To fully appreciate the music of Young Thug, put away any notions that rap’s artistic value comes from how conscious or clever or fast the MC’s lyrics are, how many internal rhymes they use, how smooth their flow is. Put away any conceptions that the best rap is that which sounds closest to Nas’s Illmatic. Once you can do this, the discography of one of the most iconoclastic MCs of our time opens up, and you can viably enjoy his upcoming show at 8 p.m., this Friday, Oct. 9 at the McDonald Theatre.

The most dazzling thing about Thug is just how much he’s capable of. On one track, he’s spitting red-blooded bars (“Old English”); on the next, he’s slurring and squealing incomprehensible vowel sounds (“Haiti Slang”). Every now and again, he delivers a stunning pop song (“Lifestyle.”) He releases albums and mixtapes at a prodigious rate and you never know what side of Thug you’ll see on his next release. He’s had four releases since April earlier this year – and that’s not counting his phenomenal collaboration with Jamie xx on the blissful summer track “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)” – and he’s preparing to drop another album, HiTunes. It could be a Top 40 album or three hours of pencil sharpener noises. You never know.
It all depends on what the beat requires, and he seems to summon every verse effortlessly. By some accounts, he doesn’t even write lyrics; he’ll doodle some shapes on a piece of paper and just go. This approach might seem reminiscent of his frenemy Lil Wayne. (Thug, along with frequent collaborator Birdman, were indicted on conspiracy charges after Wayne’s tour buses were shot up in Atlanta.)
Indeed, Thug is immensely indebted to Wayne, to the point of almost naming his studio debut Carter 6 after Wayne’s Tha Carter series, whose fifth installment is languishing in label hell. But unlike that increasingly tired rapper, Thug has never made anything that felt like he was trying too hard. There is still a lot of creativity left in this man.

Getting into Thug requires an open mind, and that’s not just to his music. He’s a troll of Bob Dylan proportions. He’s spoken out against mixing politics and music, yet he passionately shouts “R.I.P. Mike Brown” on “OD.” He’s fond of wearing women’s clothing and calling men “bae”; he denies gay rumors, but he’s only ramped up these effeminate qualities. And then there’s the whole Carter 6 thing. This April, he put out the album now called Barter 6; it sounds nothing like Lil Wayne whatsoever, but it’s one of the year’s best hip-hop albums.
Reviews of Thug shows have been mixed; some praise his onstage charisma, others criticize his famous incomprehensibility. It’s impossible to know what to expect from his McDonald show. Thugger is a lot of things – underground phenom, pop prodigy, prankster, uncompromising artist. One thing he’s not is predictable.
Doors at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m.. Tickets $25 advance, $30 door. All ages. I$$A, Easy McCoy, and Rachel West open. Friday, Oct. 9. The McDonald Theatre is located at 1010 Willamette Street (at 10th Ave.,) Eugene, OR.