Music

Young Thug Removes Israel Bar From New Song After Online Backlash

BYMille Team

September 2, 2026

Young Thug probably expected plenty of conversation around Slime Language 3. What he may not have anticipated was that, among its 41 tracks and a guest list that includes Future, Travis Scott, Lil Baby, Quavo, Yeat, Veeze, Cash Cobain, and Trippie Redd, one line about Israel would become one of the album’s biggest talking points.

Released last week through Young Stoner Life (YSL), the third installment of the Slime Language series arrives five years after its predecessor and less than a year after Young Thug’s first post-jail studio album, UY Scuti. Split across two sides and running for more than two hours, the compilation is essentially a sprawling introduction to the current YSL universe, pairing established names with the label’s newer generation of artists. Then came “Øway Remix,” featuring Tezzus.

Toward the end of his verse, Thug gives a shoutout to his international listeners, rapping, “Shout-out to overseas, love is mad real,” before referencing the Middle East and Israelis specifically. Within days, clips of the verse began circulating online, where the reaction was considerably, and understandably, less enthusiastic.

Gotta be a government mandated bar why tf would he ever add a line like this

— R15 (@ronaldob06) August 30, 2026

“Multiple Israeli bars from Young Thug in 2026 is genuinely the most disappointing thing,” one X user wrote. Another questioned how anyone could remain unaware of Israel’s actions at this stage, while one particularly bewildered listener joked that the lyric “gotta be a government mandated bar.” Others were slightly more forgiving, suggesting Thug may simply have been oblivious to how politically charged the shoutout would sound.

However, that explanation becomes harder to swallow in 2026, when Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the wider Palestinian cause have become unavoidable fault lines across music, fashion, film, and entertainment, though it appears someone in Thug’s camp got the memo. Shortly after the backlash gathered momentum, listeners noticed that the track had been updated on streaming services, with the reference to Israelis removed. Where the original version explicitly mentioned them, the revised recording censors the word entirely.

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The Atlanta rapper, born Jeffery Williams, spent more than two years behind bars after being arrested in 2022 as part of Georgia’s sprawling YSL RICO case. Prosecutors alleged that YSL doubled as a criminal street gang, while his defense maintained that it was primarily a record label and argued against prosecutors’ controversial use of rap lyrics as evidence.

In October 2024, Williams pleaded guilty to gang, drug, and gun charges and was released after receiving a 40-year sentence structured around time served and 15 years of probation. His probation came with extensive conditions, including restrictions on entering metropolitan Atlanta, with limited exceptions, alongside community service and anti-violence presentations.

His musical return has been similarly messy. UY Scuti, released in September 2025, was his first studio album following his release and dealt heavily with the trial, fractured relationships, loyalty, and his years behind bars, although critics were divided over whether it successfully captured the comeback many had anticipated.

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Slime Language 3 now pushes YSL back toward the center of his story. Gunna, who helped helm Slime Language 2 and accepted an Alford plea in the RICO case, is notably absent, while a younger crop of YSL-affiliated artists takes up much of the mammoth tracklist. A label tour is also set to follow the release.

Young Thug Removes Israel Bar From New Song After Online Backlash

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Young Thug Removes Israel Bar From New Song After Online Backlash

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