Back in 2022, both Young Thug and Gunna were set to headline Lyrical Lemonade’s Chicago-based music festival, Summer Smash. However, they were arrested and hit with a RICO that seemingly wrecked their friendship and led to Georgia’s longest criminal trial in its history.
Fast forward three chaotic years— Thug is free and he’s got UY SCUTI on the way. He finally took the stage at Summer Smash 2025 on June 22 to remind everyone why he’s still one of the most beloved figures in rap.
Young Thug performs for the first time in 1200 days
You thought he was gonna just walk onstage and say “Hi?” Nah. This is Thug we’re talking about. He kicked off his set with a cryptic pre-recorded video where he told fans: “Sorry for failing. Forgive me, I’m back.” The lights go out. Then, a Thug doppelganger in a Donnie Darko-like mask appeared on the railing of a viewing tower, just hanging there like he was auditioning for The Purge: Summer Smash.
Moments later, the real Young Thug hit the stage wearing a similar cursed forest creature mask and launched straight into “Take It To Trial.”
He kicked off a marathon of his biggest hits, performing tracks from different eras like “Ski,” (where he notably muted Gunna’s name), “Digits,” “Lifestyle,” and “Killed Before.” However, he also made sure to show love to the deep cuts and his fans, pulling one on stage while performing the original version of 2023’s “Jonesboro.”
The special guests that Thug brought out
Travis Scott (sans a Pusha T diss track) popped out with whooshing flames as he joined Thug to perform the “Hot” remix. “Chicago, make some noise for the greatest of all time, Young Thug in this motherf*cker ya heard? Ayo Slime, if you don’t mind, I wanna send this shit upside down real quick, you dig what I’m saying?” said Scott before going into the moshpit-inducing “FE!N.”
La Flame coming out for his set should be no surprise, with the two having collabs going back to 2014 with Days Before Rodeo and Scott being seen in the studio with Thug shortly after his release.
Speaking of “going way back,” Thug brought out ATL legend T.I. to perform their 2014 collaboration “About the Money.” While T.I. did state that he was stepping back from live performances, he was one of the most outspoken rappers about Thug’s imprisonment, and was one of the first people to see him once he got out. This is what Atlanta unity looks like (with just a hint of court trauma bonding).
However, it was time to show the world what he had been cooking up. Ken Carson joined Thug on stage after doing his own set to perform their unreleased song (allegedly titled “YUCK”) for the excited crowd.
He closed his set with “Money on Money,” sadly without a Future appearance, and dove into the crowd to celebrate his return with fans. He notably used no backing vocals for any of his old songs and was in top form at Summer Smash, proving he hasn’t missed a beat.
“It means everything for Slime to just — his presence is everything, bro. Being incarcerated at that time and the world missing him, his fans missing him, his peers, his brothers, guys like me, I missed him when he was gone…Just his presence alone is priceless,” G Herbo told Rolling Stone (they have the 2022 track “Breathe Slow” together).
With his first official performance post-release in the books, Young Thug’s comeback era is here. If UY SCUTI hits like this show did, the throne might be claimed by the rapper once again.
