On the cover of his new mixtape, Jeffery — which recently debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 — Young Thug wears a ruffled periwinkle gown, an image that sums up the inventive rapper’s approach to fashion: “When it comes to swag,” he says, “there’s no gender involved.” He has worn a frock with trousers for Calvin Klein’s 2016 global campaign, a skinny tracksuit for Puma’s Classics collection, and, soon, he’ll don another statement gown, for his wedding to swimwear designer Jerrika Karlae (“There will be two brides,” he says).
Billboard Style Issue Photo Shoots: Young Thug, Sofia Richie, Rae Sremmurd & More
While his Jeffery look — geisha couture meets Mortal Kombat’s Raiden — isn’t exactly the get-up you’d expect on a face-tattooed Atlanta MC, it works on the 25-year-old rapper who’s known for barking and squawking between spitting lines about guns, sex and drugs. “When I seen that dress,” he says, “I felt like God gave it to me.”