Growing up in the cultural hub of the trap music genre that he has contributed so heavily to, Young Thug’s Georgia upbringing has had a profound influence on both his music career and his life. What high school did he attend while going through those tumultuous times?
Young Thug went to Tri-Cities High School in East Point, Georgia. That information comes from fellow rapper Lil Baby, who has seen Thug as something of a mentor and guiding figure during the early years of his career.
Most of the comments that Thug has made about his high school life paint his relationship with education in a poor light, usually ending in disaster or featuring the realities of street life. From outrageous claims in his lyrics to accusations and rumors of violence, Thug’s track record with education appears at first glance to be less than stellar.
Lil Baby’s Account
There isn’t much official information regarding Thug’s academic record, but one source of information which appears to be credible has been fellow rap artist Lil Baby. Even beyond the fact that Baby would have no incentive to fabricate a story about their high school friendship, the bond he shares with Thug is easily explained by the fact that they have been acquainted for so long.
Not only have they been friends since day one, but Thug has also actually given invaluable support to Baby in his career. That support came of both encouragement and much-needed faith, but also financial backing to ensure that Baby got himself into the studio instead of wasting his time.
So, if Baby claims that the two went to Tri-Cities High School, then given their history together that we definitely know of he’s probably telling the truth!
Tri-Cities High School
While making note of the fact that Baby and Thug both attended the East Point school, we actually notice that they aren’t the only rap superstars to have graced the school’s halls. Alongside them, we also see legendary hip-hop duo Outkast.
There is something a little odd about that fact, however. You see, Andre Benjamin and Antwan Patton, better known by their stage names Andre 3000 and Big Boi, are incredibly famous. That’s not just in one specific genre or niche either, they possessed genuine mainstream appeal.
With that in mind, it’s natural to assume that anyone who went to the same school as such an iconic and influential pair should be well-aware of who they are, especially if they work within the same genre as you.
Strangely, Thug claimed to barely even know Andre 3000. This feels like it might cast a shadow of doubt over the suggestion that Young Thug attended the same school, but based on what we know about Thug, the school he was attending was likely the last thing that was on his mind.
On top of that, it’s possible that Thug’s comments may have been a little purposefully inflammatory.
Broken Bones and Unbreakable Dreams
Even before he had reached high school, Thug had already taken a dislike to school, and apparently to one of his teachers as well. He recalls a story during an interview, talking about how he broke one of his teacher’s arms.
This resulted in him being sent to a juvenile detention center. The way that Thug describes it, the facility was essentially just a jail, and if the purpose of the program was to have any kind of rehabilitative effect on the children who turned up there, it instead had the opposite effect.
By the time he reached high school, Thug was on an entirely different level from his peers at the school. This was thanks to the events leading up to this stage of his life shaping him into such a distinct and unique personality.
Together with the gambling addiction that he had picked up in the juvenile detention program, Thug was gambling in and out of school in order to fuel his eccentric fashion tastes.
Those fashion tastes were extreme, consisting mainly of clothes “from the women’s section.” Such an outlandish sense of fashion and fearlessness with his wardrobe further fuels the image of a man who was already on that high-flying path of the rap superstar.
That stardom is exactly where Thug ended up Although he did it unconventionally, and perhaps somewhat riskily, Thug has achieved exactly what he set out to achieve.