I’m Falling.” From there, he treated the crowd to older favorites like “Digits” and his Gunna collab “Ski.” Check it out below.