Business Is Business (Young Thug album)

Business Is Business (stylized in all caps) is the third studio album by American rapper Young Thug. It was released on June 23, 2023, through YSL Records and was distributed by Atlantic Records and 300 Entertainment. The album features guest appearances from Drake, Future, 21 Savage, Travis Scott, Yak Gotti, Lil Uzi Vert, BSlime, Lil Gotit and Nate Ruess. American record producer and album executive producer Metro Boomin's version of the album was released four days later on June 27, 2023, and is the tracklist that he originally envisioned, along with bonus tracks. It features additional guest appearances from the late Juice Wrld and Nicki Minaj. Production on the album was handled by Metro Boomin, David x Eli, Kid Masterpiece, Zinobeatz, Aviator Keyyz, Wheezy, Dez Wright, D. Rich, London on da Track, Dr. Luke, FnZ, BoogzDaBeast, Allen Ritter, Dre Moon, F1lthy, Jonah Abraham, Southside, Bobby Raps, Peter Lee Johnson, Bak, and DY.

Business Is Business marks Young Thug's first project since his arrest on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges in May 2022, in which he released the album while in jail. It serves as the follow-up to his previous album, Punk (2021).

Background
On May 9, 2022, Young Thug was arrested in a massive gang indictment alongside multiple other affiliates of his record label, Young Stoner Life, with one of them notably being fellow American rapper Gunna, who turned himself in two days later, and also Yak Gotti, who also appears on the album. The 28 defendants were later charged with 56 counts related to gang activity and racketeering. At the time of the release of the album, he was still incarcerated and has been denied bond several times. Thug has since pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. His trial is expected to start in July 2023. In reference to the situation, the album cover depicts Thug in a courtroom surrounded by co-defendants. The record was announced on the rapper's social media on June 22, 2023. American record producer Metro Boomin, who also serves as the executive producer of the album, later shared the announcement on his social media in support of the rapper. He had previously posted a QR code leading to a countdown on his website with the album title and tagged Thug on June 16. The clock was also shared by fellow rappers and producers Drake, Chance the Rapper, Gunna, Don Toliver, Quavo, Doe Boy, Lil Durk, 21 Savage, G Herbo, Ty Dolla Sign, Chase B, London on da Track, Southside and Wheezy.

Critical reception
Business Is Business received generally favorable reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 64, based on five reviews.

In a mixed review, Mark Braboy of Rolling Stone wrote "The title Business Is Business feels appropriate. Thug's performance is just that. Strictly business. Eerily, the album's hodge-podge quality has the feel of a posthumous LP made by someone who is still alive. The boundary-pushing, dress-rocking, unpredictable superstar we've watched evolve over the years feels significantly diminished here. Whatever the spark the music has is largely carried by his guests" and "Such moments excepted, the content of Business Is Business feels bland, especially for an expectations-thwarting artist like Thug". Paul Attard of Slant Magazine wrote, "Bizarre vocalic inflections and utterances aside, Business Is Business also abounds in Thug's trademark outlandish songwriting quirks." Vernon Ayiku of Exclaim! stated, "Overall, the album doesn't have a lot of replay value besides a few stand-out songs like the Drake-featuring "Oh U Went" and "Went Thru It," which is led mainly by the strength of Metro Boomin's production." Reviewing for HipHopDX, Dash Lewis praised the production of the album, stating "More than anything, Business is a triumph for Metro Boomin's curatorial skills, earning his executive producer credit by guiding the album's greyscale sound. Metro provides the lion's share of the beats, but the other producers he recruits — Wheezy, Aviator Keyyz, F1LTHY — match the unsteady atmosphere", but also wrote "There isn't much more context to be found in the music, which isn't nearly as fun or inventive as his previous work. It's unclear exactly what Thug was trying to communicate here; if it's meant to be a good bit of escapism, both for artist and audience, it's a little too brooding." Paul A. Thompson of Pitchfork wrote, "Business Is Business, perhaps due to its nature as a cobbled-together collection from someone who can't access a recording studio, even to comb through his vaults, frequently recalls Thug's loosest, most apparently improvisatory work. It's all the more compelling for it."

Commercial performance
Business Is Business debuted at two on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 89,000 album-equivalent units (including 9,000 pure sales) in its first week. The album also accumulated a total of 106.32 million on-demand streams of the album's songs. The album is Thug's ninth top-ten debut and his first to not reach the number one section on the Billboard 200.