Young Thug clearly wanted to make the most of his first time on Saturday Night Live, putting on quite the colourful show alongside some wildly varied guests. 

Playing two tracks from his recently released album Punk, the rapper started with his latest single ‘Tick Tock’. As Young Thug unleashed some frenzied Atlanta trap, blink-182’s Travis Barker looked like he was having a lovely time of it on the drums behind him, topless and wearing a bright red beanie. He even got a frenetic drum solo towards the end of the track to really stand out.

Next up was ‘Love You More’ which was led by Nate Ruess from Fun – I’ll admit that I did a double take at first. Fellow rapper Gunna also featured in the performance of this one, sitting atop a piano.

The second song was a far more chilled and melodic affair, with Young Thug perfectly happy to allow his collaborators to shine. With everyone wearing some form of luridly loud red clothing, it was more a case of style over substance but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Young Thug was appearing on the sketch show to promote his sophomore record Punk, which dropped on Friday, October 15th, just one day before SNL aired. It’s the follow-up to his breakout debut album, 2019’s So Much Fun, which debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200.

Clocking in at over 60 minutes, it’s filled to the brim with huge collaborations: J. Cole, the aforementioned Gunna and Nate Ruess, Future, Post Malone, ASAP Rocky, Drake, and Travis Scott all feature across the album. The late rappers Juice Wrld and Mac Miller also appear on two tracks.

For more on this topic, follow the Hip Hop Observer.

Love Hip Hop?

Get the latest Hip Hop news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more

Check out ‘Tick Tock’ (SNL) by Young Thug:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml3Bp4veA1A&t=108s

Check out ‘Love You More’ (SNL) by Young Thug:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14tO_zMjC9U&t=216s

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine