Young Thug Teases Drake Collaborations & Says He’s Releasing an R&B Album Later This Year: ‘This Mary J.’

Young Thug has dabbled with elements of R&B in the past, but now he’s leaning into his influences for a full-fledged R&B project, which he’s plotting to release before the year’s out.

Thugger sat down with Power actors Kris D. Lofton and Gianni Paolo on Tuesday (Oct. 6) for an episode of the Hollywood duo’s The Crew Has It podcast, which was taped over the weekend in Los Angeles at ComplexCon.

The Atlanta native revealed his plans to drop the untitled R&B album, saying he’s taking inspiration from Mary J. Blige with a sound he hasn’t completely explored.

“This year,” he said. “R&B motherf—er. I’m going R&B, I’m going R&B,” he said. “That bi— real, I’m going Mary J. I’m going real R&B. Most of the songs are sexual though. There’s probably two or three heartbreak songs. Most of ’em are fun times.”

Projects like Beautiful Thugger Girls saw Thug test the waters of R&B, while blending a mix of country and hip-hop. The experimental 2017 mixtape peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and spawned hits such as the multiplatinum “Relationship” (No. 65 Hot 100) featuring Future.

Thug also hinted at releasing some of the collaborations he has with Drake in the stash, including “What a Time to Be a Slime,” which leaked in 2020. “We got a few songs,” he said. “We got sh–. We finna drop. We finna do what we gotta do.”

Drizzy and Thug have proven to be a dynamic combination in the past on tracks like the Billboard Hot 100-topping “Way 2 Sexy,” “Ice Melts” (which reached No. 62 on the Hot 100), “D4L,” “Sacrifices,” “Party on Cleveland” and “Oh U Went.”

Young Thug and his Young Stoner Life labelmates are heading to Europe later in October for a run of shows as part of the New Generation Tour across the pond. In August, Thugger and YSL released their Slime Language 3 compilation album, which debuted at No. 146 on the Billboard 200.

Watch the full interview with Young Thug below. Talk about his upcoming R&B album takes place at the 23-minute mark.