Baton Rouge, Louisiana rapper NBA Youngboy recently reflected on seeing a 9-year-old boy’s funeral being themed after him, and he admitted, it really “messed him up.”
In September 2021, NBA Youngboy’s 9-year-old fan Kayden Evans passed away and his family put together a funeral themed after the rapper. The boy’s casket was decorated with the rapper’s “NBA (Never Broke Again)” lettering and his music even played in the background of viral videos. Following the boy’s funeral, Youngboy even reached out to the child’s family and gifted a platinum plaque for his 2020 album ‘Top‘ to Kayden’s mother.
During a recent interview with Bootleg Kev, NBA Youngboy hung out with Kev for a day while hitting the mountains of Utah. The duo hit up Grave Digger Mountain where they rode horses, spent time with the rapper’s family, and got to know more about his career, etc.
Before speaking on the NBA Youngboy themed funeral, the rapper and Kev spoke about the rapper’s large success in the music and entertainment industry, despite him being “anti-industry.”
Kev said, “It’s so crazy. I feel like you’ve been so successful despite kind of being as ‘anti-industry’ as possible. And I mean that in a positive way. ‘Cause I feel like most artists, they do their best to try to play the game. They do their best to try to show up and show face, go to events, hang out in LA, and go to Grammy parties. [But] none of that sh*t has ever mattered to you. You’ve always been very authentic when it comes to just the relationships you have with the artists, the features you do.”
Youngboy admitted, “I tried playing the game before, but that sh*t don’t work for nobody like me, I guess. Then another thing [is,] I don’t want to get caught up in all that.” Kev confirmed, “Now, the industry sh*t, it will consume you, man. I’ve seen it happen with a lot of people.”
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Youngboy added, “Yeah, and even like with the fans. Like, man, you got to learn you just entertainment. You’re a movie. It’s either you a good one or a bad one, and you going to get called out. Man, you just entertainment [and] you gotta know when the joke’s on you.”
Kev continued, “It’s crazy ’cause, at a certain point in time, I started noticing young kids having birthday parties themed after you. That’s got to be as crazy as seeing a grownup with your face tatted on them ’cause there’s a lot of those.”
Youngboy interjected and added, “Man, I actually have seen a kid’s funeral themed after me. That f***ed me up, man.” Kev further asked, “How’d that make you feel?” Youngboy replied, “I never knew it was that serious.”
Kev reassured him, “It’s that serious, man. Your fans are, I would say probably say, the most committed bunch. But, I appreciated the fact that you’re starting to kind of be self-aware, and be like, ‘You know what? It’s that serious for a lot of kids.” Youngboy added, “At this point, it’s really strictly entertainment. Like, it’s hard being the person that you want to be dealing with these people. Or that you’re trying to be. Especially, when you already came in a certain way, it’s crazy.”
Kev then asked, “What’s the biggest misunderstanding would you say people have about you? ‘Cause there’s a stigma about you that at times can be positive and/or negative. But, how are you misunderstood, ’cause people don’t really get to know you. You don’t do a lot of interviews.”
Youngboy replied, “I went to rehab for a weekend recently. I still get an image that I still do a lot of drugs. So, I kind of get that thrown in my face. Like, ‘Oh, this taking over his mind,’ or something like that.” Youngboy admitted that it was as recent as two weekends before his interview with Kev. He added, “Now, I’m just kind of taking on therapy from now on. I’ve been doing a lot of rich-sipping and smoking these nasty a** cigarettes. They been tearing my a** up, though. I want to stop smoking them so bad.”
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