He signed with Atlantic Records and Artist Partner Group in the latter year to release the singles "Untouchable" and "No Smoke", both of which marked his first entries on the Billboard Hot 100.

Released in January of the following year, his single "Outside Today" became his first to peak within the top 40 of the chart, and received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

[3][4] It served as both his mainstream breakthrough and the lead single for his debut studio album, Until Death Call My Name (2018), which peaked at number seven on the US Billboard 200 despite mixed critical reception.

[4] In the following week, he released the commercial mixtape AI YoungBoy 2 (2019), which debuted atop the Billboard 200 and received 18 gold certifications by the RIAA for each of its tracks.

[5] The release of its follow-up, 38 Baby 2 (2020) and his second studio album, Top (2020), made Gaulden the second hip hop act to peak the chart thrice within a single year.

[a][6] Released during an incarceration, his third album, Sincerely, Kentrell (2021), likewise peaked the chart and became the third project—behind Tupac Shakur's Me Against the World (1995) and Lil Wayne's I Am Not a Human Being (2010)—by an imprisoned artist to do so.

[10][11] Gaulden then signed with Motown to release his fifth and sixth albums: I Rest My Case[12] and Don't Try This at Home (both 2023),[13] both of which peaked within the top-ten of the Billboard 200 despite trailing critical reception.

[14] His seventh album, I Just Got a Lot on My Shoulders (2024), narrowly entered the chart and saw a continued critical decline, serving as his final release with the label.

[41] By January 2019, Gaulden was on YouTube's Top Music Artists list in the United States for the previous 101 weeks, which made him the most-watched musician across all genres.

Top sold 126,000 album-equivalent units (including 19,000 pure album sales) in its first week, accumulating 156.32 million on-demand US streams from all its tracks.

[72] This mixtape garnered attention due to the singles released previously, in which he dissed rappers King Von and NLE Choppa on the tracks "Bring the Hook" and "Know Like I Know", respectively.

[75] In May, it was reported that Gaulden rejected CEO Craig Kallman's $25 million offer to renew his Atlantic deal, calling the label out on its artist integrity.

[128][129] The album was released according to plan on April 21, 2023, featuring guest appearances from Mariah the Scientist, Nicki Minaj, Post Malone, and the Kid Laroi.

[158] In December 2022, Gaulden cited Yeat, Young Thug, French Montana, Shy Glizzy, and Soulja Slim as his top five favorite rappers.

[168][169] In April 2019, Gaulden headed down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, his hometown, to feed the homeless in the area and set up a shelter for people in need while handing out food to the public.

[173][174]Just a month later, in December, Gaulden partnered up with his long-time rivals Fredo Bang and TG Kommas alongside NAACP and Metro Health Education in order to give back to their community in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to donate thousands of toys to the youth for Christmas alongside donating toys to the children's sector of Baton Rouge's Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.

Marshals arrested Gaulden before a concert in Austin, Texas, accusing him of jumping out of a vehicle and opening fire on a group of people on a South Baton Rouge street.

The claimant states that he, Gaulden, Bowman and members of their entourage were escorted backstage by management, venue owners and concert organizers where he claims to have been assaulted by the two aforementioned.

[195] On September 28, 2020, Gaulden was among sixteen people arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on various charges, including distribution and manufacturing of drugs and possession of stolen firearms.

[222] Later that month, the court denied Gaulden's motion to ease his house arrest limitations due to his diminishing mental health alongside declining music sales.

[223] Assistant US attorney William K. Morris stated that Gaulden's "current conditions of pre-trial release prohibit him from seeking and obtaining mental health treatment".

[224] On December 19, 2023, Billboard announced that Judge Shelly Dick denied Gaulden's request to obtain more recording studio access, however, she allowed the rapper to get better medical treatment.

[251][252][253] From 2018 to 2020, YoungBoy and Chicago rapper King Von – a signee of Lil Durk's imprint Only The Family – began to diss each other through social media and their music, in what was initially taken as a joke.

In the track, YoungBoy sent an obvious diss toward King Von and rappers from O'Block in Chicago as he rapped: "Nigga, this that Squid Game, O-Block pack get rolled up / Murder what they told us, Atlanta boy get fold up".

[268] In the track, YoungBoy had taken several subliminal disses towards NLE where he rapped: "I bet your momma would be destroyed, n-gga, when we send your stupid ass to God for makin' statements/Choosin' sides about my beef with them lil boys.

Budden criticizing YoungBoy sparked a response from him through the Never Broke Again, LLC Instagram page in which YoungBoy made a story dissing Budden in which he noted that his mixtape Decided 2 is still in the Apple Music top ten US albums chart, "The last thing I dropped was Decided 2, and my album is still in the top 10 [on Apple Music] pussy ass nigga.

"[100] The label has been home to several artists such as YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Quando Rondo, and NoCap, as well as record producers and engineers such as Jason "Cheese" Goldberg and Khris James.

[53] In October 2021, after being released on house arrest from Baton Rouge, Gaulden moved to Millcreek, Utah in the Salt Lake County with his then-girlfriend, Jazlyn Mychelle Hayes.

[305] While on house arrest in 2023, YoungBoy had publicly spoken about his heavy drug use to cope with depression and anxiety, stating that he takes approximately 20 Xanax pills a day.

[307] However, in February 2024, YoungBoy shared a post on Instagram that pictured him unconscious on the floor with spilled Alprazolam pills and a cup of lean, creating concerns on the rapper's health.