Let me tell you about someone who has no business being where he is right now.
NBA YoungBoy grew up in one of the toughest parts of Baton Rouge. His father went to prison when he was only eight years old. His grandmother stepped in to raise him, but she later died. He broke his neck at just four years old. He eventually dropped out of school. He got arrested and spent time locked up. He cycled through the legal system for years before his net worth grew alongside his music career.
And somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, Kentrell DeSean Gaulden became one of the most streamed rappers alive.
You might know him as NBA YoungBoy. Or YoungBoy Never Broke Again. Or just YB. Whatever name you use, the story is the same. This is a guy who turned a terrible hand of cards into a music empire, four Billboard number one albums, 15 billion YouTube views, and a presidential pardon.
He is 26 years old.
That is what makes this story worth telling.
Quick Facts Table
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Kentrell DeSean Gaulden |
| Stage Name | NBA YoungBoy / YoungBoy Never Broke Again |
| Born | October 20, 1999 |
| Birthplace | Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Genres | Southern hip-hop, trap, gangsta rap |
| First Mixtape | Life Before Fame (2015) |
| Debut Album | Until Death Call My Name (2018) |
| Record Labels | Never Broke Again, Motown, Atlantic (former) |
| Children | At least 11 to 13 |
| Spouse | Jazlyn Mychelle Hayes (married 2023) |
| Estimated Net Worth | $6 million to $20 million (widely disputed) |
| Notable Record | Youngest artist to chart 100 songs on Billboard Hot 100 |
| Presidential Pardon | Granted by President Trump, 2025 |
Where He Came From: North Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge is Louisiana’s capital city. But the part Kentrell grew up in was not the part you see on tourism posters. North Baton Rouge is one of the poorest and most violent urban areas in the American South. Poverty is deep there. Crime is close to the surface.
Kentrell was born on October 20, 1999. His mother, Sherhonda Gaulden, was only 16 when she had him. His father, Jeffrey Gaulden, was around in those first years but not for long. When Kentrell was eight, his father received a 55-year prison sentence. That effectively removed him from Kentrell’s life.
Sherhonda struggled to keep things together on her own. Eventually, she left too. Kentrell ended up being raised mainly by his grandmother. He has described those early years with her as both tough and full of love. She spoiled him when she could. She gave him structure when no one else was around.
There was also a childhood accident that left a permanent mark. When Kentrell was four years old, he broke his neck during a wrestling match at his grandmother’s house. He had to wear a medical halo brace while the injury healed. Fans noticed those marks in his early videos and photos. They became part of his unmistakable look.
He has siblings, including a brother named Ken Gaulden and a sister named Teelee Gaulden. The household was chaotic and shifting. Stability was not something anyone could count on.
School Life: Ninth Grade and Out
Kentrell attended Scotlandville Magnet High School in Baton Rouge. He did not stay long.
He dropped out in ninth grade. He was around 14 or 15 years old.
Some young men leave school because they have a better option lined up. Kentrell left because the streets were pulling harder than the classroom. He was already writing rhymes. He had been writing since fourth grade. But rapping was something he kept private for a long time. He was unsure of himself. He did not want people to know in case he was not good enough.
While out of school, he got into robbery. He needed money for studio time. That is how a teenager in a broke neighborhood pays for a dream that costs money he does not have. He got caught. Police arrested him on robbery charges. He ended up in a juvenile detention facility in Tallulah, Louisiana.
That lockup changed everything.
Inside the detention center, Kentrell did not stop writing. He filled pages. He wrote song after song. He was building a catalog without any studio, any producer, or any audience. By the time he got out six months later, he had more material than most artists carry around their whole careers.
There was no college. There was no diploma. His education happened in the streets, in the studio, and in cells.
How the Music Started: Microphones and Mixtapes
When Kentrell got home from the detention center, he learned his grandmother had died while he was inside. That hit hard. He had no guardian left. He moved in with a childhood friend who would later become his manager and go by the name NBA 3Three.
He was rapping now, and not hiding it anymore.
Around age 14, he started recording in a basic setup using a cheap microphone he bought from Walmart. The sound quality was rough. The lyrics were raw. But something about the emotion in his voice was different from what most teenagers could produce. He sounded like he had lived more than his age suggested. Because he had.
He released his first mixtape, Life Before Fame, in 2015. He was 16. The project was not polished. It was not supposed to be. It was a declaration that he existed and that he had something to say.
He kept going. Mixtape after mixtape followed. Mind of a Menace arrived. Then Mind of a Menace 2. Then Mind of a Menace 3. He was releasing music faster than most listeners could keep up. Volume was his strategy. If he put out enough material, something was going to connect.
Something did.
In 2016, his mixtape 38 Baby blew up online. The project spread through social media and YouTube at a speed nobody expected. At the same moment, he recorded a diss track directed at another Baton Rouge rapper named Scotty Cain. The beef generated even more attention. His name was suddenly being discussed well beyond Louisiana.
Then came the arrest that paradoxically made him famous.
Legal Trouble and the Rise That Came From It
In 2016, Kentrell was arrested in Austin, Texas on a charge connected to a drive-by shooting. The charge was first-degree murder. He was 17 years old.
Most careers would have ended there. His accelerated.
While he sat in custody waiting for his case to move through the courts, he kept releasing songs. Tracks like Win or Lose, Don’t Matter, and Too Much came out. They circulated online. Win or Lose went viral. People found out this teenager was dropping heat from inside a cell. That story became bigger than the music itself.
He was released in May 2017. The murder charge was eventually downgraded through a plea arrangement. He was put on probation.
Days after getting out, he released Untouchable. The song cracked the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 95. It was a small number by some standards. But it was proof that he had a national audience now, not just a regional one.
The Breakthrough Years: 2018 and Counting
NBA YoungBoy released his first official studio album back in 2018. It was called Until Death Call My Name. It debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200. Around the same time, his single Outside Today became his biggest mainstream moment up to that point. The song had an addictive melodic hook and a video with millions of plays within days of release.
He was 18. He had a top ten album. He was a certified name.
The momentum kept building in 2019. His mixtape AI YoungBoy 2 reached the top spot on the Billboard 200. He was the first rapper in the history of the chart to reach number one with a mixtape rather than a traditional studio album. That accomplishment sparked fresh conversations about what this kid from Baton Rouge had achieved.
Then 2020 arrived. He released multiple projects in a single year. His sophomore studio album, Top, reached number one. He then added a collaborative project and another mixtape before the year closed. By now, the volume of his output was becoming part of his legend.
In 2021, something even more remarkable happened. Kentrell was in custody on federal gun charges when his album Sincerely, Kentrell was released. It landed straight at number one on the Billboard 200. He had topped the chart from a jail cell. The situation mirrored what occurred five years before with Win or Lose. Jail could not stop the music.
Records That Tell the Story
The numbers around NBA YoungBoy’s career are hard to argue with.
He has four number one studio albums on the Billboard 200. He has accumulated more than 126 RIAA certifications across his catalog. He holds the record for the most gold-certified songs in RIAA history, surpassing artists like Ed Sheeran and Ariana Grande. His YouTube channel passed 15 billion total views.
He became the youngest artist in history to place 100 separate songs on the Billboard Hot 100. That record belongs to him alone.
His track Bandit, a posthumous collaboration with Juice WRLD, won the Most Performed R and B and Hip-Hop Song award at the BMI R and B and Hip-Hop Awards. It also took a win at the ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Music Awards in 2021. The Grammy committee has nominated him as well.
The New York Times called him a modern-day Tupac Shakur. The RIAA has certified him as the most successful rapper of the decade from 2015 to 2025 across certified units. Whether you love his music or not, those figures represent something undeniable.
Family Life: Many Children, One Marriage
Kentrell’s personal life is complicated and large.
He became a father for the first time when he was 16 years old. Since then, the number of his children has grown steadily. As of early 2026, he has at least 11 to 13 children with multiple women. His sons are named Kamiri, Kayden, Taylin, Kacey, and Kentrell Jr. His daughters are named Armani, Kodi, and Alice. Some of his children came from women he dated briefly. Others came from longer relationships.
His most significant romantic partnership in recent years has been with Jazlyn Mychelle Hayes. The two started seeing each other around 2020. They reportedly married in a private Utah ceremony in 2023. She has appeared in his music videos and stood by him through significant legal difficulties.
Earlier notable relationships include Jania Bania, with whom he has a son named Kayden, and Iyanna Mayweather, the daughter of boxing legend Floyd Mayweather. Iyanna and Kentrell welcomed a son named Kentrell Jr. in January 2021. That relationship attracted enormous media coverage partly because of who her father is.
Kentrell has acknowledged that raising so many children while managing a career and legal battles is not simple. He has said publicly that his children are his most important legacy. He has also quietly paid funeral expenses for a ten-year-old boy named Kimani Thomas who was killed in an accidental shooting in Baton Rouge in March 2026. He did it without a press release. The boy’s mother shared the news herself.
Legal Struggles: A Long List
The legal chapter of Kentrell’s life deserves its own section because it is that extensive.
He was first arrested as a teenager for robbery. That sent him to juvenile detention in Tallulah.
In 2016, the attempted murder charges in Texas put him back in custody. He pleaded and received probation rather than prison.
In 2018, he was arrested multiple times. One incident involved an assault accusation. Another involved weapons. He also violated probation multiple times during this period.
The most serious federal case came in 2021. A federal grand jury indicted him on charges of possessing an unregistered firearm and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon. These charges stemmed from a 2020 incident. He spent time held without bail. His legal team fought the case for years.
In 2023, while under house arrest awaiting trial resolution, he reportedly married Jazlyn in Utah.
A 2024 arrest added a prescription fraud charge to the pile.
In total, across all his legal encounters, Kentrell has faced roughly 63 separate charges throughout his life.
Then in 2025, something unexpected happened.
President Donald Trump pardoned him. The pardon wiped his federal record clean. Alongside other high-profile recipients of Trump’s clemency actions, Kentrell walked away from the federal charges that had shadowed him for years. His attorney noted that the pardon also restored his ability to travel internationally, something that had been restricted throughout his legal battles.
Kentrell called it an opportunity to focus on what he had worked for.
The Money: What Is He Actually Worth?
This is where the honest answer is: nobody fully agrees.
Net worth estimates for NBA YoungBoy range wildly depending on the source. Some outlets place him at $6 million. Others say $10 million to $20 million. A few more optimistic sources have claimed figures closer to $100 million. Celebrity Net Worth, one of the most referenced sites on these questions, has listed him in the $20 million range.
The wide gap exists because several factors pull in opposite directions. On the income side, he is one of the most streamed rappers alive. His YouTube channel alone has pulled in 15 billion views, generating serious income. He earns from Spotify plays, Apple Music, merchandise, and touring. His Make America Slime Again tour launched in September 2025 in Dallas and ran through November across dozens of arenas. That kind of tour at his level brings in serious revenue.
On the expense side, years of legal fees eat into wealth fast. Multiple attorneys across multiple states across multiple cases add up. He also supports a very large family. Property costs, security, and daily overhead for someone with his profile are not small.
He owns his Never Broke Again label, which gives him a larger slice of his music revenue than artists signed to major labels typically receive. He moved from Atlantic Records to Motown with his Never Broke Again imprint intact. That label ownership is probably his most valuable long-term financial asset.
The honest number is somewhere between $10 million and $20 million in actual accessible wealth. The streaming empire he has built is worth far more in future earning potential.
What He Is Doing Right Now
In 2025 and into 2026, NBA YoungBoy is as active as he has ever been.
His eighth studio album, MASA, short for Make America Slime Again, arrived in July 2025 through Never Broke Again and Motown. It was a 30-track project featuring collaborators including Playboi Carti and Mellow Rackz. The Make America Slime Again tour followed in September 2025.
Shortly after, in August 2025, he dropped a mixtape called DeShawn hosted by DJ Khaled. A new album titled Slime Cry was announced for 2026.
His YouTube channel crossed 15 billion views. His Spotify monthly listener numbers hit a career high in late 2025, reportedly reaching 388 million streams in a single month.
The presidential pardon opened new doors. International touring, which had been off-limits for years because of travel restrictions tied to his legal status, is now possible. His team is reportedly exploring global opportunities.
He is 26 years old. He has 13 children. He is married. He has four number one albums. He has more RIAA gold certifications than any rapper in history. He just received a presidential pardon.
Whatever you think about his past, what Kentrell Gaulden has built from the rubble of a childhood in north Baton Rouge is genuinely hard to dismiss.
Also read: MacKenzie Scott
FAQs
1. What is NBA YoungBoy’s real name?
His birth name is Kentrell DeSean Gaulden. NBA stands for Never Broke Again, which is also the name of his record label. He has gone by YoungBoy Never Broke Again, NBA YoungBoy, YB, and Top at various points in his career.
2. Where was NBA YoungBoy born?
He came into the world on October 20, 1999, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He grew up specifically in the northern part of the city, which is known for high poverty and crime rates.
3. How many kids does NBA YoungBoy have?
Estimates as of early 2026 range from 11 to 13 children with multiple women. He has sons and daughters. His children include Kamiri, Kayden, Taylin, Kacey, Kentrell Jr., Armani, Kodi, and Alice, among others.
4. Is NBA YoungBoy married?
Yes. Reports say he married Jazlyn Mychelle Hayes in a private Utah ceremony in 2023. She has appeared in his music videos and has been with him through his recent legal battles.
5. What is NBA YoungBoy’s net worth?
Estimates vary significantly. Figures range from $6 million at the low end to $20 million according to Celebrity Net Worth. Some sources have speculated much higher numbers. Legal fees and family obligations have likely reduced what his streaming income would otherwise suggest.
6. Did NBA YoungBoy really get a presidential pardon?
Yes. President Donald Trump pardoned him in 2025. The pardon resolved his federal gun charges and also restored his ability to travel internationally, which had been restricted during his legal proceedings.
7. How many number one albums has he had?
Four of his albums have debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. He also holds the record as the youngest artist ever to land 100 songs on the Billboard Hot 100.
8. Did NBA YoungBoy drop out of school?
Yes. He left Scotlandville Magnet High School in Baton Rouge after ninth grade. He has never returned to formal education. He received no university or college degree.
9. What happened to his father?
His father was sentenced to 55 years in prison when Kentrell was eight years old. That effectively removed his father from his daily life. His grandmother became his primary caretaker.
10. What is the Never Broke Again label?
It is NBA YoungBoy’s own record label, which he owns and operates. Having his own label means he keeps a larger share of his music revenue than a typical signed artist would. It currently distributes through Motown.
11. What is the MASA tour?
Make America Slime Again is a tour that launched in Dallas in September 2025. It continued through November, hitting dozens of arenas nationwide. The tour promoted his eighth studio album, also titled Make America Slime Again, released in July 2025.
12. What records does NBA YoungBoy hold?
He holds the record for most RIAA gold-certified songs in history, surpassing artists like Ed Sheeran and Ariana Grande. He holds the record as the youngest artist to chart 100 songs on the Billboard Hot 100. The RIAA has also named him the most successful rapper by certified units from 2015 to 2025.
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