Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug is painted as the leader of a criminal street gang that murdered and committed slew of violent crimes in Atlanta area over the past decade as he stands trial for racketeering

Rap star Young Thug sat at the top of a murderous criminal network that “sucked in” and destroyed young people around him, a court heard today as his long-awaited blackmail trial finally got underway.

Georgia State’s Attorney Adraine Love alleged that the Grammy Award winner amassed drugs, cars and guns as his followers battled to curry favor by killing, stealing and hijacking over a decade.

His record label Young Stoner Life was merely a front for ‘Young Slime Life’, a street gang linked to the LA-based Bloods gang, while the rapper was known to his followers as ‘King Slime’, she claimed.

Young Thug, real name Jeffrey Williams, faces up to 20 years in prison for the same Fulton County team that is also prosecuting ex-President Donald Trump under the same racketeering laws.

“They created a crater in the middle of the Cleveland Avenue community in Fulton County, sucking in the youth, the innocence and even the lives of some of its youngest members,” Love said.

And she warned Williams that his own violent rap lyrics would be used as evidence against him.

“Law enforcement didn’t chase the lyrics to solve the murders, law enforcement chased the murders and found the lyrics,” she said.

Stars including rappers Lil Wayne and Killer Mike are expected to testify in one of the most highly anticipated trials of the decade.

The 32-year-old rapper was arrested and charged in May last year, but jury selection alone took nearly ten months, amid farcical pre-trial scenes in which a lawyer was led out in handcuffs and Williams was accused of buying drugs while in the dock.

The bizarre theme continued in court on Monday, when Judge Ural Glanville ordered the court not to throw food at his service dog sitting behind the sofa.

Wearing a black tie and glasses, Williams listened intently as Love described how he became the “proclaimed leader” of YSL after it split from the Cleveland-based ROC Crew in 2012.

“The evidence will show that these defendants, the members and associates of YSL, knew who their leader was and that they knew the consequences if they disobeyed their leader,” she said.

“You’ll hear evidence that when members and associates of YSL got into trouble, got locked up, the first person they called was Williams or one of his family members.”

She produced graphic photographs of men allegedly murdered by YSL members, as well as texts that “had a very eerie meaning” to the crimes that took place.

And she said it was Williams who rented the getaway car used when rival gang member Donovan Thomas was shot in 2015.

“You will hear evidence that following the murder of Donovan Thomas, there have been no fewer than 50 shootings over the course of the next few months,” she added.

“You will hear evidence that hundreds and hundreds of bullets were fired into cars, homes and people as a result of the disconnect Young Slime Life had with other people in the community.”

She said a whistleblower will testify that Williams paid them to “go to Miami and keep quiet in the aftermath of the murder of Donovan Thomas,” but she conceded that the dynamics that kept the gang going were largely “unspoken ‘ used to be.

“The state alleges that these defendants had an agreement, unspoken but an agreement no less, to obtain property, valuables, cell phones, cars, and stolen weapons through a pattern of illegal activity,” she explained.

And she said Williams “knew he had to put distance between himself and the crimes that YSL members and associates committed on behalf of the gang.”

Williams was one of 28 alleged gang members originally arrested last year and charged under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

Some have since accepted plea deals, but Marquavius ​​Huey, Deamonte Kendrick, Quamarvious Nichols, Rodalius Ryan and Shannon Stillwell are being tried alongside their alleged leader.

Williams, who has worked with stars including Camila Cabello, Travis Scott, Drake and Childish Gambino, has continued to produce music behind bars since his arrest and released his hit album ‘Business is Business’ this summer.

His prosecution is taking place in the same Fulton County courthouse where Trump appeared this summer to answer allegations of election interference, and is being led by the same prosecutor, Fani Willis.

Williams’ trial is expected to put rap culture under an unprecedented spotlight, but Judge Glanville’s decision to allow Williams’ lyrics into evidence is being dismissed by critics.

Williams’ former label boss Kevin Liles claimed, “If this was country music and rock music, we wouldn’t be here.”

His lawyers have argued that “rap is the only fictional art form treated in this way,” while University of Richmond professor Erik Nielson has argued that persecuting rap lyrics is “part of a much longer tradition of punishing black expression” .